What Are Some Great Catholic Sites to Visit on Summer Vacation?
Watch this video and take a virtual tour to and through some other famous Catholic sites around the world.
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How do Catholics elect the Pope?
With Pope Benedict XVI’s papal resignation, many Catholics and non-Catholics the world over will be asking a lot of questions about what happens next. How do they elect the pope (again)? Who are these cardinals? What’s with the smoke? Watch our short video answering all your papal election questions, and share it with friends.
Can you tell me some Catholic sites that I can visit in the United States that are fun to go to?
There’s an old Latin phrase, de gustibus non disputatem est (“there’s no accounting for taste”). Personally, I think visiting Cathedrals is always interesting. From The National Shrine in Washington, DC, to the Western flavor of the Cathedral in Salt Lake City to the flow of humanity I’ve observed in Cathedrals from Philadelphia to Seattle, I always am amazed at the reality of the church on display in these buildings and human meeting spaces.
Do Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth?
Many Christians are surprised to learn that the Qur’an contains numerous references to Mary. In fact, there is a sura (chapter) entitled “Maryam” (Arabic for Mary) — the only sura in the Qur’an that bears the name of a specific woman. This chapter includes a scene where Mary is told she will be the mother of Jesus. In this scene, just as in the Gospel of Luke, Mary questions how this birth could take place, given that she is a virgin: “‘How can I have a son,’ she said, ‘when no man has touched me, nor am I sinful?’” (Sura 19, verse 20)
Obviously, the Qur’an’s portrayal of Mary diverges from the Gospels in other key areas (among other things, Muslims believe that Mary’s son was a prophet, not God, as Christians believe). But it’s striking to see that the virginal conception of Jesus is a point of common ground between Christianity and Islam. In fact, the very positive portrayal of Mary in the Qur’an has been seen by some scholars as a potentially powerful bridge between Muslims and Christians. Whatever their differences, both faiths portray Mary as someone worthy of respect.
