Time Is a Teacher

With advancing age comes religious wisdom.

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that, consistent with popular perception, older adults are more religiously active than younger adults. Two-thirds of respondents 65 and older said religion is very important to them, compared with just over half of those ages 30 to 49 and just 44% of those ages 18 to 29. Makes sense: With age comes wisdom — or, at least, it should. As Pope John Paul II put it: “The passage of time helps us to see our experiences in a clearer light and softens their painful side. … Experience teaches that daily difficulties, by God’s grace, often contribute to people’s growth and to the forging of their character.”

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis