Pope Francis raised hope in some quarters, and eyebrows in other quarters, when he took the world’s monetary practices to task in his first public exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel.” The Pontiff had challenging words for those responsible for what he termed “an economy of exclusion.” The Holy Father decried “the new idolatry of money” and was certainly harsh on “a financial system which rules rather than serves.” more

The calendar of the ancient world followed closely the changing of seasons: the plantings of spring and the harvestings of autumn, the brilliance of summer and the gloom of winter. What started as an … more

The Pharisee and the tax collector are presented to the worshipping community in this Sunday’s Gospel as models of prayer: the one to be shunned; the other to be emulated. The Pharisee’s … more

The premier English language poet of the last century, T.S.Eliot, was quoting Beaudelaire, the distinguished French language poet of the 19th century, when he wrote, "The spirit kills; it is the … more

At the entrance road to Mount St. Rita Health Center, the former novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in Cumberland, is a striking statue of an impressively winged angel facing three small kneeling … more

It was probably about 25 years ago that Values Clarification techniques first appeared on the educational scene – including public schools, parish schools and religious education programs. more

Two new books concerning Catholic New England offer compelling reading. more

The secular world was heartened a couple of months ago by the headline that cited a substantial reduction in teenage abortions among those girls who had been fitted with internal contraception devises. more

A few Sundays ago, the Gospel featured Jesus’ disciples asking, “Increase our faith.” Happily Pope Francis’ first encyclical, “The Light of Faith,” celebrates faith’s Scriptural, spiritual, ecclesial and social consequences. In our era when the Christian faith at the heart of Catholicism is so misunderstood, mocked or ignored, the pontiffs’ words are most welcomed. Amid the secular considerations that preoccupy today’s unbelieving society, the pope insists that Christians “profess their faith in God’s tangible and powerful love, which really does act in history and determines its final destiny: a love that can be encountered, a love fully revealed in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.” more

Three millennia ago, as recalled in this coming Sunday’s first reading, a young King Solomon determined that the greatest endowment God could give him as he began his reign as ruler of the … more

No word has fallen on harder times in present day Roman Catholic circles than the word soul. Think of how common expressions containing the word soul were in Catholic life just a few short years ago. … more

St. Justin Martyr (100 A.D. -165 A.D.) was a native of Rome but well-travelled and conversant with both the Greek and the Jewish thinkers of his day. As an early Christian defender of the faith, he … more

There are times at Mass when the rubrics call for brief periods of silent prayer. The examination of conscience at the beginning of Mass is an obvious occasion briefly to pause and quietly to reflect … more

The world’s Christian communities begin Holy Week by joyously waving majestic palm branches in solemn procession around their altars and down their aisles in commemoration of Christ’s final entry into his beloved Jerusalem. more

Perhaps no words of Scripture are more controversial nowadays than the utterance of St. Paul to the Ephesians found in this coming Sunday's second reading: “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” more

Somewhat submerged in the right front corner of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is the fortress-like structure’s cornerstone recalling the date in 1889 when Bishop Thomas Hendricken inaugurated the project that would give the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island a worthy testimony to the Catholic Church’s expanding presence throughout the community. Mass had been offered in Newport a century earlier. Bristol witnessed some Catholic activity early in the nineteenth century. Pawtucket had its first parish by 1826 and Woonsocket first celebrated the Holy Sacrifice in a local home during the same year. more

Although St. Peter’s Basilica is by far the most famous church in Rome, the actual cathedral church for the diocese of Rome is the Lateran Basilica dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Until the Middle Ages, the bishops of Rome actually did live at the Lateral Palace adjoining the basilica. 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

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

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