Commentary

Pope Francis mulls Vatican reform

By Russell Shaw

Pope Francis is contemplating a major reworking of the top-level administrative machinery of the church. Commentators sometimes describe this as "reforming the Roman Curia," but if the Pope's own words — together with public and private proposals intended to influence the result — are any indication, the project could extend far beyond reshuffling dicasteries and straightening out the affairs of the Institute for the Works of Religion (the Vatican bank).

Rationalizing our anger and moral indignations

By Fr. Ron Rolheiser

I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing. ...  Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.

The art of saying no

By Christina Capecchi

Somewhere along the line, as college-admission rates plunged and smartphones proliferated, “busy” became code for “important.”

A calculated papal risk?

By Russell Shaw

Two days after Pope Francis' now famous remarks on homosexuals and homosexuality, I heard a homily in which the homilist said Francis was giving us light "to see things in a way we never saw them before."

Why faith is a light

By Father Robert Barron

In “new” atheist and secularist circles today, faith is regularly ridiculed. It is presented as pre-scientific mumbo jumbo, Bronze Age credulity, the surrender of the intellect, unwarranted submission to authority, etc. Time and again, the late Christopher Hitchens, echoing Immanuel Kant, called on people to be intellectually responsible, to think for themselves, to dare to know.

CRS promotes natural family planning

By Carolyn Woo

An ordinary calendar and a bracelet-like chain of brown and white beads hardly seem like cutting-edge technology in fighting poverty.

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Do I look fat in this?

By John Garvey

St. Peter had a vision, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, that has shaped the way we live as Christians. He saw something like a big sheet lowered from the sky, with every kind of animal on it.