While the actual event of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is not recorded in the Scriptures, there is a biblical basis for the teaching that, considered as a whole, confirms Catholic teaching as both fitting and in keeping with biblical principles. Let’s ponder this feast in stages: The... Read more

The Archbishop of Melbourne has said he is prepared to defy a proposed new law that would force priests in the Australian state of Victoria to violate the seal of confession. The proposed legislation would include priests in mandatory reporting laws in cases of child sexual abuse, without any... Read more

“Each time the Mass is offered, the fruits of our Redemption are poured anew upon our souls. By uniting ourselves with the sacred rite of the Mass, and above all by receiving Holy Communion, we enter into the sacrifice of Christ. We mystically die with the divine Victim and rise again with Him... Read more

Recent events have brought the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome into focus. Likely for many, it seems a far-off place with little bearing on the everyday experience of most people in the Church. As an alumna of the Washington, D.C.,... Read more

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus gives a number of practical principles for those who would proclaim the Kingdom. Let’s look at each of them in turn. I. Serious – The text says, At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place... Read more

The thinking behind the much-debated working document for the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region is a “projection” of European theological thought not in accord with Catholic theology and needs to be corrected “in a more Catholic way,” Cardinal Gerhard Müller has said. In... Read more

The head of the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary released a note Monday reaffirming the inviolability of the seal of confession and the importance of other forms of secrecy in the life of the Church. The text follows action by governments in Australia, California,... Read more

A Catholic high school in the Indianapolis archdiocese has said it will comply with the archbishop’s instructions to stop employing a teacher in a same-sex marriage. The decision comes days after a Jesuit high school in the archdiocese refused to comply with a similar instruction and had... Read more

On Thursday night, President Donald Trump confirmed that he had ordered a military strike against Iran, and then called it off, after a U.S. military drone was shot down by Iran earlier in the week. Trump said he cancelled the military strike because the expected 150 Iranian casualties were... Read more

A year ago, there appeared in the National Catholic Reporter an account of a Catholic men’s gathering at Cape Cod, which the periodical said offered “glimpses of a future church”. Blazing the path to this church of the future were the author, Bill Mitchell, and his buddies – “nine guys... Read more