The moment that Pope John announced his plan to convoke an Ecumenical Council, interest centered on the question of what the Council could accomplish for Christian unity. Some, both Catholics and non-Catholics, impetuously talked of achieving unity in the Council itself. But most observers quickly realized that its immediate aim could not be the union of
The helicopter that lifted Richard Nixon from the White House lawn nearly three years ago seemed an angel of mercy, rescuing the nation from the long, painful nightmare of Watergate. As it turned out, however, the bad dream had its afterglow, and books and articles by the dozen promised the inside story of the final days and a psychological profile of the man at the center of the scandals. The former President has till now maintained a dignified distance from Watergate post-mortems.
The silence could not last. Richard Nixon is a personality both born and destroyed in the media. His series of conversations with David Frost, on reflection, was inevitable. He has always been compelled to bring his case directly to the people, from the time he defended his campaign expenses in the "Checkers" speech in 1952 to his long and tortured explanations of Watergate. Now, once again, he is confronting the cameras in an attempt to salvage his reputation and, perhaps, even begin a retum to public life.
The careful staging of the media event points out once more that tragic lack of a sense of propriety which seems to haunt the man and those he chooses as his associates. In fact, he is allowing his potential confession to be marketed by the show-business entrepreneur, David Frost, in the same way he allowed his Presidency to be marketed by admen, Messrs. Haldeman, Erlichman and Ziegler. None of the networks would air the series, since "checkbook journalism," the competitive bidding for personality news, is generally thought to devalue news departments. When commercial sales lagged, a few leaks hinted at startling new revelations, and the spiciest segment, dealing with Watergate, was moved from the last of the four evenings to the first, to generate press coverage and advertising revenue. It succeeded. Mr. Nixon will earn close to $1 million and Mr. Frost about twice that amount. Time, Newsweek, The New York Times and CBS all gave feature space to the series.
Beginning in Advent of 2011, the U.S. church will be using a new English translation of the Roman Missal. The current translation was promulgated in 1973, and for the past past several years the International Commission on English has been working on a new text. The controversy surrounding this translation, including the decision not to use a text proposed by an earlier iteration of ICEL, has been well documented in America. Here we offer a selection of our coverage from both our print and online editions. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's essay on the new Missal, "A Graced Moment," appears in the May 23 issue.
"Liturgists Worry About Upcoming Implementation," Signs of the Times, February 14, 2011
"An Open Letter to the U.S. Catholic Bishops," Anthony Ruff, O.S.B., Web Only
"Bringing Liturgy to Life," Steven P. Millies, February 7, 2011
"For You and Who Else?" Paul Philibert, January 3, 2011
Examples of the new texts, Web Only
"Liturgists Prepare for Coming Changes in Mass Text," Signs of the Times, August 2, 2010
"Welcoming the Roman Missal," Arthur J. Serratelli, March 1, 2010
"Defending the New Missal," Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Web Only
"What If We Said, 'Wait'?" Michael G. Ryan, December 14, 2009
"How Accessible Are the New Mass Translations?" Donald W. Trautman, May 21, 2007
"The Quest for Authentic Liturgy," Donald W. Trautman, October 22, 2001
James Martin, S.J., presents two extreme ways of looking at the saints in the November 7 issue of America. Here we offer past articles on the saints from Fr. Martin and other contributors.