History sometimes displays the happy capacity to arrange anniversaries so that one sheds light on another. On Nov. 21, 1964, Pope Paul VI solemnly promulgated the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which began by proclaiming Christ the “Light of the Nations” and is thus known as “Lumen Gentium.” In November, 1989, the […]
Guest Columnists
A Modern Synod is Needed For a Modern Family
By Kelly Bothum I will be honest – the recent Synod of Bishops on the family was not a topic of discussion at my family’s dinner table. Finding half an hour for our family of five to scarf down the latest concoction in the slow cooker before we splinter off to the next band practice, […]
Ecumenism and Russian State Power
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s department of external relations and a frequent visitor to the West, is a man of parts: a widely published author, a composer, a gifted linguist. He can be charming and witty, as I discovered at the Library of Congress in 2011, and in the intervening […]
Doctor Addresses Ebola Epidemic in Person
Jesuit Father William J. Byron shares the story of a Catholic-school educated Philadelphia physician who has volunteered to use her medical knowledge and skills to minister to Ebola patients in Africa.
Caring for the World One Family at a Time
Catholic news Service columnist Effie Calderola shares her experience of belonging to a Catholic group that is working on a project to help a refugee family resettle in her city.
Learning to Create Good Relationships
How do you create a good relationship – one that gets you down the aisle instead of in the land of tears and heartbreak? Catholic News Service columnist Karen Osborne offers her suggestions.
Exploded Into Being By Divine Love
Long fascinated by cosmology, George Weigel discusses the Big Bang theory, the work of Jesuit Father Georges Lemaître and a new dialogue between science and religion.
Frank Wolf: An Appreciation
For the first time since 1978, Frank Wolf’s name will not appear on the November ballot in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District (CD). The Republic will be the poorer for that.
Life Brings Constant Change and Hope
On a trip to the East Coast, I had the pleasure of going to a midwife’s appointment with my pregnant daughter and her husband. It’s my first grandchild, so everything is a big deal to me. The amplified heartbeat brought a tear to my eye. The midwife was sweet enough to ask whether I had any questions. I did not – at least not any I could expect her to answer.
Learning to Care for Loved Ones
Family caregivers don’t solely need hands-on training. They need “hearts-on” training, too. It becomes clearer and clearer that love demands action and that it calls for repeated effort and self-sacrifice. At times, it seems that caring for another person is akin to going to boot camp.