For Catholics, the end of October marked the beginning of Hallowtide—All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, All Hallows (All Saints), and All Souls. For Protestant Christians who have maintained some connection with the first Protestants, October 31 is celebrated as Reformation Day, which commemorates Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-five Theses...

Several years into young motherhood, I volunteered to prepare parish second graders for their first Communion. The weekly classes with 18 children often felt like 45-minute exercises in humility, but my goal was to ensure that when the children experienced their first encounter with the Flesh and Blood of Christ, they knew it really was Jesus, and that Jesus really did know them, love them, and long to be received into their bodies, hearts and minds.

JD and I spent the bulk of this week in Baltimore, together with our ever more accomplished and reliable freelance colleague Jack Figge. It was a good week of reporting, with several substantive issues discussed and passed by the bishops at their plenary assembly, and a few surprises among the election results. We will come on to all of that in a minute...

Pope Leo XIV urged parishes to invest in liturgical formation, especially for lectors, while also encouraging people to pray the Liturgy of the Hours and calling for attention to be paid to popular piety. While receiving participants in a course organized by the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St. Anselm in Rome...

Various psychological tests claim to promote self-understanding. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, for example, helps us identify our personality types. Years ago, perhaps less so today, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was used to screen out potential psychopaths from sensitive professions...

The Biblical tradition of presentation in the temple is something which has always appealed to me, aesthetically and spiritually, though we tend to think of it most in the context of its fulfillment in the presentation of Christ by his earthly parents, prompting Simeon’s famous prayer. Though, in a sense, the presentations of Mary and Christ, while complementary parts of the history of salvation, are rather distinct.

Gender Studies professor has secretly booked rooms for Irish 4 Reproductive Health (I4RH) using a fake club name. I4RH, an unofficial student group, uses the reservations to meet and distribute contraceptives on campus—a direct violation of university rules. Professor Pamela Butler, Associate Director and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Gender Studies Department...

I was wondering if anything interesting on the news was going on when I was born, and decided to create this website for fun. The purpose is to show people what was going on when they were born. With this website I've found out that it was a pretty slow news day on my birthday, but I bet it would feel cool to know a historical event happened on your birthday.

In the 1970s, an old man with disheveled white hair sat in front of the White House holding a sign that read, “Repent, the end is near.” After fifty years, joking about the end of the world is less carefree, as anxiety quietly creeps in. The end is indeed near for many of us inching toward the top of the actuarial tables...

I believe that the Virgin Mary is the Co-Redemptrix. And I think Rome was quite right not to define her as such. For all (or most) of the reasons the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) stated in Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People of God”). The reactions against Mater Populi Fidelis are, to my eyes, overwrought...