A weeklong visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines has been wildly successful in terms of local (and global) media coverage and by the large crowds Francis has drawn.
Are those who died heroes and martyrs for free speech and tolerance? Not every victim is a martyr, and one does not become a hero simply by offending people.
I am sad for France of course, for the journalists and the others who died. But mainly I am sad for mankind. For the person who got shot, but also for him who fired.
Sex for the fun of it, children if and when we choose and of the sort we choose. But would such a world be good for children? And would it be good for sex?
In defending the use of drones, Obama has classical just-war tradition on his side. But just-war tradition has come to be read in a new and legalistic way.
A low voice emerged: “Welcome to my home. Please, sit.” My host and I shook hands, and I took the chair opposite. I remember the details because he was a terrorist.
Even several days before consigning the old year to the annals of Vatican history, Pope Francis indicated the new year was likely to be full of surprises.
A governor of modest achievements, Mario Cuomo nonetheless left a mark on the nation's broader political debates and offered a forceful rebuttal to Reaganism.
An American cardinal? Maybe, or maybe not: Some of Francis's choices last year were so unconventional that it’s difficult to know what he’ll do this time around.
The pushback to Pope Francis’s reforms is intensifying and the Jesuit pontiff is not shy to admit it. “But that’s a good sign for me – that it’s out in the open."
How much has Milwaukee's Basilica of St. Josaphat cost over the past century? The rough answer is: many millions. Whether it's worth the cost is an ancient debate.
When we try to be in charge of anything, including our spiritual life, we can narrow ourselves and limit what we might be given. We are part of something larger.
On boarding I realized we’d committed to the wrong car: A subway preacher was in full roar. For a Catholic schoolgirl from Milwaukee, this was quite dramatic.
It's striking how many priests and bishops famous for quoting papal documents ad nauseam seem unable even to pronounce the name of Francis’s apostolic exhortation.
If people paid attention to what Francis says – including bishops and cardinals, even retired – they would not be confused about where he wants to move the church.
The highlight of an upcoming three-day sojourn will be a visit to the Phanar, the Istanbul home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.
