What's New
Read more of Bob Abernethy’s interview with sociologist Alan Wolfe exploring religion in America. More
Americans are tolerant when it comes to other religions; they are not threatened by other religions; and yet they don’t know much about them. These are the main findings of R&E’s national telephone survey of 2,002 adults in the United States. More
In COMMONWEAL Magazine, an independent Catholic journal, writer and scholar Peter Steinfels, a Catholic, takes a thoughtful look at the crisis in the Church and calls for changes to overcome it. Steinfels also writes the “Belief” column for THE NEW YORK TIMES. Watch his interview with Bob Abernethy on the scandal and how the Church can move forward. More
As American Catholics have reeled from the disclosures of past sexual abuses by priests, and evidence they were covered up, one of the questions raised has concerned priestly celibacy — abstinence from sex. Was that requirement a cause of the abuses? Is it necessary for dedicated ministry? Should it be made optional? More
A special report on the sexual pressures on pre-teenage girls. Parents, social critics, and many young girls themselves deplore it, but sex sells, so advertisers and entertainers use it to attract audiences. More
BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: The scandals in the Catholic church have prompted wide-ranging questions about sexual orientation and practice, among them issues of homosexuality. Experts insist that pedophilia — sexual attraction to children — has no connection to homosexuality. Still, the … More
Mattie Stepanek is the brilliant, wheelchair-bound Maryland boy with muscular dystrophy who has become a best-selling inspirational poet. Both he and his mother, Jeni Stepanek, suffer from rare but different forms of the disease. Exactly one year ago, Mattie almost died. But — strongly supported by his mother, who is also in a wheelchair — Mattie outlived all expectations and, not yet a teenager, he has become an amazingly mature public speaker and authority on life at the edge of death. More
“The freedom that is so important in the Passover story, in the Haggadah, is something that doesn’t belong to a specific time period 3,000 years ago…There’s a fresh message available to be garnered from the Passover story no matter when or who is looking at it,” says David Wachtel of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. More
BOB ABERNETHY, anchor (March 18, 2005): Now, Belief and Practice. This Holy Week, Western Christians remember Jesus’ crucifixion, and the days leading up to it. One of the most moving observances, especially for Catholics, is walking the 14 Stations of … More