As far as I can tell in our day and age, only church councils and papal transitions can attract the kind of global attention for the Catholic Church that is both honest and positive.  While working in Rome in February and March of 2013, I was struck by this reality and by how the intrigue ...read more

Returning home after World Youth Day Rio 2013 there were several things I didn’t miss: the long walk from our accommodations to the media centre because traffic was closed, the language barrier, and the weather that fluctuated between hot beach weather, and damp, winter rain. One thing I discovered I really do miss the incredible ...read more

Pilgrims have returned home, Copacabana Beach has been cleaned and Rio de Janeiro has returned to business as usual, but in the hearts of everyone something has changed. Something has to have changed. This has been my fourth international World Youth Day and every time, something changes. Perhaps it’s an insight, perhaps an emotion or ...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