The Quran and the possibilities for dialogue with Muslims

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran caused a bit of a flurry among Muslims and among Catholic scholars of Islam when he told a French newspaper he didn’t think “theological” dialogue was possible with Muslims because, he said, they believe the Quran was dictated by God and cannot be interpreted.
It is something most Christians, and even some Muslims, [...]

Vanishing ministry: Magazine profiles urban priest, parish in Philly

The latest edition of St. Anthony Messenger magazine profiles a Philadelphia priest in what the Catholic monthly calls a vanishing style of ministry: “one diocesan priest in a depressed neighborhood, where he is also a community activist whose willingness to beg, borrow, barter and plead keeps an elementary school thriving.” Read here about Father John [...]

About that papal visit

Sometime over the next two days, Pope Benedict will receive a dossier with the proposed program for his visit to the United Nations and the United States next April.
Much has been circulated about the papal visit in recent weeks, including detailed plans about liturgies in New York and Washington, encounters with New York seminarians and [...]

Choirs and cantors help soothe the souls that grieve

The Catholic Spirit in St. Paul-Minneapolis has a nice story on parish funeral choirs that might serve as a model for others who want to explore this ministry. Reporter Pat Norby explains, “Those who sing for parish funerals say they receive as much as they give during their participation in a funeral Mass.” Click here for the [...]

Archbishop Gregory to undergo prostate surgery

Here is Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory’s column, posted today in The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Atlanta Archdiocese, that he will undergo surgery next Monday after being diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.

Covering disasters is cooperative effort

To provide detailed coverage of natural disasters, CNS relies heavily on diocesan reporters who have the advantage of being much closer to the scene than those of us in Washington and Rome.
Our coverage of the wildfires in Southern California has been no exception with added input of reporters from The Tidings, archdiocesan newspaper of Los [...]

No poncho for the pope

When a head of state meets the pope at the Vatican, the encounter unfolds according to a fairly strict program, usually ending with an exchange of gifts.
Paraguay’s President Nicanor Duarte Frutos packed a gift for the pope in his luggage, but it was nowhere to be seen when he met Pope Benedict XVI earlier today.
The [...]

New edition on Knights Templar: No free copies

To a medieval historian, it was a real temptation.
Franco Cardini, one of Italy’s most renowned experts on the Middle Ages, candidly confessed as much during a press conference last week. In front of him on the speaker’s dais stood a copy of “Processus Contra Templarios,” the facsimile collection of Vatican documents with an $8,400 price tag.
History professors [...]

Tributes from the Catholic press for a new cardinal

All of us in the Catholic press were thrilled when Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop John P. Foley, the longtime president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, a cardinal. Cardinal-designate Foley has been our friend and mentor going back to the days when he was editor of the Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Standard and [...]

This week in Origins

Another edition of Origins CNS Documentary Service is online and in the mail. Here’s what’s in the new edition dated Nov. 1:

The English-speaking Catholic bishops from Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria call for the opening of “new doors” in dialogue between Catholics and Muslims. “We want to deepen our dialogue so that we can [...]