Recommended reading

By Fran Leap| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Ecumenical & Interfaith Dialogue
The Qur’an gives us insight into the Muslim world—as well as the Christian faith.

When I had heard that a Christian pastor in Florida was planning to burn the Qur’an as an evil book, I shuddered. My friend Abdul recites the Qur’an and finds comfort and inspiration in it. I first met Abdul while he was in graduate school, about 20 years ago. I had tried a few times to read the Qur’an to learn more about his Muslim faith. At the time I found it confusing and frustrating, but not worthy of incineration.

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How I met your Father: Married Episcopalians becoming Catholic priests

By Katharine Saunders| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Ecumenical & Interfaith Dialogue Parish Life
Former Episcopal priests are crossing over to the Catholic Church—and bringing their wives and kids along for the ride.

Katharine Saunders is a writer living in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Glad You Asked: Are there other kinds of "catholic" churches?

By John Switzer| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Ecumenical & Interfaith Dialogue Scripture and Theology

James Joyce said it best in Finnegans Wake that “Catholic means here comes everybody.”

Our word “catholic” comes from a Greek adjective meaning “universal” and “together for the good of all.” Early Christians applied it to the church, and our earliest written example comes from Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, in the first decade of the second century.

John Switzer is associate professor of Theology at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, where he also serves as director of graduate programs in theology and ministry.

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Leave no child behind: Catholic schools should accept everyone

By Father Bill Tkachuk| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Marriage and Family Sex and Sexuality

Editors’ note: Sounding Board is one person’s take on a many-sided subject and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.

Father Bill Tkachuk is pastor of St. Nicholas Parish and co-pastor of Pope John XXIII School in Evanston, Illinois.

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Vatican II, Schmatican II

By Tara K. Dix| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Scripture and Theology Young Adults
In this article from 2005, Tara Dix wonders if it is time for a new agenda forty years after the close of Vatican II.

Leading up to this month's 40th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council, this year has been filled with workshops, symposia, and whole conferences dedicated to the discussion of Vatican II, the unfinished business of Vatican II, renewing the spirit of Vatican II, and more. And all I can say is: Yawn.

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Glad You Asked: Have Vatican II's teachings been fully received?

By Lawrence Cunningham| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Scripture and Theology
This 2003 Glad You Asked examines an issue that still concerns many Catholics today: the various reactions to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.
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Women on a mission: We should join the "nuns" in their care for the poor

By Bryan Cones| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Social Justice Women
When the church gets you down, you can always serve the poor.
Bryan Cones is a writer living in Boston. See more posts by Bryan Cones

Glad You Asked: What is the Liturgy of the Hours?

By Joel Schorn| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Prayer and Sacraments Scripture and Theology
The Liturgy of the Hours is a small but bulky and intimidating-looking red-bound prayer book with lots of confusing multicolored ribbons. It is that, but of course it’s much more.

 Joel Schorn is an editor and writer in Chicago. His most recent book, on saints, is Holy Simplicity: The Little Way of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Thérèse of Lisieux (Servant Books).

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Clothes don't make the Mass

By Molly Jo Rose| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Parish Life

Editors’ note: Sounding Board is one person’s take on a many-sided subject and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.

Molly Jo Rose is a writer living in Tennessee with her husband and newborn son. See more posts by Molly Jo Rose

Consulting the faithful: Why bishops should use review boards and how they work

By A U.S. Catholic interview| Print this pagePrint | Email this pageShare
Article Parish Life Vatican
Canon lawyer and charter member of the National Review Board Nicholas Cafardi talks about the importance of advisory boards and lay consultation.

[Read more from Nicholas Cafardi on the sex abuse crisis in the church.]

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