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Voices
Thomas J. Reese
Thomas J. Reese, S.J., is a senior analyst for Religion News Service. Previously he was a columnist at The National Catholic Reporter (2015-17) and an associate editor (1978-85) and editor in chief (1998-2005) of America.
@ThomasReeseSJ
Articles by Thomas J. Reese
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Thomas J. Reese
We want to thank all our readers and friends who expressed their sympathy and concern in numerous letters and e-mails. In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, it was good to know that we had friends praying for us all over the world.Our residence-office building is about
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Thomas J. Reese
Pope John Paul II has surprised everyone by announcing an extraordinary consistory for May 21-24. This will be the sixth extraordinary consistory since John Paul resurrected this governmental structure in 1979. In an extraordinary consistory, the pope invites all of the cardinals (even those over 80
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Thomas J. Reese
As I write this column, Pope John Paul II is celebrating the end of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 on the feast of the Epiphany. I must admit that I dont get very excited about celebrating events like this, and the constant reference to jubilee wore thin as the year progressed. Part of my hesita
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Dennis M. LinehanThomas J. Reese
Summer is a time of celebration and transition in most religious communities. It is no different for those who live and work at America House, situated midway between Radio City Music Hall and the West-Nile virus hot zone in Central Park. Though none of us has been stricken with any exotic tropical malady, we have suffered from the vagaries of ordinary life. In June, Vincent Duminuco, S.J., director of the International Jesuit Leadership Project, went to Belen College in Miami to give the commencement address. While there, he tripped on a banyan root and broke his shoulder in three places.

A few days later, walking back from visiting Father Duminuco in the nearby hospital, our superior, Vincent T. O’Keefe, S.J., former vicar general of the Jesuits, had an asthma attack. Or so we thought. It turned out to be more serious. He needed surgery on a heart valve plus a double bypass, which was done on June 21. His recovery at the New York Province infirmary progressed well enough for him to enjoy the celebration of his 50th anniversary as a priest on Aug. 24. Our senior editor, John W. Donohue, S.J., had celebrated the same anniversary in June, along with our Father Minister, James Stehr, S.J., who has been a priest for 25 years. Not to be outdone, John Gallen, S.J., our peripatetic liturgist, also celebrated 50 years as a Jesuit in August.

Although Father O’Keefe will be returning to America House as soon as his recovery has progressed sufficiently, his term as superior ends this year. In the meantime, Father Duminuco, who had to cancel his teaching schedule in Italy and Poland while he mends and undergoes physical therapy, was tapped to act as superior. He will hold the reins until January, when we will welcome back to the community as superior Robert A. Mitchell, S.J., whose career has included service as provincial of the New York Province of the Jesuits, president of the U.S. Jesuit Conference and president of the University of Detroit-Mercy. Most recently he was president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., where as a young priest he had been a teacher and dean after his return from studies in Louvain and later in Strasbourg.

Another transition hit us with the sad departure from America of James E. Brogan, who has been a wonderful colleague and an efficient and knowledgeable assistant editor. Jamey came to us after a stint teaching at St. Aloysius in Harlem as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. As a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Georgetown and a graduate of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, he enjoyed a thorough Jesuit education. He is now moving to Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., where he was awarded the J.V.C. scholarship. He will be joining other laypersons who are studying for the master of divinity degree, which he will use in teaching or pastoral ministry after he graduates. We wish him well and will miss him.

In the staff listing to the right of this column, longtime readers will

Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Thomas J. Reese
The death of cardinal John O’Connor of New York on May 3 marks the end of an era in the American Catholic Church. Without question, he was the most powerful American cardinal of his generation. New York makes a bully pulpit for any archbishop with talent and chutzpah, and Cardinal O’Conn
Faith
Peace be with you: The fascinating liturgical history of the sign of peace
Thomas J. Reese
From 1995: The kiss of peace, which originated among the first Christians but eventually fell into disuse, was restored to the Roman missal in 1970.
The Laghi Legacy: From June 23, 1990
Thomas J. Reese

Archbishop Pio Laghi, the Popes representative in Washington, D.C., has recently been appointed head of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education (for Seminaries and Educational Institutions). Archbishop Laghi is leaving behind a hierarchy that he helped remake under the direction of John Paul II. As the Popes representative to the US. church he was intimately involved in the appointment of bishops (see "The Selection of Bishops," AM., Aug. 18, 1984). His legacy to the U S. church includes the bishops appointed during his tenure, some of whom will serve into the 21st century.