Carol Zimmermann

1 month ago | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Gina Christian

The comedian John Mulaney has a bit where he talks about going to Mass on Christmas Eve with his parents and says he was "batting like 400" with his responses even though he had stopped going to church. But when it came to the Sign of Peace, all bets were off. He said he was "like the one pre-Y2K [ahem, person] going 'and also with you'" while the rest of the congregation said "and with your Spirit.""They changed [the wording] because that's what needed revamping in the Catholic Church," he riffs.

1 month ago | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Michael Sean Winters |Stephanie Yeagle

The colorful cardboard boxes of Catholic Relief Services' Rice Bowl program are a Lenten mainstay. Many of us are so accustomed to them, we might not even see them in piles on the back tables in our parishes, college Catholic student centers or diocesan offices. We also might not find them deep in our kids' backpacks from their Catholic schools or religious education programs.

Dec 30, 2024 | baltimoresun.com | Carol Zimmermann

Critics have called out crossword puzzles in recent years for their editors and content being too old, white and male. I get that, but I also urge puzzle makers not to completely do away with the old-style clues that still have something to say.

Dec 5, 2024 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Dale Gavlak

An uneasy calm hangs over Aleppo, Christian leaders report, following the recent lightning takeover of Syria's second-largest city by Islamist rebels driving out forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Concerns also mount over government airstrikes. "A relatively calm day compared to previous days," a Catholic priest in Aleppo, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity of the situation, wrote in a letter made available to OSV News.

Dec 5, 2024 | ncronline.org | Céire Kealty |Carol Zimmermann

As the presence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives expands, so too do the ethical problems posed by the technology. As a Christian, I'm increasingly concerned with AI's presence in one of the most powerful artistic forms: religious art. While preparing a guest lecture in a colleague's classroom, I turned to the web to find electronic scans of religious artworks for my slide deck.