Pink connected us on the beach back then. A coincidental meeting on a sun-kissed stretch of vacant Texas sand, a place where the memory still gives my heart pause.

As I studied the newly arrived text, my pulse quickened. Could this be the same Melissa I'd prayed for continually since 2013, her name written inside a tiny seashell as a daily ...Read more

Br. David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk, teaches about the transforming power of living gratefully not just when something wonderful or special happens, but every day no matter what is happening.

I've recently been involved with two people whose lives were challenged by adversity, and seen grateful living's power sustain one of them and ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A scathing report released Tuesday by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport on the alleged sexual abuse of hundreds of victims by clergy since the early 1950s blames former Bishops Edward Egan and Walter Curtis for violating state law and failing to respond to "an unfolding crisis."

Despite hundreds of victims, church ...Read more

"Hey dad, tell us about the time you drove your father's car into the garage door!" (True story).

"Tell us again how you proposed to mom at the same spot you met her!" (Another true story).

"Remind us how you used to sing into our infant ears, 'My Bonnie lies over the ocean'... (Why was that silly song so soothing to us?)"

Yes, family stories...Read more

After news emerged in 2018 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been accused of sexually abusing fellow students while studying to be a Catholic priest, John Cavadini came up with an idea.

"There were so many rumors about what's going on in seminary culture and was what happened with McCarrick the norm," said Cavadini, a theology professor at ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge held state prosecutors in contempt Thursday for not turning evidence over in the sexual abuse case against the leader of La Luz Del Mundo and two of his followers.

Judge Teresa Sullivan fined Deputy Attorneys General Amanda Plisner and Diana Callaghan $5,000 each for violating a court ...Read more

Although I suppose I am genetically predisposed to be, I am in fact not a photographer. My maternal grandfather was a prolific professional taker and maker of everything photographic, from thousands of school portraits to magnificent winter scenes to serene lakeside perspectives to all the necessary supplies. His name was Leo, and folks across ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After investigating Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced Friday that he has referred 12 former clergy members for possible criminal prosecution.

Schmitt released a 329-page report Friday detailing his office's yearlong investigation that involved interviews with victims ...Read more

I remember the shadow of the World Trade Center, the welcome relief it brought for the businessman, his coat and tie oppressive in the summer heat. I remember beyond the walls and wrought iron fence of St. Paul's Chapel, quick-footed New Yorkers sidestepping tourists who paused to openly gaze at the towering buildings.

I remember the quiet of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a former Northeast Philadelphia priest on new charges six years after a sexual abuse case against him fell apart when his accuser died of a heroin overdose shortly before he was due to testify in court.

According to sources familiar with the case, Robert L. Brennan, 81, formerly of ...Read more

Lost dignity. Lost hope.

The thoughts taunted the "thirty-something" couple as the economy began to wobble in 2007, eventually spiraling into the Great Recession. The two watched in alarm as their colorful life unraveled.

"The picture window was in the front and I walked by it anywhere I was going in the house," Keely Brown said, recalling her...Read more

Back in the day, for me (and maybe for some of you), a typical autumn afternoon unfolded something like this: you step out of a schoolhouse with your empty lunch box and a couple of hardback books, pile into (then out of) a musty school bus, then hustle into your house for a snack -- maybe a piece of bologna wrapped in enriched bread.

After ...Read more

MELBOURNE, Australia -- An Australian court has rejected jailed Cardinal George Pell's appeal against his conviction and he will continue to serve a six-year sentence for child sex abuse.

Three judges at the Court of Appeal in Melbourne handed down a majority two-to-one decision on Wednesday rejecting Pell's appeal and upholding the conviction....Read more

"I don't WANT to get to know HIM!"

That angry outburst came from the mother of a white football player regarding a black teammate who had become a dear friend. Her son had been pleading with her, that once she got to know his friend she would welcome him home for dinner. She responded accordingly, much to her son's dismay. The scene, as you may...Read more