Home Page

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien urged Catholics to follow the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary by accepting God’s will despite fears and worries.

CAIRO, Egypt – Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., claimed she put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling to women’s electoral participation during the U.S. presidential primaries. In Egypt, the glass ceiling is much lower, yet a church-sponsored program is helping a handful of courageous women chip away at the restrictions of a political culture that would otherwise exclude them.

Some months ago I heard a well-known TV news commentator and talk show host, a Catholic, chide one of his guests for not knowing the meaning of the Immaculate Conception.

In a historic meeting Dec. 1, Most Rev. Bishop Denis J. Madden seated new members for the Archdiocesan Board of African American Catholic Ministries. The new members “turned out,” carrying new dreams to accomplish the mission of the Office of African American Catholic Ministries as they were seated. In doing so, they tapped into an African tradition of asking the elder board members who have served in the past to pray for them and offer wisdom before they “claimed their seats.” Our “Turning Out Celebration” was an adaptive form of a ritual inspired by the Gullah people of South Carolina and Georgia whose foundation reached back to the Yoruba tribe in West Africa. It is a celebration of specific key points in a person’s life, oftentimes a welcome into or the return of someone back into the tribe. This “Turning Out Celebration” was led by Bishop Madden and concluded with Howard Roberts (coordinator of Harambee Youth Organization) asking the group through several questions, “Do you have the strength using your faith” to work in unity, with a sense of purpose and with the goal of empowerment.

So what do we really want for Christmas? Probably most of us can’t even remember all the gifts we got last year. But, whatever they were, they probably no longer excite us quite as much.

WASHINGTON – Despite the small number of credible cases of clergy sexual abuse reported in 2007, “we dare not become complacent” on the issue, said Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., the new chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.