Note from the Assistant Editor:

"Jesus' triumph will be the triumph of the cross, the demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself out of love for one's neighbor, in imitation of Christ, is the only victorious power and the only stable point in the midst of the upheavals and tragedies of the world."

At least 128 people are confirmed dead and more than 180 wounded in terrorist attacks which targeted bars, restaurants, a concert hall, and a football stadium in the heart of Paris yesterday.

Refugee service should "meet both the human and the spiritual needs of refugees, not only their immediate need of food and shelter, but also their need to see their human dignity respected, to be listened to and comforted."

He called on the bishops to use the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy to revive the Church through rediscovering "the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist" in the face of a collapse in sacramental participation in the country.

Church leaders in Central African Republic have said the Pope's visit will go ahead, despite warnings that international peacekeepers may be unable to ensure his safety.

We often think of mercy as somehow opposed to righteous judgment. But this is misguided. True mercy can be rightly fierce. A merciful person is quick to use what power he has to destroy evil. This is exactly how God acts throughout Scripture.

The Philadelphia archbishop will have a three-year term to help prepare for the next ordinary synod in 2018.

"Those who legitimately hold authority have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility."

Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart might be hauled before Tasmania's anti-discrimination tribunal for distributing a booklet explaining Catholic teaching on marriage to families within Catholic schools.

The bishops have issued their first formal statement specifically addressing pornography use and production and the resources the Church has to fight it and heal its victims.

Once again Pope Francis, in being pastoral and kind, has muddled things up and confused the faithful.

Unlike the first prophets or Christ and his apostles, religious communities are not communicating anything that is not already known, but instead share a confirmation of the faith.

It is as though Christians have never been able to forget that they were once the cultural core of American life; and despite all our professions of biblical horror at a culture now grown secular and irreligious, we long for the time when that culture comforted us — and we will make any accommodation to get back there.

Christian goodness understands that a there is such a thing as evil, and allows that when all other attempts at peace fail, then irrational rage and violence must be met with a reply of rational, planned and measured justice.

It was once considered unbecoming, or annoying itself, to moan publicly about trifling personal ordeals. Now, in a seismic shift for the moral culture, abetted by technology, we tolerate and even encourage the "microcomplaint": the petty, petulant kvetch about the quotidian.

Why can't anyone use common sense? The clear answer is that we are a Christian country. We should accept as many Christian refugees as possible.

By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother, the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father.

Each day is itself a gift, and if we are truly living for the future, we have an obligation to make the most of today.

The death toll of the attack would have been higher, were it not for the selflessness of a father of two, whose quick action saved lives but led to the loss of his own.

The Lafayette Diocese has converted an old ambulance into a mobile confessional called a spiritual care unit.

The expanding network of religious sisters also targets slavery in the supply chain with sisters shedding their habits and working alongside locals for as little as 2 US cents an hour to uncover abuses.