Focolare comes from the Italian word meaning “hearth” or “family fireside”. This is a concept whose absence has been sorely felt in our times. People don’t gather around warmth communally anymore. Since the time of the fireside gatherings we have scrambled and sought ways to replicate this unique and necessary source of fellowship and solidarity ...read more

Sunday, April 29 is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Pope Benedict XVI wrote this letter about this year’s day of prayer. Dear Brothers and Sisters, The 49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which will be celebrated on 29 April 2012, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, prompts us to meditate on the theme: ...read more

With more than a year to go before World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro we’re starting to see logistical information being rolled out. Specifically registration information. The Rio organization advised would be pilgrims that registration will open in July 2012. Groups of up to 50 people can register through the on-line registration portal that ...read more

Nothing More Beautiful “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20 ) Nothing More Beautiful is the name Archbishop Richard Smith has given to a five-year initiative in service of the New Evangelization. The focus of Nothing More Beautiful is a series of evening encounters that ...read more

If you have not yet watched the S+L documentary Abraham’s Tent, this episode will serve to whet your appetite. Fr. Samuel Barhoum, director of the Kids 4 Peace program in Galilee (which is featured in the documentary) has the conviction that to foster peace we must seek to know one another. He believes that by nourishing ...read more

Our associate producers Cheridan Eygelaar and Sebastian Gomes are in Chicago this week. They took this photo of Depaul University students checking out S+L Magazine on a break during a conference put on by the university for World Catholicism Week. The conference runs April 16 – 20 at Depaul University in Chicago. ...read more

Slavery could seem like something from the past, but taking a good look at the reality of the world today we find that there are 27 million slaves. That is more than in any other period in human history. What can we do to fight against this? How can we pressure governments to look to ...read more

A trip to Israel is more than a vacation. It’s a tour through biblical history, as well as an inner journey to meet Jesus. The people and places of the Holy Land testify to Him as a living Gospel account. On Catholic Focus, we take a pilgrimage to Israel. There, we go behind the scenes ...read more

Why is religious practice found in almost every culture throughout history? Can religions continue to occupy a place in the secular, Western societies of the 21st century? Do religions need to evolve as globalization brings different cultures closer together? As Western societies become more and more secular in outlook, these questions have gained increasing currency. ...read more

Slavery could seem like something from the past, but taking a good look at the reality of the world today we find that there are 27 million slaves. That is more than in any other period in human history. The Universal Declaration of the Human Rights says: “No one shall be held in slavery or ...read more