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In the northwestern suburbs outside Chicago, on a large property bordered by a cemetery and housing tracts, crowds sometimes exceeding 200,000 have been gathering for decades on freezing December nights in the city of Des Plaines to honor the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe in a manner that echoes the great feast in Mexico City . Just as it was once deemed to be surprising that a hill outside Mexico City would be the site for the appearance of the Virgin and that she would have appeared as a brown-skinned Nahuatl speaker, so too might it seem surprising that an unassuming 62-acre prairie land

During Burundi's 1993-2005 civil war, students at Buta Minor Seminary were ordered at gunpoint to separate by ethnicity— Hutus over here, Tutsis over there! They chose instead to join hands and affirm their common identity as children of God. The forty students killed were quickly proclaimed martyrs of fraternity. Their costly solidarity defused the cry for reprisals and continues to inspire Burundians and others on the path of reconciliation. As the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes investigates the Burundi martyrs' cause for sainthood, Jodi

The beginnings of the Catholic charismatic movement are often located in a period during the late 1960s, when Catholics received “the baptism of the Holy Spirit” during retreats and conferences at Duquesne and Notre Dame Universities.1 1See René Laurentin, Pentecôtisme Chez les Catholiques (Paris: Beauchesme, 1974); and Edward O’Connor, The Pentecostal Movement in the Catholic Church (Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1971). For a quick, basic overview see Mathew N. Schmalz, “What Is Charismatic Catholicism,” The Conversation, Sept. 25, 2020, https://theconversation.com/what-is-charismatic

The entire compound of Matridham Ashram, outside the Hindu holy city of Banaras in North India, is considered to be holy ground. While the pavilion is the center of Catholic charismatic religious services, there are three other areas or spaces in the compound that are considered to be especially sacred: the shrine to Mary and the Child Jesus; the Chapel; and what is called the “Darśan Bhavan.” As a sign of honor typical in Indic religious traditions, the statue of Mary and the child Jesus is garlanded. But what is especially important is the iconography that highlights the eyes. This artistic

Established in 1954, Matridham Ashram was for over thirty years an important Catholic retreat and education center focusing on inculturation or adapting Catholic religious practice to Indian cultural symbols and expectations. While it still holds retreats as part of its “Indian Christian Experience Program,” it is now much more widely known as a center for Catholic charismatic religiosity as well as the Khrist Bhakta movement among Hindu villagers who worship Jesus. Matridham literally means “abode of the mother” and is situated outside the Hindu holy city of Banaras in India’s most populous

Family related norms have changed rapidly across the last two generations in Europe, but in few places have they changed as rapidly as Spain.

The celebration surrounding Dhori Mata draws upon what is called “inculturation.” After the Second Vatican Council, India was a primary area for liturgical experimentation. Going by the name, “inculturation,” the movement for liturgical adaptation, was most specifically associated with the work of the National Liturgical Center in Bangalore under the direction of D.S. Amalorpavadass. What emerged during this period of experimentation were “12 Points of Adaptation” to Indian culture, which were approved by the Vatican in 1969. 1 1See Mathew N. Schmalz, “ Ad Experimentum: Theology, Anthropology

The story of Dhori Mata1 begins in 1956 when the present day state of Jharkhand was part of Bihar. The coalfields were worked by miners from the Bilaspuri community from neighboring Madhya Pradesh. On Tuesday, June 12, 1956, Rupa Satnami, a Bilaspuri miner at Dhori Coalmine, was excavating coal when he reportedly heard a voice say in Hindi: “Strike gently, I am here.” After 1For a fuller discussion of the history of the Dhori Mata shrine upon which this section draws, see Suresh Gaikwad, Mary as Dhori Mata: Miraculous Mother of Coal Mines (Hazaribag: Hazaribag Catholic Diocese, 2014).

Every Friday night, for almost all of the night, huge crowds gather in the outskirts of Enugu, Nigeria for a prayer event that is easily among the best attended weekly gatherings in the Catholic world. Worship combines preaching, ecstatic Eucharistic adoration, two Masses, anointing and dance in a way that is hard to imagine for anyone who has not seen it before.

One of the enduring—and literally compelling—aspects of Igbo traditional culture is the practice of naming. Today, parents still choose Igbo names to carry on that tradition in Christianized fashion.