The church does not have any current official teaching on fairies or leprechauns. However, in traditional folklore, fairies and leprechauns were not the sweet and playful creatures that they tend to be in our modern depictions, and they have an association with pre-Christian European paganism.

Although many Americans were abolitionists, particularly the Quakers, or Friends, it’s scandalous to us now to admit that many Christian churches were complicit in profiteering from slavery, the Catholic Church being no exception.

It was late afternoon, and my son and I were running late for an appointment—again. As we walked across the parking lot, a woman approached us. “Would you help me?” she said. I could see the distress in her eyes, and I could tell she really did need help. She pointed to her car, which […]

Voting: It is one of our most important responsibilities as citizens. Indeed, the church teaches that there are three primary responsibilities of all citizens: to pay taxes, to defend their country and to vote.

Catholics today grapple with the role of women in the workforce as well as the role of the woman who is single by choice or circumstance.

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.

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