On Earth Day, Time to Bless Gowanus Canal

Kayla Mullin dreams of a day she can swim and fish in the Gowanus Canal. The eight-year-old and her grandfather, Eddie, both parishioners at Our Lady of Peace Church, were among two-dozen Brooklynites who blessed the waterway on Earth Day, April 22.

DiCaprio’s Talk Touched Church Themes

“Be like Leonardo DiCaprio.” Ucanews.com reported that was the call of Sister Aloha Vergara of the Handmaids of the House of God, who said DiCaprio’s speech at the Academy Awards “reflects the people and the churches’ position on the protection of the environment.”

Iranian President Tells Pope He Is Hopeful About Peace

Meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican, Pope Francis told him he had high hopes for peace. And while Pope Francis usually asks those he meets for their prayers, the Shiite cleric pre-empted the pope’s request and said, “I ask you to pray for me.”

Two Meanings Of Poverty

(10th and last in a series) IT IS ALMOST impossible to read a story about Pope Francis that does not mention that he emphasizes the needs of the poor. Many religious leaders have spoken about the poor and about our obligation to be concerned about the poor and to help the poor, but somehow Pope Francis’ message seems to be having a special impact.

Papal Reflections on Work

(Ninth in a series) POPE FRANCIS’ REFLECTIONS on work in his encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” make a great deal of sense to me. The Holy Father gives work a broad definition. Placing work within his general view of the meaning of human life on earth, Pope Francis notes that by work he means not only manual or agricultural labor, but also any activity by human persons that alters or changes reality.

Father Robert Lauder

Pope Francis and The World

(Eighth in a series) IN STUDYING POPE Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’,” I’ve discovered that the philosophy of person that underlies Pope Francis’ theological reflections seems to be similar to the philosophy of person that I teach to students at St. John’s University.

A Timely Encyclical

Year in Review: Pope Francis placed the Church in the corner of environmentalists with the publication Laudato Si’ on May 24.