During his July 22-29 visit to Brazil, Pope Francis’ homilies and addresses had a simplicity and directness that inspired the faithful with confidence in God’s love, hope for reform and love of neighbor, especially the poor. But two of his speeches went beyond pastoral exhortations to lay out his vision and agenda for the church ...read more

This morning in San Antonio, Texas, the 131st Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus began with Opening Mass, presided by Most. Rev. Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S., Archbishop of San Antonio. Below are his words of greetings and homily. The Supreme Convention continues until Thursday, and your Salt and Light team is on the ground and ...read more

In most respects, Alitalia flight 4001 from Rio de Janeiro to Rome on Sunday night was nothing to write home about. The seats in economy class were fairly uncomfortable, and the food was merely adequate. The main course was a lukewarm square of lasagna roughly the size of a Ritz cracker. I’ll say this for ...read more

Members of the Franciscan community O Caminho (The Way) play religious music in the Campo Grande neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The community helps the homeless on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. To find out more about this year’s World Youth Day in Rio de Janiero, visit wydcentral.org CNS photo/Ricardo Moraes, Reuters ...read more

A conversation between two students during lunchtime: “The apple is sad.” “It is? How do you know?” “It just is. Can you imagine being threatened with digestion all day? I would be afraid all the time!” “But… if it’s an apple, it was made to be eaten. Maybe that’s what it’s looking forward to.” Having ...read more

Why Saint Alphonsus Liguori is a true gift to the Catholic Church; A reflection in honour of his feast day (August 1). ...read more

For those who wanted to participate in WYD but were unable to come to Brazil, the opportunities to watch the events in the secular media were painfully few and far between. Although sound-bites were occasionally scattered throughout the news, it was clear that the global appetite to understand the context of the Pope’s trip to ...read more

In a press conference held on Tuesday, July 30th, Archbishop of Rio and Chairman of World Youth Day Rio2013 LOC, Orani Tempesta, gave a positive assessment of the event. According to him, Pope Francis wowed everyone with his simplicity and his desire to always be near the people. “It is God who makes things. We ...read more

A Jesuit Perspective on the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, July 31 There is an old story which passes from generation to generation within the Society of Jesus which quotes St. Ignatius of Loyola as having said that should the Society be disbanded he would need 15 minutes of prayer in order to reconcile ...read more

I don’t want to run to the Cross. I want to run from the Cross. And today, the Monday after WYD the Cross beckons me. Today, exhausted, after a week of 16-hour days, I complained to Jesus that I had to do all the work by myself. Actually, I didn’t even complain to Jesus; I ...read more