Watch the Rev. Nathan Humphrey, former priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s Parish K Street in Washington DC, and the Episcopal bishop of Washington, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, as they distributed ashes on Ash Wednesday 2013 at the Foggy Bottom Metro stop.

"God made us to be in contact with other human beings. And when we take that human contact away, it exacerbates whatever problems that may have been there before. So rather than rehabilitating people, it actually makes them worse," says Galen Carey of the National Association of Evangelicals.

The ethics of cutting retired city worker pensions to pay creditors; the Dalai Lama's ethics of compassion; and congregations seeking forgiveness for racism.

"We cannot allow for our brothers and our sisters to be on the side of the road. Jesus tells the story about us caring about our neighbors. Politicians don’t care about us," says Rev. Charles Williams II of Historic King Solomon Baptist Church.

Emory University students in “Secular Ethics 101” learn compassion meditation and discuss the possibility of an ethic that will unite the world.

“Christianity and Buddhism both are trying to think about how we communicate our contemplative tradition in a way that isn’t restricted to the monastic community.”

“It doesn’t matter which ethical system you use, it can always be enhanced by a compassionate approach.”

“Ethics of compassion is a major part of all major religions. But ethics of compassion can also be developed without having to rely on a specific religion.”

The recent reconciliation service in New Orleans was “about acknowledging what has taken place in history, apologizing for that, and seeking ways to see our neighbor in a different light,” says Bishop Morris Thompson of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

The debate over the morality of Edward Snowden's actions; and the Christian presence in Jordan.

"I don’t think anybody takes an act and says to themselves, 'What I’m doing is immoral, but I’m going to do it.' People always rationalize," according to former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.

"We are the ones who inherited this birthplace of Christianity. I think we are agents to carry this as witnesses to the whole world," says Father Nabil Haddad, a priest in the ancient Melkite Catholic Church who lives in Amman.

Rev. Thomas Reese on Roman Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse crisis; learning to live with the loss of a loved one; and Hinduism's age-old reverence for cows in modern India.

"If we had had 30 or 40 bishops in this country stand up and say, 'I’ve made a mistake. I take full responsibility. I’m sorry, and I resign,' we wouldn’t be where we are today," says Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst at the National Catholic Reporter.

"We become less human if we don't tend to grief in an open-hearted and generous way," says Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington, DC. "We face into that abyss and say yet I will live, yet I will pass on life and joy. Even if I can't know it myself, I will ensure that others will, and I will ...

Watch our audio slideshow of "The Expanse of Eternity," a concert held on January 17 when the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. had emptied the nave of all its chairs.

Sisters of Loretto oppose gas pipeline in Kentucky; an American apparel supplier pays his garment workers fairly

“Who owns the natural resources? That’s the big question behind this,” says Maria Visse of the Sisters of Loretto.

“We’re all aware of the recent tragedies in Bangladesh,” says Joe Bozich. But “is there anybody doing it differently?” The sustainable corporate model at his Alta Gracia garment factory in the Dominican Republic is an attempt to do just that.

"Taking the chairs out—it's a union of both architecture and music," says National Cathedral director of music Michael McCarthy.