Sister Mary Ann Walsh

Director of Media Relations, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the former Philadelphia abortionist, has avoided the death penalty with a promise not to appeal his May 13 murder convictions in a Philadelphia courtroom. That's good. The violence of the death penalty is not a way to end violence.

Rabbi Evan Moffic

Congregation Solel Rabbi and Writer

A thriller incorporating the work of the 14th century poet Dante Alighieri, 18th century philosopher Thomas Malthus and 21st century gene manipulation, the novel puts into perspective differences between Catholic and Jewish visions of hell, and the way our respective histories have shaped our contemporary circumstances.

Marshall Fine

Author and film critic, hollywoodandfine.com

Other documentarians may be more famous than Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, but there's no one working right now who afflicts the comfortable with more energy and pointedness than Gibney.

Steven A. Krueger

President, Catholic Democrats

It has become a rite of spring in the past decade: the commencement speaker controversy involving a U.S Catholic bishop and a prominent Catholic political figure upon whom an honorary degree will be bestowed by a Catholic college.

Jerry Nelson

Photojournalist

Imagine Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes anchor, being a critic of President Obama. Now, imagine Obama mandating the Washington Redskins change their starting...

Marianne Mollmann

Senior policy advisor, Amnesty International

This past month, the world has been watching a 22-year-old pregnant woman in El Salvador die, little by little. I want to say it is like watching an accident happen in slow motion, but this situation is no accident.

James Heffernan

Writer, lecturer, blogger, founder of online book review

Last October, a pregnant Indian woman died in an Irish hospital after being denied an abortion that might well have saved her life. The Irish parliament is now considering a bill that would legalize abortion under very strict conditions. It has been roundly condemned by the Roman Catholic church.

Bernard Starr

Psychologist; Journalist; College Professor

Because there are so many gaps in Jesus' biography it is not surprising that pundits can spin almost any story about his personal life with shreds of "evidence" to support their views. But questions persist.

Owen Egerton

Author, Everyone Says That at the End of the World; The Book of Harold, the Illegitmate Son of God

Stretching back to the Apostle Peter, the papacy has been a near constant superpower that has outlived empires, survived world wars and shaped western history perhaps more than any other office. An incredible list of men have held the highest position of the Catholic church.

Patrick Furlong

Campus Minister for Faith and Justice at Loyola Marymount University

As I stood there on the Mexican side, with my American students, we witnessed the miraculous: A young father, living and working in the United States, was given a chance to stand in the door of the fence, and hug and kiss his five year old daughter living on the Mexican side, for the first time ever.

Janet Tavakoli

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance

My recently published thriller, Archangels: Rise of the Jesuits, is a tale of intrigue about Jesuits who blackmail the pope with secret documents, and...

Sister Mary Ann Walsh

Director of Media Relations, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Individualism, disdain for the rights of the unborn, dismissal of the sanctity of all life -- including that of bombers -- and the preponderance of assault weapons in America: All represent a societal sickness that lures many sheep away from a life-giving shepherd to follow another who leads them to their destruction.

Rev. Mr. Michael Rogers, S.J.

Jesuit Deacon

Dear Dzhokhar, I don't and can't hate you. I am glad you are in custody, but you are just a kid, and you are lost. I will love and pray for you.

David Reimer

CEO, Merryck & Co.

What about IP generation or seizing the advantages of technological disruption? What does innovation mean to the Church? And how does it reconcile an ethos of forgiveness and salvation with a disciplined and unflinching response to clergy who have been molesters?

Rev. James Martin, S.J.

Catholic priest and author, 'The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything'

It may be difficult to see now, as it was impossible for the disciples on Good Friday to see, but the God who has suffered is ready to help us, and always holding out the promise of something new, something that will help us move beyond the blood and tears.

Charles J. Reid, Jr.

Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas

This was the question put to Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, who answered in the negative. To resolve this question in absolute terms, we need to know more about the Archbishop was thinking.