Why are fewer young people choosing to marry in the Catholic Church, and how does contemporary society understand the relationship between sexuality, procreation, and the sacrament of marriage? Those are among the questions addressed at an international gathering on the family at the Vatican, which took place through October 14 with the participation of presidents…
Shortly after Pope Leo XIV announced he will undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule, Catholic bishops, clergy, religious and other faithful in the US and Canada offered their promise of prayers for his recovery. The 71-year-old pope disclosed during his October 11 Angelus address that doctors had found a “localised nodule” in his lung.…
The Archdiocese of St Louis has filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging that a local immigration detention facility in Missouri is preventing priests from administering the sacraments to detainees. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, SE Division against high ranking members of the…
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday declared capital punishment ”inadmissible” as he marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty and his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad. In a post on X, the American pope quoted the revised Catholic teaching on capital punishment ushered in by Pope Francis that…
In 1979, Sheldon Vanauken published a book entitled A Severe Mercy; in it he tells the story of the death of his wife, Davey. The book is an account of an extraordinary romance, cut short while still in full bloom by Davey’s premature death. This story has intrigued many people, both because of the extraordinary…
Many Catholics in Australia who do not regularly go to Sunday Mass still pray, believe Jesus is the Son of God, and say their faith matters, according to a study released October 7 by the country’s bishops. The report, ‘Absent from the Table: Catholics in Australia Who Do Not Regularly Attend Sunday Mass,’ was commissioned…
The same week President Donald Trump sought to push for the rapid development of artificial intelligence, or AI, and data centres, Pope Leo XIV said safety concerns about the technology should be taken seriously. After meeting with tech executives at the White House, Trump said they agreed September 29 to establish voluntary safety standards for…
Imagine a 12-year-old sitting at the study table, staring at a difficult mathematics problem. After a few minutes of frustration, the child turns to an AI chatbot, which patiently explains the problem and provides the answer. Soon the chatbot suggests ideas for an essay, improves a paragraph and corrects the grammar. The homework is completed…
Even the simplest garden can remind us of a profound truth: the Earth is not ours to own; it is a shared responsibility entrusted to us to protect and preserve for generations yet to come. Our planet faces an unprecedented environmental crisis – climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, water pollution, and a culture…
Millions of Filipinos open their mobile phones or computers every day, unaware of the power and influence of telecommunications companies (telcos) and internet service providers (ISPs), now enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI), to enable calls, deliver information, and transmit messages and images in an instant. This AI-driven internet is, at present, an unstoppable force in…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser