Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Pontifications

Scandals galore, the Fall of Man, the Pope on Original Sin (as per Cathleen Kaveny at dotCommonweal)–how did it all happen? Answer: Evolution made us do it. From Natalie Angier’s science column in the NYT: Deceitful behavior has a long and storied history in the evolution of social life, and the more sophisticated the animal,…

Yes, I knew about the anti-papist origins of “hocus pocus,” a riff on the formula of consecration in Latin in the Mass, hoc est corpus meum, or “this is my body.” But it turns out the “Hokey Cokey,” as the ditty is known in Scotland, where anti-Catholic prejudice runs high (and little love runs the…

Interesting linkage (or wild leap, to some) that Pope Benedict XVI made in his annual address to the Roman Curia earlier today. The address is usually a look back at the highlights of the past year–or what the pontiff would like seen as the highlights–along with a meaty idea or two that the pope tosses…

Take the “Christmas Quiz” at Christian History. Ten questions, among them: Apart from a famously repetitive carol, what do the “twelve days of Christmas” refer to? Which of the following best describes the origin of the candy cane? When did Christians first start celebrating Christmas on December 25? In 614, Persian invaders sacked Jerusalem. Amidst…

Turns out dinosaurs were stay-at-home dads. According to this Washington Post story: Did oviraptor daddies look forward to trips to the park? Alas, that’s a question the fossil record can’t answer. But it does appear that many dinosaur fathers spent an awful lot of time around the nest watching the kids. Using statistical comparisons with…

Yes, if you’re really stumped, you can get (or get me) a Sarah Palin wall calendar! Or not. Perhaps a “Calendario Romano 2009″ with the “Priests of Rome”–one clerical hunk per month? I got these every time I went, as they make great gifts. Then I discovered that some of the Father What-a-wastes were actually…

. It had to happen: The iPhone–a.k.a. the Jesus Phone–gets an iBreviary, and with a Vatican imprimatur. The Times of London has the story: The Vatican has approved a computerised prayerbook for a new generation of gadget-loving Roman Catholic priests. It has sanctioned the sale of the “iBreviary” – the book of prayers, readings and…

Avery Dulles, SJ, was laid to rest after a warm and moving funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the third and final funeral mass for the beloved cardinal, theologian and convert. This picture from The New York Times coverage is about the most eloquent testimonial to the day. America magazine’s blog, which has the best…

In my corner of the Catholic Church–the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region generally, Brooklyn specifically–parish and church and monastery closings are practically part of our ritual. A big part of the problem is the vocations crisis, also the economic crunch, and to a degree church participation. But there is also the demographic shift–the United States has…

I’ve written about Anh (Joseph) Cao, the neophyte New Orleans Republican and former Jesuit seminarian who won a surprise victory over the once invincible but now disgraced (allegedly) Rep. Wiiliam Jefferson earlier this month in a storm-delayed Congressional election. Cao is an affecting mix of humility and politics, the latter informed but not dictated by…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners