Pope Benedict's final days and Francis' battle to set the church on a new path. Pope Benedict made history when he announced his resignation, becoming the first Pope to step down voluntarily in six hundred years. In his wake he left a bitterly divided Vatican mired in scandals. But is Benedict's successor, Pope Francis, taming the forces that helped destroy Benedict's papacy? Is he succeeding in lifting the Church out of crisis? Nearly a year in the...

Five years after Sunday Brennan deserted her family without explanation, she is injured in a drunk driving accident. Sunday returns home to meet her resentful brothers and ex-fiancé. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family's pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect the Brennan's is to upend all their secrets. In the aftermath, the Brennans are forced to confront painful mistakes and find a way forward together....

Who is Mary to you? What role does she play in your spiritual life? Are you struggling to get focused spiritually or looking for a way to grow to new heights? Mary is the most famous woman in history. She has inspired more art and music than any other woman and she fascinates the imaginations of men and women of all faiths. Many holy men and women of monumental virtue considered Mary's humility to be a sure path to intimacy with God. They have surrendered...

"A portrait of Pope Francis and his faith draws on interviews with the men and women who knew him as a child, before he became a priest, or during his years as a bishop, sharing additional insights into the individuals who helped shape his beliefs"--NoveList. "A down-to-earth and deeply intimate portrait of Pope Francis and his faith, based on interviews with the men and women who knew him simply as Jorge Mario Bergoglio Early in the evening of March...

During her lifelong service to the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of thousands whom nobody else was prepared to look after have been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world. Little was known, however, about her own spiritual heights, or her struggles. This collection of her writing and reflections, almost all of which have never been made public before,...

Spirituality meets philosophy in the Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection collection "The Practice of the Presence of God and the Spiritual Maxims." This challenging yet fruitful read describes Brother Lawrence's philosophy that a relationship with God is more important than the service and work done in God's name. Through a series of letters to nuns and other monks, he states that people become caught up in trying to prove their worth to God. According...

The son of Irish immigrants, McGivney was a man to whom "family values" represented more than mere rhetoric. And he left a legacy of hope still celebrated around the world. In the late 1800s, discrimination against American Catholics was widespread. Many Catholics struggled to find work and ended up in infernolike mills, where an injury or death would leave a family penniless. Called to action in 1882 by his sympathy for these suffering people, Father...

"A shocking expose of the dark, secret history of Catholic orphanages--the violence, abuse, and even murder that took place within their walls-- and a call to hold the powerful to account. More than 5 million Americans passed through orphanages in the 20th century alone. At its peak in the 1930s, the American orphanage system included more than 1,600 institutions, partly supported with public funding but usually run by religious orders, including...

Millions of Blackie Ryan fans will be thrilled with his return in this exciting novel of mystery and suspense. Bestselling novelist Andrew M. Greeley has captured the imagination of the mystery reading public with the improbable Bishop Blackie Ryan, who works for the aristocratic, haughty, sometimes arrogant but often slyly good-humored Sean Cardinal Cronin, the Archbishop of Chicago. The Vatican has just assigned auxiliary Bishop Gus Quill to the...