Church attendance in Ireland has been dropping precipitously, and the number of priests being ordained from the country’s only Catholic seminary is at an all time low. “The young people, the under 40’s, have largely deserted the church in Ireland now,” says Rev. Tony Flannery of the Association of Catholic Priests. More →

July 15, 2011

Benedict has increased the number of Italians and Vatican bureaucrats in the College of Cardinals, observes Thomas Reese, SJ, a senior fellow at Georgetown Univeristy’s Woodstock Theological Center.
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October 22, 2010

One of the biggest challenges of Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to the United Kingdom is how to make the case for the Christian faith in a nation known for its growing secularism. More →

September 17, 2010

“The whole Vatican needs to come to grips with this,” says Catholic journalist and editor Margaret Steinfels, and “they should stop blaming the messengers.” More →

April 23, 2010

We talk about the spreading sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church with Father Thomas Reese, SJ, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Woodstock Theological Center. More →

March 26, 2010

Watch more of our conversation with Father Thomas Reese, SJ, senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Woodstock Theological Center, on the Catholic Church, sexual abuse, divisions over health care reform, and questions about the church’s moral authority.

March 26, 2010

“As these revelations are coming out in Europe much as they did in the United States,” says Vatican expert David Gibson, “you’re going to have great calls for accountability of bishops who covered up for abusers or moved them around to other parishes.” More →

March 19, 2010

Watch a panel of reporters discuss the most significant religion and ethics news of 2009. More →

December 23, 2009

[MYPLAYLIST=19] KIM LAWTON:  From the moment he arrived in Israel, Pope Benedict XVI made peace his central theme. Benedict said over and over again that this was a spiritual pilgrimage, not a political mission. Yet he couldn’t avoid the complicated … More →

May 15, 2009

Visit our interactive map for a closer look at some of the places Pope Benedict XVI is visiting in Jerusalem during his pilgrimage to the Middle East.

May 11, 2009