And so, Saddam Hussein hangs, writes Robert Fisk, “on the very eve of the Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, the moment of greatest forgiveness in the Arab world.” The execution of a dictator, ...

Perhaps in catastrophe lies the invitation to return to contrition — and in contrition, to seek mercy and hope for the sort of life that can come from the ashes. (Rohan Thomson / Getty Images) In the ...

“Receive the Holy Spirit,” said the risen Lord to his apostles. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The sacrament of Penance, ...

On the evening of Saturday, November 16th, 1532, a Spanish priest, Father Vincente de Valverde, walked into the open square at Cajamarca, a city of the Inca empire in what is now Peru. He was ...

Vatican City (Fides Service) - When we make an Act of Faith, Hope, Charity and Contrition we begin with the words «O My God», we address a Person in whom we believe! «I believe in God» («credo in Deum ...

The Western world lost much when the confession-absolution dyad dropped God out of the equation. Vanished is the power of the purifying rhetoric that once gave voice to sinners in classic words and ...

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The formula of the Act of Contrition may vary a little according to the language. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in English gives the follow text: “O my God, I am ...

For years, victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and their lawyers maintained that taking on the Catholic Church was like staring at the high walls of a powerful, exclusive club. Priests and ...