In order to ensure that declarations of nullity are not simply “rubber stamped” or “cop outs,” the church has a specific process, carried out through the ministry of diocesan marriage tribunals, for investigating whether or not a marriage was invalid.

The push to constantly create can take its toll on a person and his or her relationships, both with others and with God.

I learned last week that China has closed its international adoption program. The closing is a blow to a program that has brought so many families together.

Only time will tell whether, as synod organizers keep insisting, the Synod on Synodality has produced a real groundswell of support among the laity for making the process called synodality a permanent feature of church life.

There are so many success stories and hard-working principals, faculties, parent groups and pastors who believe in the Good News of Catholic education and struggle to find fresh, creative ways to keep schools alive and flourishing!

Ignatian spirituality, a fundamental part of a Jesuit’s life, has become very popular and accessible to lay people since the Second Vatican Council.

Getting one gun off the street may not have a great impact all by itself, but people such as Monsignor Nalepa and Father Murphy know that sometimes you must try to make a difference. Little by little, gun by gun, we can.

Fingers pointing at materialism and media must ultimately point to the church’s own miserable failures of leadership and its inability to inspire trust and confidence within a laity that may generously be described as “disappointed” or “disillusioned” with her efforts on many fronts, but especially on the issue of sexual abuse.

Some seminaries attach the wearing of clerical clothes to a specific stage of formation called “candidacy,” but candidacy can also occur at different times in different places.

A quarter-century later, the memory of that silent embrace remains. So does my gratitude that Witness to Hope continues to strengthen the faith of Catholics and lead seekers to Christ and his Church.