by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism There are millions of strong women of mind and heart that have achieved personal freedom, found success and achievement by their determination and courage to thwart the insults and hinderance of males who continue to cling to the notoriously ridiculous notion that they are superior to women and should have more power, positions, privileges and higher pay. It is this attitude of male dominance that poses one of the greatest challen

A Message from the Editor Of all of the Corporal Works of Mercy, visiting the imprisoned is the one that we seldom perform. We often forget that forgiveness is central to visiting the imprisoned, and forgiveness is a gift of God. Covid-19 has resulted in an estimated 500,000 deaths, some of which were imprisoned for minor infractions in the United States such as possessing marijuana which were often racially motivated. There are also many people falsely confined globally fo

By Father Shay Cullen The news reports streaming from Ukraine show the courageous resistance and the unity of Ukrainians to resist the power of the almighty Russian army of Vladimir Putin, the tyrant dictator ruling Russia as an autocracy. This is an immoral war, the killing and indiscriminate bombing of civilians denounced already by Pope Francis and world leaders. Nothing can justify it. While the fighting men of the Ukrainian army are on the front line, holding back the ad

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism Dr. Knight: You are a victim of childhood sexual abuse. Please share with our readers when it first occurred, the trauma that you experienced, and who abused you. Mark: I was 13, just over a year since my father, a nuclear veteran, had passed of acute leukemia in December 1968 - when I was raped by a teacher in the community where I grew up; he was not my teacher, nor did I attend the school where he taught. It was classic

by Father Shay Cullen Child protection is one of the most urgent and serious responsibilities of parents, children, the community, and the government. We celebrate the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child this November. It establishes the right of every child to a life of peace and security, dignity, fulfilled needs, a happy family, education, freedom, protection from abuse and poverty, right to health, justice and play, and happiness. The Convention bind

by Father Shay Cullen Human trafficking and child sexual abuse is still alive and thriving in the Philippines. Online sexual abuse of children is everywhere, it seems, and more has to be done by the telecommunication corporations to stop it. That’s why this heinous crime against small children to satisfy the sexual lust of foreign pedophiles is so abhorrent. Shame on all who allow it to happen with impunity. The Philippines has become the hub for such crimes. The National Bur

by Gordon Nary Gordon: Why did you decide to become a Jesuit? Father Zollner: I entered the seminary in my home diocese of Regensburg and there I experienced, through my spiritual director, my first personal directed retreat. It was at this retreat that I came to know the Jesuit spirituality and the spiritual exercises. From that moment on I was fascinated by the way of praying and meditating as Ignatius proposes and the dynamic of the retreats, as well as the theology behind

A Message from the Editor We are failing to protect our children from clerical sexual abuse... Be sure to check our web Clerical Sexual Violence Against Minors. In this issue, we feature an interview with a woman who was sexually abused as a minor by a priest, a man who was abused as a child by a priest who was a family friend, and an article by a sexual abuse survivor who details his abuse by a priest and the impact that it has had on his life and family, and an interview wi

Articles/Commentaries Word on Fire and the limits of canon law by JD Flynn The Pillar Pope Francis updates canon law on dismissal from religious institutes by Courtney Mares Catholic News Agency Canon lawyer ‘terrified’ by young conservative seminarians by Sarah Mac Donald The Tablet Reforming the Vatican’s Code of Canon law, #MeToo Insights, and Zero Tolerance by Lesley Wexler Justia/Verdict What the new revisions to the Code of Canon Law mean for safeguarding by Carol Glatz

A Message from the Editor October was a tragic month which is why we have three Prayers of the Month. As a follow up to our Prayer to St. Anthony for Jamal Khashoggi, you may want to read The murder of a Saudi journalist draws attention to U.S. complicity in Yemen by Kevin Clarke in US Catholic and A Shameful Alliance by the Editors of the National Catholic Reporter. As nations try to address the global opioid epidemic, it is important to understand how all addictions are int

Book Reviews/Commentaries In the Name of the Lord by Sister Lucy Kalapura Commentary by Sister Lucy Kalapura The Print Close to the Soul by Carolyn Fande Reviewed by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism The veil of silence. Abuses, violence, and frustrations in the religious life of women (Il velo del silenzio. Abusi, violenze, frustrazioni nella vita religiosa femminile by Salvatore Cernuzio Reviewed by I.Media for Aleteia Consent A Memoir by Vanessa Springora

by Gordon Nary A Message from the Editor Profiles in Catholicism We are especially grateful that Deborah Newman, our great designer, was able to add the Spiritual and Societal topics on our Topics Web. It may take us several weeks to index additional articles and videos on the applicable pages. For those who believe that the separation of children from their parents when they seek asylum in the United States from countries where the violence endangers their children’s lives i

Interviews Imelda Bermejo Sister Dianne Bergant, CSA Karen Clifton Barbara Golder MD, JD Martha Hennessey Julia Hess, CRW Christine Lawless, MD Lucia Mauro Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Book Reviews and Commentaries My Body by Emily Ratajkowski Reviewed by Martin Chilton The Independent Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality by Shannon K. Evans. Reviewed by Anna Capizzi Galvez Catholic News Service Womanpriest: Tradition and Transgression in the Co