Jesus Goes to College

It’s that time of year again: A new academic year begins. So many possibilities for learning about different subjects — and faith.

The most important must-have students can bring to college is Christ.

Christ is needed more than ever on campus. Be the students who bring Jesus there, witnessing with your words and actions and choices — in and out of class. Be active in Catholic student clubs or your local Newman Center. Go to Mass. Attend a Bible study. Share your faith with others.

I studied English literature and pre-medicine in college at a Big Ten university. I don’t remember organic chemistry anymore, although I can tell you the major themes of Jane Austen’s novels....READ MORE

Pope John Paul II, although a man of the Church, was possessed with an uncommon sense for the dynamics of globalism and the complexities of peoples and cultures.

My first one-on-one meeting with Pope John Paul II was on Sept. 13, 2001. The occasion was the formal presentation of my diplomatic credentials as the new United States ambassador to the Holy See. It was planned to be a festive occasion; instead, it was a sad event, as the world was grieving the horrific events of just 48 hours prior.

The first thing the Pope said to me was how sorry he felt for my country, which had just been attacked, and how sad it made him feel. We next said a prayer together for the victims and their...READ MORE

Warrior opens with a welter of Christian iconography and references: a Pittsburgh church adorned with Eastern-style three-bar crosses from which we see Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) emerge; a rosary dangling from his rearview mirror as he drives home to discover his estranged son Tommy (Tom Hardy) waiting on the stoop of his house; a Bible that Tommy contemplates on Paddy’s table.

“So you found God. That’s awesome,” Tommy says softly, meaning the opposite. “Mom kept calling out for him … but he wasn’t around. I guess Jesus was down at the mill, forgiving all the drunks, huh? Who knew?”

Jesus may have forgiven Paddy, but Paddy’s sons haven’t. His drinking and violence drove his wife away...READ MORE

CHICAGO — Inspired by Kenneth Clark’s 1969 BBC television series Civilization, Father Robert Barron always dreamed of doing something similar to showcase the beauty of the Catholic Church.

More than two years and 12 trips to 16 different countries later, the result is an ambitious 10-part documentary series called Catholicism. Parts of the unprecedented documentary will start to air nationwide on PBS at the end of September through the fall. (Hear him talk about the series today, Sept. 9, at 2pm Eastern on “Register Radio.”)

“This is the most important media project in the history of the Catholic Church in America,” said papal biographer George Weigel. “Catholicism could well become one...READ MORE

SOMERSET, Pa. (CNA) — When the last remains from United Flight 93 are buried on Sept. 12, two parishioners of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Somerset, Pa., will finish the work of mercy they started 10 years before: helping family members bury the dead.

The last, unidentified remains of the flight’s passengers “have been stored together for the last 10 years in a location that’s under the coroner’s control,” said Somerset County Solicitor Daniel Rullo.

Those remains, Rullo said “will be interred on Sept. 12 in a ceremony that the coroner’s intending to hold. It’s essentially a funeral ceremony that will take place. There are three caskets of these remains that will be buried at the crash...READ MORE

“It was just like a movie.”

A cliché, yes, but as is often the case, that phrase became a cliché for a reason. The frequency with which those words were repeated in the weeks and months after Sept. 11, 2001, was a striking testament to the role movies have come to play in how we process and interpret reality.

A century ago, one might have heard remarks like “It was like a novel” or “It was like a play.” Imaginative scenarios have always been important to our efforts to understand and deal with the world we live in — particularly when reality outstrips our experiences. Children play house and grow up with fairy tales that speak to coming of age. Military and medical trainees prepare for...READ MORE

Did Jesus Christ Really Exist? How Best to Answer this Question - Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

Even Demons Believe and Tremble - Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

The Wheaton Underground (Catholic Church) - Not a Slave, Daughter of Glory

Big Labor Dumps Rerum Novarum - Kenneth Spence, Acton Institute/PowerBlog

Le Chiese delle Cittá: Neo-gothic Proper? - Nathanial Gotcher, VirtuousPla.net

Acting in Light of the Faith - Fr. Bevil Bramwell OMI, The Catholic Thing

Keystones of the Culture of Life: On Sins Against Reputation - Melanie Baker, HLI America

Catholics in the Combox: Rash Judgment - Diane M. Korzeniewski OCDS , Te Deum Laudamus!

The Catholic Priest Praised by...READ MORE

All this week, the Register is recalling the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Each day, we are featuring the recollections of an individual Catholic who was there or whose lives were impacted by the tragic events.

Cardinal Edward Egan had been archbishop of New York for about a year and three months when the attacks occurred. Though he’s a Chicago native and had served for many years as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., Cardinal Egan has spent enough time in the Big Apple to be considered a New Yorker. He also served as auxiliary bishop of New York from 1985-1988, when he was vicar for education.

In addition, many of the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center had lived in...READ MORE