BLOGS

For some people, a refreshing ice cream treat on a scorching summer day is like a taste of heaven. All the more so perhaps if it’s in the company of dozens of joyful Catholic nuns. On Aug. 16, Merrill Dairy Bar —  affectionately known as the Merrill Whippy Dip — in Merrill, Michigan, had the…

A new movie weaves together the lives of two women experiencing self-doubt, but, in the end, both women meet the challenge of their vocations despite their personal struggles.  “Mother Teresa and Me” tells the story of Kavita, a young woman who finds herself with an unexpected pregnancy. Battling whether or not to get an abortion, she…

A Catholic charity providing thousands of free meals daily to schoolchildren in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, recently resumed operations after a brutal civil war precluded it from its mission for almost three years.  Since 2017, Mary’s Meals has worked with the Daughters of Charity in Tigray to bring food to schoolchildren there. Pre-2020 they fed an estimated 24,000…

Pope Francis met with Cardinal Luis Ladaria on September 5 to thank him for his six years as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The pope visited the dicastery shortly after 9 a.m. on Sept. 5, the Vatican said in a brief statement. Francis also greeted other officials of the dicastery…

Mothers with young children are helping to lead a spike in female participation in the labor force, according to a new study from a D.C.-based think tank.  The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative of the Brookings Institution, said this month that a recent analysis of labor force participation showed the “[labor participation] rate for prime-age women”…

A group that is leading a ballot initiative to establish abortion rights in the Ohio Constitution sued state officials this week after a board finalized ballot language that uses the term “unborn child” rather than the group’s preference to use the term “fetus.” Although the pro-abortion ballot initiative, titled Issue 1, is guaranteed to appear…

At a press conference held in the crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Divine Savior of the World in El Salvador, where the remains of St. Óscar Arnulfo Romero are interred, Catholic bishops pledged to “defend the dignity and rights of all human beings regardless of their origin or immigration status.” Meeting in El…

On board the plane taking him to Mongolia, Pope Francis announced Aug. 31 that he is preparing an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux to be published Oct. 15. The pontiff made his statement while greeting the 70 journalists who are accompanying him for a four-day visit to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, including…

In his in-flight press conference returning from Mongolia on September 4, Pope Francis outlined his vision for the upcoming synodal assembly in October, which he said should be a prayerful exercise in dialogue free from ideology, not full of “political chatter” like a television talk show. Pope Francis was peppered with multiple questions about the…

Hundreds of thousands of young adults filled the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, for the 2023 World Youth Day in early August — gathering together for Mass, eucharistic adoration, prayer, and fellowship. The event was powerful and moving, but for some Catholics reading or watching the news coverage of World Youth Day, their interest may be…