Monthly Archives: August 2020

Editor's note: This piece was originally published in 2015. We share it today to supplement Rachel's interview on Kresta in the Afternoon. Ten years ago, on the Vigil of Pentecost, I received my first three sacraments and became a Roman Catholic. From an eternal standpoint, it was probably... Read more

I was recently sharing a story about one of my daughters with my spiritual director. As children of two parents, with five theology degrees between them, my daughters are especially prone to curiosity and conversation about theological topics. In sharing one of their beautiful little... Read more

Hurricane Laura has strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm as it barrels toward the Louisiana and Texas coasts. "Little time remains to protect life and property," the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday. The hurricane is on the verge of becoming a... Read more

As outrage and protests continue to shake Kenosha, Wisconsin after the police shooting of another young Black man, the mother and the pastor of Jacob Blake are calling America to prayer. Before the Blake family began their press conference Tuesday afternoon, attorney Ben Crump introduced... Read more

Hundreds of mourners gathered at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park for the funeral of Fr. Stephen Rooney, the ending of a whirlwind story for all who loved the Irish-born Downriver priest. Fr. Rooney died Aug. 16 in a tragic boating accident on the Detroit River that also... Read more

“I am pro-choice,” Crystal told me, “but I just couldn’t not be pregnant.” Two years ago, our story went viral after my husband, Albuquerque police officer Ryan Holets, met Crystal and offered to adopt her baby. She had been struggling with heroin addiction. But few recognize... Read more

One of the featured speakers at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 26 will be Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese lawyer and human rights advocate who has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government— particularly its policy of forced abortions and sterilizations. Chen grew up in... Read more

When a priest is ordained, his hands are anointed with oil. They are then wiped clean with a white linen cloth -- it’s called a maniturgium. There is a custom, hundreds of years old, in which each new priest presents that cloth to his mother. She’s usually buried with it. People say... Read more

Our society’s ongoing mainstreaming of “poly” relationships continues apace, if the New York Times is any indication. Two weeks after exploring the difficulties of polyamorous parenting, Debora Spar has penned an op-ed touting new developments in reproductive... Read more

The woman who yelled at a lector and punched her twice during Mass at the Philadelphia cathedral is not mentally fit to be prosecuted, a local journalist reported Monday. Joe Holden, an anchor and reporter for CBS3 Philadelphia, tweeted Aug. 24 that police had apprehended the woman believed... Read more