Editor’s Note: During July and August, Rhode Island Catholic is sharing some of Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s favorite Without a Doubt columns. The following column originally ran on October 5, … more

Undoubtedly one of the happiest decisions of the Second Vatican Council was the restoration of the diaconate to favorable status within Catholic parish life. The Diocese of Providence recently … more

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis and Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, offered prayers after three people died following an Oct. 24 shooting at a high school in St. … more

Come and See, a night of praise and adoration, was held on Saturday, Feb. 25 at McVinney Auditorium, Providence. The event organized by the Brotherhood of Emmaus began with a greeting and words of … more

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has long been known as a forthright voice against the injustice of abortion in America. During presidential and off-year elections, he has openly stated that Catholics cannot, … more

I often think of John the Baptist at one particularly dramatic moment during Mass. John is the forerunner, the one who gives testimony. “I am not the Messiah,” John says in answer to … more

The geographical distance between the richest country in the Western Hemisphere and the poorest is only about 700 miles. But the economic distance between the United States and Haiti is … more

Many Catholics nowadays are no doubt unaware that for many centuries the Pope was the independent ruler of a large territory in central Italy. The Papal States extended roughly from Florence on the … more

Two years ago, speaking before a Vatican-sponsored international symposium titled “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament,” Pope Francis said we cannot … more

  TO THE EDITOR:   God is the creator of all human life, especially the unborn in a mother’s womb. Abortion snuffs out such unborn life and God’s creative plan. … more

It is a time for us to pray to the Master of the harvest to send more good men and women to answer His callThere’s a tradition in which newly ordained priests create a prayer card to … more

ARBUTUS, Md. — The canonization cause of Mother Mary Lange, founder of the world’s first sustained women’s religious community for Black women, has taken a step forward. Sister … more

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin began the Keep the Heat On challenge on October 31, 2005, to assist those struggling to heat their homes in the frigid New England winters as heating costs reached record … more

In the well-known song, 12 gifts are given to one’s true love on each day of Christmas. By the 12th day, the receiver has accumulated a houseful of seemingly odd and useless gifts — after … more

One of the saddest revisions that occurred after the Second Vatican Council was the elimination of saints from the calendar, from sanctuaries and from prayers. Sts. Christopher and Philomena, Saints John and Paul, among many other of the blessed, were dropped from the church’s list of feast days. more

Father Robert Cassidy was my first pastor at Sacred Heart Church, Pawtucket, 45 years ago. While others might use less kind words, I will write that he was very strict. more

At a recent general audience Pope Benedict spoke about the nature of prayer and its place in the Christian life. He said that prayer is the only way to have a life-giving relationship with God. Even the simplest of prayer can give a person the power to resist evil and do good, the Pope said. “The grace to pray is given to all.” more

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. (Luke 2: 10-11) more

C. S. Lewis was the consoling voice of the BBC on Sunday evenings during London’s dreaded blitz during the Second World War. His sensible, basic, wartime religious themes are found today in his still popular book, Mere Christianity. Lewis also penned the lighter “The Screw Tape Letters” in which the devil guides a novice demon through the steps of effective temptation. The Oxford professor also wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia,” with a sort of early Harry Potter theme, made into a movie in 2005. As an insightful Christian, Professor Lewis once astutely and shrewdly observed that religion is ten percent faith and ninety percent culture. The history of the past half century more than confirms this insight. more

Jesus said to his first disciples, and to all future disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” But political leaders, … more