Nothing excuses the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other members of the diplomatic staff.

But even as we lament the wretchedly low level at which matters of religion are treated in international relations, we find encouragement as we affirm that religious believers themselves carry, within the body of ideals which their belief-systems possess, the principles for the healing of the wounds which are so often inflicted in attempts at meaningful communication.

On July 19-21, I was blessed to be a delegate from the Springfield diocese to the National Black Catholic Congress which was held at the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis.

In popular culture, it is imagined that, during a slave rebellion of the first century B.C., slaves who were urged to turn over their leader Spartacus declared, one after another, "I am Spartacus!"

In most of the small towns in which I have served as pastor, we know the expectation. The pastors of the churches, Protestant and Catholic, come together once a month, usually over breakfast.

The bishops' Fortnight for Freedom (www.fortnight4freedom.org), June 21-July 4, is over, but the concern for religious liberty has only begun to be heard. The two-week launch got people listening and praying. Now where do those who want to stand up for religious freedom go?

Religious freedom is very much on our minds as we American Catholics ponder the history through which this human right has come to be recognized. We must, of course, reach back beyond American history and remember the practice and the principles of the Catholic Church in addressing religious truth and the disposition of human beings before that truth.

This publication and many others will, in the months to come, be carrying a number of discussions about the meaning of the Second Vatican Council, which Blessed John XXIII opened on Oct. 11, 1962. These discussions may often seem to be shrouded in very technical theological language. Members of the church need clear explanations of what Vatican II did and why it matters.

Last month I took part in the National Workshop on Christian Unity, held this year in Oklahoma City. At this annual workshop, the national organizations of United Methodist, ELCA Lutheran, Episcopal, and Catholic ecumenical officers have their own activities along with the events intended for all participants.

It's an inconvenient variation. Easter falls on April 8 this year, but it may fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. Why can't this solemnity be more stable in our calendar?

Whenever we engage in reading the entire Bible, we find, in the Old Testament particularly, a theme which we believe is foreign to us. Over and over, we read about various sacrifices which people make as a way of communicating with God.

Abraham Lincoln is noted for having never officially joined a Christian church. First Presbyterian Church in Springfield is known as "Lincoln's Church," and the family had a pew there, but Lincoln himself steered clear of official affiliation with a church.

The Illinois General Assembly's legislative session begins on Jan. 31, and the Catholic Conference of Illinois (CCI) — the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in Illinois — is ready to represent the church's interests. CCI is composed of a number of departments, each with a specific area of focus, through which conference staff and diocesan representatives formulate policy recommendations for the bishop's consideration. Upon the bishops' approval, CCI staff work to implement the recommendations by interacting with agencies of state government, grassroots advocacy networks and religious and secular media.

It has been reported that Jerzy Kluger died in Rome on Dec. 31 at the age of 90. We are aware of Jerzy Kluger because he was the childhood friend of one Karol Wojtyla, who is better known as Pope John Paul II, supreme pontiff from 1978 to 2005 and recently beatified.

In the Argentinian comic strip Mafalda which ran in the 1960s and 1970s, the title character, a little girl, is in one strip sitting with her friend Susanita, who is talking incessantly. Word balloons are crammed with tiny illegible words which represent her nattering. Disgusted, Mafalda at last walks away. Susanita shouts after her: "You're not open to monologue!"

As Pope Benedict has announced a Year of Faith to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, we are reading a great deal of commentary which includes casual use of the word hermeneutic. Neither Herman Cain nor Herman Munster, hermeneutic is a Greek-derived word essentially meaning "a method of interpretation." The word arises as we face the question of how to interpret the significance of the council as we carry on our lives as church.

I thoroughly enjoy my interactions with non-Catholic Christians. No one's personal discovery of the reality of Jesus Christ is a trivial thing. We have much to learn when we open ourselves to any Christian's own account of how Jesus became real for him or her. We, in our own turn, have much to share.

Whenever a Christian seeks to discuss matters of ultimate meaning with a non-Christian, the Christian must do a good deal of necessary preparatory work — and I am not talking about learning about the other's beliefs, though that is necessary too.

When we as Catholics seek to explore the “big small world” of numerous religious affiliations, we need to distinguish between our ecumenical explorations and our participation in interreligious activity.

It’s all about truth.

You and I come into this world hungry for significance and meaning — or, more pithily, truth. From our mothers’ arms, we are looking for an understanding of life in which we are fully alive and our life means something. The love of parents gives us the stability we need to keep seeking the source of all meaning, love, and truth.

I’m a proud husband and father of five. Like the joys and pains of marriage, the joys and pains of fatherhood far outweigh what I could have expected.

I have to laugh when not-so-young adults tell me they don’t want to get married because they aren’t ready for kids. Can one possibly be ready for a child? I have five and I’m still not ready for the first. I certainly can’t afford the first!

Lately I have had lots of people ask me how recruitment efforts for seminarians are going and what the numbers will be for next year; well, as far as numbers go, only our good Lord knows what those will be, but I will happily let everyone know in the fall what our numbers end up being.

In November 2005, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) published the fruits of their discussion about how we acknowledge the presence of those lay members who wish to bring forth their giftedness to the church. Done in collaboration with many lay members, the U.S. bishops released an astoundingly hopeful document called Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord. In doing so, the bishops set forth a formalized blueprint for the development and formation of committed lay people who wanted to bring their gifts to the service of the church in a way that allows them to journey alongside those who are ordained as well as all religious brothers and sisters.

Last month I was privileged, along with one of my brother priests, to be hosted in Germany by the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross. This religious congregation was founded by Brother James (Peter) Wirth in 1862 in the Diocese of Trier, Germany. The hospitality that we received was second to none and the superior general of the order very generously toured us around various parts of western Germany. The history of the area is rich and the sights and surroundings are beautiful, but richer and more beautiful still is the life and ministry of the Franciscan brothers that I witnessed.

God is a giver of gifts! To many he appears insane in his generosity. I have come over the years to believe that, in nearly every situation in life God is attempting to give us a gift.

In the Aug. 1 edition of Catholic Times Bishop Thomas John Paprocki spoke of the trip that he and I made to Ss. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich. The seminary there specializes in pairing seminarians from Poland with dioceses here in the United States where they might serve as priests.

Some parishes, although rural and small, are alive and vibrant with parish activity that goes far beyond the Sunday weekend Mass schedule. Usually these parishes share their pastor with one or more other parishes. The parishioners have come to understand how important it is to assist the pastor with parish responsibilities and have come forward to volunteer in areas such as, sacramental preparation, visiting the sick and homebound, training liturgical ministers, music ministry for liturgies, social justice issues, business administration, financial issues and many more areas of parish life.

Marlene Mulford, chancellor and director of pastoral planning, answers some frequently asked questions about the 2010 Parish Pastoral Plan.

“Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

As I celebrate the Easter Season and reflect on this past Lenten season, these words have a special meaning for me. In Genesis, Scripture tells how God created the earth, and springing forth from the earth, every kind of grass and seed bearing plant and fruit. From the earth God created all the animals, fish and birds of the sky. God also created from the earth man and woman and gave them dominion over all things of the earth.

Holy Week is a time when Catholics worldwide feel the pain of dying in Christ.

It came this year as media reports brought up heartrending, often previously published, stories with a new twist — how the Vatican handled clergy sexual abuse cases. Efforts to link stories to culpable inaction by Pope Benedict XVI cause reasonable people anguish given all that the pope has tried to do to address this crisis.