Read the official Vatican text of the encyclical in English.

When is it appropriate to use the words “fundamentalist” and “cult?” What are other terms with which I must be careful? By Don Lattin The San Francisco Chronicle* CULT is a word that should be used with care. Some of its dictionary definitions are value neutral, with such meanings as “formal religious veneration,” such as […]

Read a March 29, 2001, BBC report about Pope John Paul II becoming the first pope to visit a mosque.

Christopher Ruddy is an associate professor of historical and systematic theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He wrote about the theology of Pope Benedict in a June 3, 2005, Commonweal magazine article titled “No Restorationist.”

Dennis Doyle is a professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton and a frequent commentator and author on Catholic issues and the papacy.

Rocco Palmo runs the blog Whispers in the Loggia, one of the most popular sites in the Catholic blogosphere. He is a frequently quoted expert on Vatican developments and was formerly a Philadelphia-based U.S. correspondent for The Tablet of London.

John S. Grabowski is an associate professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He also has an expertise in women’s issues. He and his wife were appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope Benedict XVI in the fall of 2009.

Christopher Bellitto is chair of the history department at Kean University in New Jersey, where he has taught a course on the papacy. He has also written many articles on Catholicism and is a regular television commentator on Vatican stories.

Ignatius Press, located in San Francisco, is the official publisher of all Benedict’s works in English, including all those he wrote as a priest and cardinal. The CEO of Ignatius Press is Mark Brumley.