Stories - 2013

Québec Flag. Via Flickr

A state dress code?

US, UK and MoreJohn Zucchi

The Quebec government introduced a bill to establish a Charter of Values aiming to consign any expression of faith to the private sphere. Is this the final act of the “Quiet Revolution” that, in the name of neutrality, is changing the face of the country?

Stefano Lavelli (front right) and other FSCB seminarians waiting to be ordained.

Who Sends You?

WorldAlessandra Stoppa

A friendship that is “too beautiful to be true” throws open the world of a young man far from the Church and becomes a promise. This is the story of Stefano Lavelli, one of the Fraternity of St. Charles Borromeo seminarians who will be ordained June 22.

The Sagrada Família. CC0 Creative Commons

The Girl Who Sculpts the Temple

EncountersAlessandra Stoppa

She saw the Sagrada Família in a school book and decided that she needed to “be near it.” Today, young Japanese sculptress Shiho Othake works side-by-side with Etsuro Sotoo, among the “disciples” of Antoni Gaudí.

American soldier. CC0 Creative Commons

The Man Behind the Rifle

WorldLuca Fiori

Fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, watching his friends die, asking himself how to go on living after having killed; he is one of 200 New York Encounter volunteers, with a unique story to tell: his battle with God.

Sudden Life

WorldElena Mazzola

In Kharkov, philosopher Aleksandr Filonenko and a small group of friends got involved with the youth at a residence for the disabled. A story has flourished with one goal: to share their destiny.

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Mattia Preti

Christmas: How a Presence is Born

WorldA. Stoppa, L. Fiore and P. Perego

From Italy to Uruguay, from the desert of Dubai to the American heartland, four stories show what can happen in us (and around us) when we seek what supports life.

The President and others observe a moment of silence in the Oval Office, following the Sandy Hook shooting. Photo by Pete Souza via Wikimedia Commons

The Refusal of God at the cost of freedom

US, UK and MoreJohn Waters

Facing the murder of 20 school children in Newtown, President Obama’s speech challenged the world with the question of evil in our existence. But a profound human drama remains.

Helen Whitney.

A Matter of Life

EncountersSuzanne Tanzi

“We don’t want to go unconnected into the night,” sums up award-winning producer Helen Whitney, as she describes her latest film project on the topic of forgiveness which “matters urgently to many people” now, as never before.