In this year of significant religious anniversaries, the 800 years since St Francis sent the first friars to the Holy Land does not register alongside the Reformation or Fatima. Yet that decision continues to shape the Christian presence at our holiest sites.
Read MoreWhat will the pope and patriarch say, albeit indirectly, about his regime? It is better for Christians that he is in power, but like Mubarak and a long tradition of secular Arab leaders, el-Sisi is rough around the edges when it comes to human rights and democratic processes.
Read MoreAfter a visit to Egypt, I reflected on the contrast between the pyramids of ancient Egypt and the central fact of Christianity, the empty tomb. As the Pope and the Patriarch head to Cairo during the Easter season, it might serve our Convivium readers to offer it here.
Read MorePope Francis must choose how he addresses the Muslim community when he visits Egypt this week. He has two models: Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Pope Benedict XVI.
Read MoreThe small Catholic liberal arts college in Barry’s Bay, Ont., which opened in 2000 with nine students, has emerged from the other side of its provincial accreditation process as an innovative and creative leader in Catholic post-secondary education in Canada.
Read MoreOn Wednesday of Holy Week, Maduro’s men burst into the Chrism Mass of Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, shouting threats and physically assaulting the cardinal. It would therefore seem time for a denunciation from Pope Francis against the Maduro regime.
Read MoreNearly every Catholic parish and diocese across the land speaks of “weekend Masses” – the anticipated Mass on Saturday evening along with the Masses offered on Sunday. The concept of “weekend” is not a Christian one, but its complete cultural adoption by Christians has weakened a key pillar of discipleship – keeping the Lord’s Day holy.
Read MoreBefore the ninetieth birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Easter Sunday, Tracey Rowland published in these pages an appreciation for what she called a “Ratzinger revolution” – a theological foundation on which, she predicts, future scholars and pastors will rebuild a Church damaged by secularism
Read MoreThe federal government slipped its marijuana bill into the House the day before Good Friday, with almost no one around to ask questions. So in the same spirit, herewith various question that do not appear to have adequate answers.
Read MoreEaster Sunday is the 90th birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Born on April 16, 1927, he was a Holy Saturday baby, born the day that God is dead, the day of the tomb.
Read MoreA recent, and long needed, restoration of the most sacred chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a small sign of the progress that has been made in the relationship among the Churches which control the shrine.
Read MoreThe Edicule in Jerusalem marks what used to be a grave, but has long ceased to be: “Here He does not lie…” As the angel said that first Easter morning: “He is not here.”
Read MoreIt seems reasonable to ask those of us anxious about what Amoris Laetitia means to explain what we think is at stake, and why we continue to encourage clarification of contested points.
Read MoreIt was not their choice to be killed because they were Christians. It is their choice to receive that martyrdom precisely as Christians, strengthened, not diminished, in their faith.
Read MoreElsewhere, I have reviewed the various twists and turns over Amoris Laetitia, but it seems that, stepping back, a critical dimension of the Amoris Laetitia debate is a confusion over the nature of grace. Specifically, the differences between sanctifying grace, actual grace and sacramental grace.
Read MoreIt feels like the end. Tiger may return to play again, but even before his injuries he had long ceased being a threat. Golf, which for more than a decade beginning in the late 1990s seemed to be all-Tiger all-the-time, has moved on.
Read MoreThe possibility that a Quebec characteristic or consensus could be questionable, or even lacking some good, or be in need of correction, is out of bounds for any discussion of its distinctiveness.
Read MoreIt’s not clear who is hearing the confessions, but the emphasis here is not the God who forgives but rather the penitent, who emerges with a aura of self-congratulation for his own enlightenment. Perhaps the assigned penance is to recite the biblical verse, “Lord, thank you for not making me like other men.”
Read More
