One of the most famous figures of all English literature is the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Three times he appears in Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He demands that his son settle accounts with his uncle who murdered the dead king. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Richard III, ghosts also appear. From the 3rd century B.C. Epic of Gilgamesh through Homer, Virgin, Ovid, Shakespeare and Dickens, ghosts have been populating the pages of literature, appearing in films and, more recently, starring in their own TV shows, such as Ghost Hunters.

From 1950 to 1967, CBS broadcasted the ever-popular show What’s My Line. It was the longest-running U.S. primetime network television game show ever. Each week, four celebrity panelists would question contestants in order to guess their occupation.

Last year, the Extraordinary Synod on the Family took place in Rome from Oct. 5 to 19. The participants boldly examined family life in the light of today’s culture. They did not shy away from topics such as the breakdown in marriages, multiple marriages, polygamy, divorce, inter-religious marriages, cohabitation, same-sex relationships, domestic violence as well as the effects of war and immigration on the family.

Pope Francis showed himself keenly aware of the discrepancy between the words about religious liberty and the de facto reality of our present situation. The Holy Father drew the president’s attention to something that the president certainly knew.