Reflections on life, meaning and purpose

The processions, the news, and the papal apology…

If you’re American, I hope you were able to celebrate Memorial Day yesterday with some time off from work or school, and looking forward to a good summer. Some of you, I suspect, went to a cemetery to pray for America’s war dead. Some of you went down the shore. I spent the day with […]

Francis Faces Another Mess in Argentina…

Pope Francis is having serious trouble with the appointment of bishops in his native Argentina.It is quite likely that the latest calamity will kill off whatever slim chance existed of a papal visit home later this year. It was the disastrous papal visit to Chile in 2018, plagued by controversy over troublesome episcopal appointments, that […]

Mushrooms and other fungi — and our sins…

My wife and I have been battling mushrooms amid the fairly lush grass in one section of our front yard. We’ve had a few pop up here and there in recent years, but this Spring there have been scores of them (sometimes hundreds) popping up every few days, especially after significant rain, for they love […]

The Hallmark liturgical calendar…

Did you celebrate Trinity Sunday yesterday? At the Vatican, the same feast was on the liturgical calendar, but the focus was on the First World Children’s Day. On January 1 we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of God. But if you read the newspapers the next day, the stories from Rome will be about […]

Friendship in Marriage: What Really Makes a Home…

A key explanation of why happiness is so elusive is in the answer to this question: Why are some homes more a ‘home’ than others? This is no surprise, since the wise tell us that home is where our heart is at rest. Indeed, where else would our heart be at rest? Life experience brings […]

Acknowledgments

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals: Research team Carroll Doherty, Director, Political ResearchJocelyn Kiley, Associate Director, Political ResearchBaxter Oliphant, Senior ResearcherHannah Hartig, Senior ResearcherGabe Borelli, Research AssociateAndrew Daniller, Research AssociateJoseph Copeland, Research AnalystTed Van Green, Research AnalystAndy Cerda, Research AssistantShanay Gracia, Research Assistant Communications and […]