New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was elected president of the U.S. bishops’ conference at 10am this morning. The vote was 128-111 on the third ballot, a runoff in which he defeated Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., who served as USCCB vice president for the last three years.

Minutes later, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., was elected vice president of the conference on a third ballot in a runoff vote of 147 to 91 over Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver.

The Register’s archives are full of articles and interviews with Archbishop Dolan and Archbishop Kurtz. Here’s our selection to get to know the men who will lead the bishops’ conference for the next three...READ MORE

Register senior writer Tim Drake is in Baltimore to cover the Fall General Assembly of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference.

Follow @timothydrake on Twitter and his Facebook page as he live-tweets the conference, which continues through Thursday, or check back here for the latest updates.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments over whether or not to ban minors from buying or renting violent video games.

According to press reports, the reaction from the justices was mixed, with the reactions not holding to the normal dividing lines between them on most legal questions.

The case relates to a 2005 California law that outlaws selling excessively violent video games to minors. It was signed, as some ironically noted, by a former actor renowned for his violent films, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After being struck down by lower courts the battle over the law has now reached the Supreme Court.

Questions from the bench ranged from why video games should be singled...READ MORE

This editorial appears in the November 21 print edition, due to reach subscribers this week.

Advent calls to mind the centuries of expectation for the Messiah, but also focuses on the expectant Blessed Virgin Mary.

In its observance of the days leading up to Christmas, the Church implicitly recognizes that an unborn child is a human being, a person with the same dignity as anyone who has already been born. Christ once was an embryo, a fetus, an unborn child. He who died on the cross to save mankind is the same person who was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As Christ is in our midst from the moment of the Annunciation, a woman who is pregnant for the first time is already...READ MORE

One thing every religion has to do is to form consciences. And no religion has been as good at that as Christianity, when it comes to promoting the values that underpin respect for human dignity.

One can recall the famous letter to Diognetus, written around the year 100 AD, which explained that while Christians were just like everyone else, there were big differences: “They [Christians] marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. They have their meals in common, but not their wives.”

But one blot on this record is on ample and painful display in Mark Twain’s masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Huck’s Hurting Conscience

Next Tuesday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will elect their new president. As presiding vice president, Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas, is likely to be elected. In response to concerns raised by a variety of media reports, Bishop Kicanas responded to a series of email questions provided by Register senior writer Tim Drake.

The Chicago Sun-Times story, published Nov. 17, 2007 quotes you as saying the following: “It would have been grossly unfair not to have ordained him. There was a sense that his activity was part of the developmental process and that he had learned from the experience. I was more concerned about his drinking. We sent him to counseling for that. I don’t...READ MORE

In October, Magdalen College in Warner, N.H., announced three significant changes: a new name, a new crest, and a renewed curriculum.

Now The College of St. Mary Magdalen, the 37-year-old school is strengthening even more its commitment to the New Evangelization.

President Jeffrey Karls, who has headed the college for 25 years, spoke from his office about the new name and re-energized curriculum with Register staff writer Joseph Pronechen in early November.

Why did you decide to change the name of the college?

Through our name change we have sought to place a greater emphasis on our patroness, St. Mary Magdalen, and the original spirit of the college. St. Mary Magdalen had converted...READ MORE

This story appeared in the Nov. 7 print edition of the Register.

When film and television producer Christian Peschken met Father Ron Moses Camarda at Eternal Word Television Network, he knew he wanted to make a film about the priest’s story.

Father Camarda was on EWTN’s “Life on the Rock” to discuss his experiences as a military chaplain in Fallujah, Iraq, which he had detailed in his book Tear in the Desert. In 2004, he was pastor of an inner-city parish in Jacksonville, Fla., and two weeks from retiring as a military chaplain with the Navy reserves when he was called to active duty.

He accepted the assignment as God’s will and quickly found himself in Iraq with the Marines at Bravo...READ MORE