The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, followed a week later by the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, are moments to recall our own future with God. Because Christ is risen from the dead in his…

Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical letter is a dense read by anyone’s standards. It’s called “Charity in Truth,” and is a “social encyclical” in a long line of such letters in modern times.

No matter what topic the pope writes about, he…

For almost 10 years, priests and lay ministers from the Dioceses of Muenster, Essen and Aachen in Germany have been “crossing over” the Atlantic Ocean for a few weeks each year to experience Catholic life in Chicago and compare notes…

R eflections on our life in the Archdiocese and plans for its ministries often arise from what I hear from my councils or from the questions people bring up. Recently, I planned to write about foreclosures on homes and the loss…

From May 8 to May 15, Pope Benedict XVI was on pilgrimage in Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and the State of Israel. The reports of his travels were filtered through the categories of political analysis, as is always the case…

During Lent, most parishes arrange communal penance services, with collective examination of conscience, followed by the individual confession of all one’s mortal sins and the giving of absolution. Priests gather from surrounding parishes, making it possible for many people to…

Of the three penitential practices that mark the Lenten season— prayer, fasting and almsgiving — Pope Benedict’s Lenten message this year puts a focus on fasting. Why?

We can look at fasting from several angles. Fasting isn’t dieting, because the goal…

Part of the discussion about the future of our economy raises the question of what sort of economic base will secure the future for our country and our families. And part of the answer to that question seems to lie…

The Honorable Barack Obama
President-elect
Presidential Transition Team
Washington, D.C.  20270

Dear Mr. President-elect,

As our nation begins a new year, a new Administration and a new Congress, I write to outline principles and priorities that guide the public policy efforts of the United States…

Two weeks ago, many of the offices of the [Chicago] archdiocesan Pastoral Center moved from 155 Superior St. to the refurbished Quigley building on Pearson Street. It was good to move to a place that was not built as an…