March 30, 2009

Vol. 200 No. 11Whole No. 4851 Download PDF

Editorials

Current Comment
Science and Ideology; A Face by Any Other Name
Star Struck
Why the church should celebrate the Year of Astronomy

Articles

A Shared Meal
Rabbi Daniel F. Polish
Despite differences, Passover and Easter occupy a similar sacred space.
Reading Karl Rahner
Leo J. O'Donovan
Twenty-five years after his death, Rahner's works still illuminate.
The Smiling Christ
Peter Schineller
The final in a series for Lent
Jesus the Prisoner
John A. Coleman
A Lenten reflection on The Mocking of Christ
Greenspan's Folly
Darrin W. Snyder Belousek
The demise of the cult of self-interest
Advocate for the World's Poorest
George M. Anderson
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez on reducing extreme poverty
Frank Clooney, Sr.
The Hard Hand
Jim McDermott

Luis Arriage Valenzuela, S.J., is the director of Centro de Derechos Humanos Prodh, a Mexican human rights center begun in 1987 as a response to increasingly repressive policies by the Mexican government. Centro Prodh’s goal is to defend, promote and advocate for human rights through legal assistance. I spoke to Fr. Valenzulea about the current situation of human rights in Mexico earlier this month.  

What are you seeing on the ground in Mexico today? 

A Critical Moment
John R. Quinn

At critical moments in life it is important to take stock. The demand from many Catholic bishops and lay leaders that the University of Notre Dame rescind its invitation to President Obama to deliver the 2009 commencement address is surely a critical moment in the relationship between the Catholic Church in the United States and the wider American society. Before battle lines harden further on this issue, we should take time-out to ask some hard and penetrating questions. These are some of the questions that occur to me.

Books and Culture

Culture
A Vacillating Believer
Ann M. Begley
What can the letters of Graham Greene tell us about the man?
Art
Jesus the Prisoner
John A. Coleman
Gerrit van Honthorst's painting The Mocking of Christ is a painful reminder of the cruel, sardonic mocking of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Books
Southern Expressions
Patrick Samway
A new biography of Flannery O'Connor, reviewed
Books
A Vacillating Believer
Ann M. Begley
What can the letters of Graham Greene tell us about the man?
Television
Welcome to the 'Dollhouse'
Jim McDermott
From the creator of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' a new show with much to say about the inviolability of human dignity.
Television
The Heavenly City
Jeremy Zipple
A new PBS documentary looks at the many faces of Jerusalem.

Columns and Departments

The Word
Love to the End
Barbara E. Reid
Columns
Accounting for Torture
Maryann Cusimano Love
'What are our moral obligations as disciples of a tortured God?'
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Jim McDermott
Poem
Jesus and the Muses
Leonard J. Cirino
Letters
Letters

Signs of the Times

News Briefs
Agents of Reconcilation, Guardians of Memory
The Complex History of Indulgences
Vatican Official: Mercy after Abortion
Alternative to Female Circumcision
Bishops Address Drug-Related Problems
News Briefs
Activists Press for War Crimes Investigation
Mexican Church Officials React to U.S. Border Plans
Burke Apologizes to Fellow Bishops
Cardinal Speaks on Reciprocity Policy
Obama Speaks on Moral Guidelines in Science
Despite Criticism, Notre Dame Standing Firm

What You're Reading

  Frank Clooney, Sr.
  The Hard Hand
Jim McDermott
Luis Arriage Valenzuela, S.J., is the director of Centro de Derechos Humanos Prodh, a Mexican human rights center begun in 1987 as a response to increasingly repressive policies by the Mexican government. Centro Prodh’s goal is to defend, promote and advocate for human rights through legal assistance. I spoke to Fr. Valenzulea about the current situation of human rights in Mexico earlier this month.   What are you seeing on the ground in Mexico today? 
  A Critical Moment
John R. Quinn
At critical moments in life it is important to take stock. The demand from many Catholic bishops and lay leaders that the University of Notre Dame rescind its invitation to President Obama to deliver the 2009 commencement address is surely a critical moment in the relationship between the Catholic Church in the United States and the wider American society. Before battle lines harden further on this issue, we should take time-out to ask some hard and penetrating questions. These are some of the questions that occur to me.