Memorial Day is a legal holiday, observed annually on the last Monday in May to honor our nation’s armed forces who served gallantly in too many campaigns. The holiday, originally called Decoration Day, is traditionally marked by parades, speeches, ceremonies and the decoration of graves with flowers and flags, hence the original name. Memorial Day...Read More

This summer I taught a one-week course at the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans. The topic was “Understanding the Prophetic and Empowering Role of Leadership in the Black Community.” Students explored the prophetic call to leadership as evidenced in several stories from scripture. Additionally, discussions referred to the invitation...Read More

Some Catholics have abandoned Catholic social action initiatives for pluralistic social action initiatives based on tolerance, compromise and government solutions to social problems. For example, Network, a National Catholic social justice lobby, favors a distinctly pluralistic identity. In contrast the Knights of Columbus favors a distinctly Catholic identity.Read More

BEIJING – The Chinese bishop who served in Beijing for more than 25 years was given a funeral for a state leader. A three-part funeral was held April 27 at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery for Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan, 76, who died of lung cancer April 20. The cemetery is the main burial ground for revolutionary...Read More

I am appalled at the comments of Patrick J. Clancy concerning the name given to the “Ranger Rosaries” (CR, April 19). U.S. Army Rangers are not “killers.”Read More

Paulist Father John E. Hurley, executive director of the department of evangelization for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, announced the appointment of Mae Richardson as the new coordinator of pastoral leadership formation.Read More

A grey Friday morning, foretelling the storms of the weekend suggests the mood of the women silently boarding the bus whose destination is Charlotte, N.C. Servant women weary from the Gospel work, which includes service to parish, family and community.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Breaching normal protocol, several participants in a 2005 Vatican-sponsored conference over the ethics of declaring someone brain dead have published the papers they delivered at the debate. Many of the papers reproduced in “Finis Vitae: Is Brain Death Still Life?” argue that the concept of brain death was devised mainly to expand...Read More