New (and hopefully improved) Everyday Faith

Faith requires change, so I am trusting in the system and moving the blog to The Times' new website. It has its own blogging software, which should boost visibility, and that is one of the points of this exercise (If a journalist writes, and no one reads it, does it matter?). So as of today, I'll be moving to that location: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=EVERYDAYFAITH

I'm still figuring out how the new site works and the best way to structure things. But I can tell you that it's much easier to comment. So I look forward to hearing from more of you on the new page!

Analyzing the pope

I founda few more websites offering some interesting reaction and insight on the pope.

The Washington Post/Newsweek blog On Faith, gives a broader perspective with commentary from ardent supporters to anti-pope ex-Catholics.

Thanks to beliefnet's David Gibson, I just found the American Papist -- another young Catholic blogging about the church. He had a particularly cool entry of photos of popes and presidents.

And somehow in all this I forgot about the ever-insightful John Allen of National Catholic Reporter, who has been covering all things Vatican for years.

The pope is coming!

We're just more than 24 hours from Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to the United States, and both secular and Catholic media sites are in a frenzy.

The trip to Washington DC and New York is centered around an address to the United Nations, but his itinerary also includes meeting with President Bush, public Masses in both cities, meeting with leaders of various faith traditions, a youth rally, prayer at Ground Zero and the pontiff's 81st birthday (April 16).

A video message released last week expounds on the theme for the week, "Christ our Hope," which continues the subject of his second encyclical. It struck me that he's speaking to a much wider audience than just Catholics. In the message to Americans, the pope said: "I have chosen as the theme of my journey three simple but essential words: “Christ our hope”. Following in the footsteps of my venerable predecessors, Paul VI and John Paul II, I shall come to United States of America as Pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition."

Locally, I know we have a few people that have tickets to one of the Masses, and I will do my best to catch up with them later in the week to see what it was like.

In the meantime, if you're looking for more coverage, here's some recommendations:
* Conference of Catholic Bishop's site has official news.
* Beliefnet has a blog by pope watcher and biographer David Gibson.
* Lohud.com, our sister site in the NYC suburbs has an extensive site with stories, charts, blogs, etc.
* And of course, Whispers in the Loggia is on the ground in DC. Palma does a particularly good job of printing the full text of the pope's speeches, etc.

And feel free to comment and discuss the pope's message and the spectacle of it all.

Changing Times

After more than five years on the religion beat here at The Times, I'm starting a new adventure. I'm now a full time editorial writer as of this week.

Don't panic. I will not let down the two dozen of you or so that read this page regularly. Everyday Faith will remain, and I'll probably keep my hand in some faith-related reporting, but it will just be on a different scale. The Conversations, or opinion, section certainly lends itself to lots of great stories about the intersection of faith and life (think the current election or the ways churches are involved in creating social change). It also might allow me to write about more theological questions. I can envision something about suffering or forgiveness. Day to day religion coverage will be handled by the Metro staff.

Obviously, I'm still trying to figure out what my role will be, but I'm excited for the challenge and the chance to use my skills in a different way. We'll still be talking faith and religion here and in the pages of The Times, and as always, I look forward to your thoughts.