Zounds! Boxes and packages show up in my mailbox and on my doorstep all the time. Since I do book reviews on my Catholic blog, publishers are happy to share their latest books hot-off-the-press, particularly in the field of religion. It is rare, though, that I find a package as heavy as the one which arrived this week from Mercer University Press. I was happy to receive the 864-page revised, updated and expanded Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. The... Read more
The Vatican’s three-day colloquium on The Complementarity of Man and Woman in Marriage has ended today, not surprisingly, with an affirmation of marriage. What WAS surprising–at least to me–was the pure poetry of the closing statement. Participants listened to a reading of “A New Affirmation of Marriage”–which explained why wedding celebrations are joyful. The statement, along with additional information about the conference, can be accessed at the website; but for your convenience, I’ve included it below in its entirety. The global colloquium,... Read more
People in the small town of Gubbio, Italy, lived in fear. A ferocious wolf lived in the countryside near the town, and the wolf had attacked the townspeople so that they were afraid to leave their homes. Frightened that the wolf would kill their children or themselves, the people of Gubbio turned to St. Francis, known as a peacemaker, to intervene. According to legend, Francis went out to meet the wolf with no weapons, only the message of the Gospel. Francis... Read more
Brittany Maynard’s mother is angry. Debbie Ziegler, whose 29-year-old daughter Brittany committed suicide rather than face the uncertain death with terminal brain cancer, reacted to a statement issued by the Vatican following Brittany’s unfortunate act, by issuing a statement of her own. Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, had called her death “reprehensible” and said that physician-assisted suicide should be condemned. Mrs. Ziegler, for her part, called the Vatican statement “more than... Read more
Gay and Catholic: Is that even a thing? You can fill your bookcase with books about homosexuality. Most of the dozens of titles released in the last ten years help to categorize and explain same-sex attraction, scanning Church teaching and defining terms, offering spiritual support. There are books which offer helps to break out of the homosexual lifestyle, and books intended to help parents, family members and friends of the active homosexual to better understand their loved one. Most, though, have... Read more
A Fiat. A coffee maker. Some bikes. These are among the gifts which Pope Francis has received from fans and visitors. And rather than stashing the unneeded items in a closet or a garage, this most practical pontiff is raffling them off to raise money for the poor and homeless. Posters advertising the raffle have gone up around Rome. The raffle tickets, priced at 10 Euros ($13), are on sale at the Vatican Post Office and Vatican Pharmacy, as well as... Read more
In a press conference this morning in Vatican City, the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers presented its 29th International Conference. The topic of this year’s conference is Autism. More than 650 people from 57 different countries are expected to attend this year’s conference, which is titled “The Person With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Animating Hope”. Speakers at the conference on November 20-22, 2014 include: Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care); Monsignor... Read more
Former New York governor Eliot Spitzer faced off against famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz November 16 in a mock trial before an audience of 1,300. * * * * * The one-hour trial, which took place at Temple Emanu-El synagogue on New York’s Upper East Side, sought to answer the question once and for all: Was the biblical patriarch Abraham guilty of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of his son, Isaac? You remember the... Read more
The Pope is coming to America! We knew there was a good chance that Pope Francis would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which had been established by his predecessor; but we had no assurance until now. On Monday, November 17, Pope Francis made the announcement at the Colloquium on Complementarity of Man and Woman. He said: “I wish to confirm according to the wishes of the Lord, that in September 2015, I will go to Philadelphia for... Read more
Well now! Yesterday, I wrote about Pope Francis’ invitation to Patti Smith to sing in the Vatican’s annual Christmas Concert. Both the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera and the International Business Times reported that Smith is one of the artists invited to perform at the annual Concerto di Natale, which will take place Dec. 13 at Auditorium Conciliazione and will be televised live on Italian television. I thought the punk rocker was an odd selection, considering the preponderance of great... Read more
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