VATICAN CITY (EWTN News/CNA)—Pope Benedict XVI used his Nov. 30 general audience to discuss Jesus’ prayer life and how it challenges Christians to faithfully devote time to prayer.

The Pope told pilgrims in the Paul VI Hall that Jesus, “by his own example, most fully reveals the mystery of Christian prayer.” The Lord’s own prayer life, he said, was like “a hidden canal irrigating his life … and guiding him with increasing firmness to the total gift of self, in keeping with the loving plan of God the Father.”

Pope Benedict initially focused on the prayer of Jesus at the time of his baptism in the River Jordan.

He explained that Christ, who was without sin, chose to be baptized to show his...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (EWTN News/CNA)—The D.C. Office of Human Rights has dismissed a complaint that The Catholic University of America’s single-sex dorm policy constitutes unlawful discrimination under the district’s Human Rights Act.

“We were confident from the beginning that our actions were entirely legal,” said John Garvey, president of Catholic University of America, on Nov. 30.

John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University, filed the legal complaint in response to an op-ed that Garvey wrote in The Wall Street Journal in June announcing that the university would be implementing single-sex housing in hopes of fighting binge drinking and hooking up.

On Nov. 29, the D.C. Office...READ MORE

EL PASO, Texas — A showdown over First Amendment rights of free speech and religion could make its way from this West Texas border city to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case involves the constitutionality of a Texas election law and the extent of churches’ legal involvement in politics.

It’s the outgrowth of an earlier battle in state court in which El Paso Mayor John Cook brought charges against citizens trying to oust him and two other officials from office.

Cook’s suit alleged that signatures for the recall election should be invalidated because petitioners may have gathered some of them on church property, a violation of a state law that carries third-degree felony charges.

The...READ MORE

The Costs of Taking Conscience - Michael Fragoso, Public Discourse

Who was the First Disciple of Jesus? - Fr. Ryan Erlenbush, New Theological Movement

Cloistered Nun & Former Actress to Tell Story of Hollywood & Faith - Kevin J. Jones, Cthlc News Agency

Books for Christmas - George Weigel, Crisis Magazine

Prophecies Fulfilled - Fr. John Bartunek, Catholic Spiritual Direction

What would Jesus Occupy? - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

Some advice from Lech Walesa for Occupy Wall Street - The Motley Monk, The American Catholic

Struggle for Holiness: My Year with St. Therese of Lisieux - Heather King, Dappled Things

St. Joseph is Waiting, Too - Jay Boyd PhD, Philothea on Phire

The...READ MORE

Mexico City, Mexico (CNA) — The Archdiocese of Mexico is calling on local officials to improve security after a package containing explosives was mailed to the archdiocesan chancery.

“We will take basic security measures,” Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the archdiocese, said. “This can’t be taken lightly as this is a threatening situation.”

On Nov. 25, Mexico City police investigated and removed the package, which appears to have been sent by local anarchist group Liberacion Total. The same group was responsible for setting an armored car on fire in the Mexican capital on Nov. 5.

Father Valdemar reported that the archdiocese’s Cardinal Norberto Rivera is unshaken by the incident....READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged countries around the world to end the death penalty as a legal sanction at his Nov. 30 general audience.

Addressing a group of pilgrims gathered in Rome for an international conference on the controversial topic, the Pope said he hopes that their deliberations “will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty.”

The conference was organized by the Italian-based Sant’Egidio Community under the theme of “No Justice Without Life.” The Pope told them that he applauded “the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective...READ MORE

Scorsese to Adapt Jesuit-Drama “Silence” - Matthew, By Way of Beauty

Abortion According to Zip Codes: Startling Discovery in New York - Fr. John Leies SM, HLI America

That Changing God Lobby in DC - Terry Mattingly, On Religion

Universalism, True and False - Fr. James V. Schall, The Catholic Thing

The Problem with “Easy Believism” - Brent Stubbs, Almost Not Catholic

New Translation Critics: It’s Not About You - Paul Zummo, The American Catholic

Planned Parenthood’s 1969 Jaffe Memo: Frightful Mission - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

The Authority to Kill - Joseph Bottum, Public Discourse

The Myth Of Being Non-Judgemental - The Ordinary Catholic, Peter’s Barque

SSPX Asks Rome for...READ MORE

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,” declared the revised commandment of the animals in Orwell’s Animal Farm. Some of the more vocal members of the so-called Occupy Movement point to the vast disparity of incomes in the United States and see there an Orwellian scenario.

“Injustice!” they cry.

The wealthiest people — the top 1% — have experienced the greatest income growth in recent years; the 99% have seen smaller growth. The rich aren’t getting richer while the poor get poorer — all income groups have increased in wealth. But the vastly rich have gotten much wealthier (hundreds of times so) than the not-so-rich and the poor. Justice demands equality of...READ MORE