National Catholic Reporter

Nearly a third of Rome's palaces were built between 1378 and 1599, after a century of economic stagnation. What were the origins of this striking urban revival? Drawing on a newly compiled dataset linking palace construction to the identity of their patrons, a study shows that Romans began building palaces only once they were confident the popes would not leave the Eternal City again. Rome, in the 14th and 15th centuries, was in ruins.

Twenty-five years ago, Fr. Daniel Mode, an Arlington diocesan priest, was a U.S. Navy Reserve lieutenant serving reserve duty at the Pentagon as a staff officer for the chief of chaplains in the Navy Annex. He would have been in that exact area of the Pentagon on 9/11, having frequent meetings there. Instead, he was at his parish, Queen of Apostles in Alexandria. He heard about the attacks, and he stayed with the parish children waiting for their parents who worked in the Pentagon to pick them up.

I hear the same answer almost every time I ask the question. Sometimes it's a slight variation, like "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20), or "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). My prayer may begin with petitioning, but it bears fruit in listening. Sometimes I may not hear an answer at all. I remain still. I say, "Be with me." And God's words follow: "I am here for you." Some days I marvel at that idea for a minute or two. Other times, I just get on with my day.

Women must be able to "exercise their leadership" and become "artisans of peace and guardians of life," as the global community fractures and conflicts increase, the Vatican told the United Nations. The Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N. shared its thoughts in a Sept. 2 statement during the global body's high-level forum on implementing the Program of Action on a Culture of Peace.

Outside the home, especially when faced with conflict in digital spaces, many are tempted to assume prophetic roles. We denounce, correct, expose and pronounce instant judgments from behind screens, without genuine encounter. Social media, shaped by algorithms, can create an illusion of expertise, with little openness to nuance. Eliciting reactions to a group post can be mistaken for a communal discernment process and become decisive.

The targeting center has been the site of multiple protests in recent months, organized by what Girrell described as a "loose consortium of concerned neighbors." Advocates have focused their efforts on the targeting center, she said, because of the significant role it plays in directing ICE's actions elsewhere in the country.

There are places in the Catholic imagination where the veil between the physical and spiritual feels unusually thin. A hillside in Portugal; a grotto in southern France; a former Aztec shrine outside Mexico City. Again and again, ordinary people — often children or peasants — claim to have encountered the Virgin Mary in moments that would reshape devotional life for generations. The Catholic Church has never fully resolved the tension these stories create.

My week in California transcended mere professional development; it became the spiritual retreat I did not realize my soul required. Under the brilliant and infectious pedagogy of Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka — founding director of the institute, whose distinguished career spans faculties from Dunwoodie to Lincoln, Nebraska — we moved far beyond the mechanics of square-note notation.

A Hong Kong court on Sept. 3 dismissed appeals brought by a 94-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal and four others over their convictions for failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested during anti-government protests. Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired bishop and vocal advocate for democracy in the city, was a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pay medical and legal fees for arrested protesters until it ceased operations in October 2021.

At Georgetown University, students this fall semester could register for "Foundations of AI," a course designed to prepare them to integrate artificial intelligence "into their personal, academic, and professional workflows." Georgetown also offers an undergraduate certificate in artificial intelligence as well as an online master's degree program in AI management that combines topics from computer science, business strategy and ethics.