On Tuesday, November 1, the Catholic Church’s Latin Rite celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. It is a holy day of Obligation. For Catholics throughout the United States, it is a holy day … more

St. Justin Martyr (100 A.D. -165 A.D.) was a native of Rome but well-travelled and conversant with both the Greek and the Jewish thinkers of his day. As an early Christian defender of the faith, he … more

Following the retirement of Most Reverend Robert E. Mulvee, D.D., J.C.D., in 2005, after 10 years as diocesan shepherd, Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Tobin, D.D., was installed as the eighth bishop of … more

There are times at Mass when the rubrics call for brief periods of silent prayer. The examination of conscience at the beginning of Mass is an obvious occasion briefly to pause and quietly to reflect … more

You shouldn’t give to the Church – if you don’t support the mission of the Church or trust its leaders. There, I said it. Now let me explain.

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The world’s Christian communities begin Holy Week by joyously waving majestic palm branches in solemn procession around their altars and down their aisles in commemoration of Christ’s final entry into his beloved Jerusalem. more

Perhaps no words of Scripture are more controversial nowadays than the utterance of St. Paul to the Ephesians found in this coming Sunday's second reading: “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.” more

Somewhat submerged in the right front corner of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is the fortress-like structure’s cornerstone recalling the date in 1889 when Bishop Thomas Hendricken inaugurated the project that would give the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island a worthy testimony to the Catholic Church’s expanding presence throughout the community. Mass had been offered in Newport a century earlier. Bristol witnessed some Catholic activity early in the nineteenth century. Pawtucket had its first parish by 1826 and Woonsocket first celebrated the Holy Sacrifice in a local home during the same year. more

Although St. Peter’s Basilica is by far the most famous church in Rome, the actual cathedral church for the diocese of Rome is the Lateran Basilica dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Until the Middle Ages, the bishops of Rome actually did live at the Lateral Palace adjoining the basilica. more

Editor’s Note: During July and August, Rhode Island Catholic is sharing some of Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s favorite Without a Doubt columns. The following column originally ran on October 5, … more

Undoubtedly one of the happiest decisions of the Second Vatican Council was the restoration of the diaconate to favorable status within Catholic parish life. The Diocese of Providence recently … more

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis and Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, offered prayers after three people died following an Oct. 24 shooting at a high school in St. … more

Come and See, a night of praise and adoration, was held on Saturday, Feb. 25 at McVinney Auditorium, Providence. The event organized by the Brotherhood of Emmaus began with a greeting and words of … more

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has long been known as a forthright voice against the injustice of abortion in America. During presidential and off-year elections, he has openly stated that Catholics cannot, … more

I often think of John the Baptist at one particularly dramatic moment during Mass. John is the forerunner, the one who gives testimony. “I am not the Messiah,” John says in answer to … more

The geographical distance between the richest country in the Western Hemisphere and the poorest is only about 700 miles. But the economic distance between the United States and Haiti is … more

Many Catholics nowadays are no doubt unaware that for many centuries the Pope was the independent ruler of a large territory in central Italy. The Papal States extended roughly from Florence on the … more

Two years ago, speaking before a Vatican-sponsored international symposium titled “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament,” Pope Francis said we cannot … more

  TO THE EDITOR:   God is the creator of all human life, especially the unborn in a mother’s womb. Abortion snuffs out such unborn life and God’s creative plan. … more

It is a time for us to pray to the Master of the harvest to send more good men and women to answer His callThere’s a tradition in which newly ordained priests create a prayer card to … more