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There is nothing unusual about a Catholic leader urging priests to draw closer to their flocks, to focus on day-to-day issues that bridge the gap between pulpit and pew. Still, it caught Vatican insiders off guard when Pope Francis, a week after his installation Mass, used a somewhat pungent image when discussing this problem. “This [...]

When describing how his disciples should serve the needy, Jesus told a parable about a Good Samaritan who rescued a traveler who had been robbed and left for dead. This businessman didn’t care that his act of kindness took place in public and that the injured man didn’t share his faith. This raises an haunting [...]

It seems to happen whenever Steve Beard hangs out with friends — especially folks who don’t go to church — talking about movies, television and whatever else is on their minds. “It may take five minutes or it may take as long as 10, but sooner or later you’re going to run into some kind [...]

Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey knew that the first black player in major league baseball was going to go through hell. That’s why the cigar-chomping, Bible-thumping Rickey set out to find a man who would keep believing — when facing bitter, scathing racial hatred — that the powers of heaven were on his side. [...]

The word on the Brooklyn streets in 1959 was that a crazy preacher from Pennsylvania was helping addicts find the power to kick heroin and gang members to trade their weapons for Bibles. Reporter John McCandlish Phillips heard the talk in local churches and took the tip to his metro editors at The New York [...]

Every year or so, editors are asked to sit patiently while market researchers dissect thick reports about what consumers say they want to see in their newspapers. That was already true back when Harry Moskos was editor of The Knoxville News Sentinel. But he immediately noticed something strange, when handed the executive summary of one [...]

There must a law, deep in the cosmic base code, that if parents dress their nine children in Easter white — especially when the New England snow is melting — at least one will fall into the mud. “It was tough,” said Simcha Fisher, describing this Easter’s obstacle course, “but we survived all that and [...]

The most recent Jewish Community Study of New York held few surprises for those who have followed the sobering Jewish trends of recent decades. Yes, the 1.5 million or so Jews living in New York City and surrounding counties included a rising tide of people living in interfaith relationships and some had even begun calling [...]