After Archbishop Robert Zollitsch's recent papal audience, he spoke of Pope Benedict's "great shock" and "profound agitation" over the many cases of abuse which are coming to light. Zollitsch asked pardon of the victims and spoke again about the measures that have already been taken or will soon be taken. But neither he nor the pope have addressed the real question that can no longer be put aside.

Congress, and its Catholics, should say yes to health care reform. We do not reach this conclusion as easily as one might think. There are, to be sure, grave problems with the bill the House will consider in the next few days. Nonetheless, the choice Congress faces is between the status quo and change -- and the current bill is a profoundly preferable step in the direction of positive change.

WASHINGTON -- The leaders of more than four dozen U.S. congregations of women religious are urging members of Congress to "cast a life-affirming 'yes' vote" on the Senate's version of health reform legislation. "Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions," they said in a letter Congress members March 17.

In a papacy sometimes marred by scandal and internal confusion, Benedict's handling of the sexual abuse crisis has often been touted as a bright spot, one case, at least, of a firmer hand on the rudder. That makes the scandals now engulfing the church in Europe especially explosive; they threaten to once again make Benedict seem more like part of the problem than the solution.

Boulder, Colo. -- Fr. William Breslin, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish here, seemed like a tired warrior for the Catholic faith as he sat on a chair out front of the church greeting parishioners as they left the five o’clock Saturday Mass.

My life has been largely spent at home, caring for my family. It is a small world, but a rich and complex one, for all its short distances from stove to bed and bathtub to couch. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to these writers -- they are women -- who observe the contours and appreciate the significance of the daily and the domestic.

The beleaguered diocese of Scranton, Pa., has a new bishop, a native son who wasted no time in his first news conference in setting a tone distinctly different from that of his predecessor. Msgr. Joseph Bambera has been handling the day-to-day running of the diocese since the abrupt and early retirement of Bishop Joseph F. Martino in August.

Mother Mary Clare Millea last month sent out the first wave of letters to U.S. women religious communities being visited this spring as part of a three-year Vatican study, officially called an Apostolic Visitation.

BERLIN -- German Catholics have called on Pope Benedict XVI to speak out about a stream of sex abuse cases that have shocked the country and plunged the church into its biggest crisis in over six decades. Many German Catholics were expecting a response from Pope Benedict last Sunday during his Angelus prayers in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. His failure to address the issue was received with huge disappointment.

The proposition that liberal Catholicism is dying has been offered from time to time, for decades now, often in a way that reminds one of the schoolyard scuffler more interested in the fight than in any point being made.

Mission Management Sick patients want to be treated by the best-trained doctors and nurses available. But is that enough or do patients need pastoral care as an integral part of holistic health care? While most hospitals offer spiritual care to their patients, do patients really need professionally trained and board-certified Catholic chaplains? One organization thinks so.