The Church and the Media
Even though the U.S. bishops have adopted reforms to try to end the clerical scandals, do not expect any letup in the media’s focus on the church. View the past six months as a Catholic Watergate and expect consequences similar to those that presidents and political candidates have endured fro
Social Security and Social Justice
Recent moves by many to privatize social security view the Social Security system as a savings and investment plan for middle-income workers. This view distorts the debate, because that is not what Social Security was intended to be and not what it has been up to this point. Social Security was crea
When the Pastor Is Removed
On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, I replaced my pastor as administrator of the parish of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Raleigh. Under the diocesan Code of Professional Responsibility, he was removed by the bishop because of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a teenager that took pla
The Church in Northeast Brazil
The people of Natal, Brazil played a crucial part in major developments in the Brazilian church.
On Closing Doors
Patrick Kavanagh, the Irish poet, once wrote:
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
A popular and pious saying is that God gives you the graces you need. This is thought to be especially true in your ministry or vocation. If you are a parent, for example, God will give you the graces you need to raise your children—like patience, compassion and wisdom. Likewise, to accomplish
Letters
Letters
Cautious Hope
The article by Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., linking Catholic and Evangelical theologies (7/15), is well crafted toward ecumenical hope. Another article is needed, however, to see the stark differences that indeed have grave implications for U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Most Evangelicals value charity but do not consider justice a Gospel imperative. In Central…
Editorials
Haitians in Detention
Ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, immigrants seeking to enter the United States have faced higher hurdles. This includes asylum seekers, and some have been treated in an especially painful and discriminatory manner. Among them are Haitians currently detained in south Florida. In their de
Faith in Focus
Going Home From Prison: Postlude
Today I failed that easy command of St. Paul, Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. While inmates at the prison where I work were smiling and rejoicing, I was on the verge of tears. It happened this way. Shortly after arriving at the prison, I noticed three inmates standing with
Books
And Now for Something Completely Different
ldquo Once a reasonable number of our germ cells have been given a chance to impart their DNA to the next generation rdquo U C L A biologist William R Clark reminds us ldquo our somatic cells become so much excess baggage They serve no useful function and they mdash we mdash must die…
The Way We Were
A school particularly a Jesuit school is a family mdash a community of brothers and sisters who share a common name as alumni a common ancestry in the generations that came before common parents in the faculty a common Ignatian culture and a common responsibility for the generations to come A
Poetry
Driving to South Lake
Sometimes you can hear the moon before it ever rises, moaning from a recent conversation with the lapping secrets of an eastern sea.
The Word
Costly Grace
“Denying one’s self” is more profound than daily acts of “mortification.” It means displacing one’s self from the center of our consciousness while looking to the true self embodied by Jesus’ teaching.
Tough Love
Church life in the last six months has been dominated by shameful actions of some of its priests and hierarchy and is now preoccupied although belatedly with protecting its most vulnerable members The fourth of the great discourses of Jesus in Matthew Ch 18 called the Sermon on the Church a
Columns
Dangerous Sentiments?
Nearly six months ago, when each day’s front page brought more terrible news for the Catholic Church in the United States, I had a series of telephone conversations with several anguished Catholics in the Boston area. We talked about their anger, but we talked in equal measure about their fait
Faith
Costly Grace
“Denying one’s self” is more profound than daily acts of “mortification.” It means displacing one’s self from the center of our consciousness while looking to the true self embodied by Jesus’ teaching.
News
Signs of the Times
Strike!Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma, chair of the U.S. bishops’ national review board, said that Catholics should use the power of the purse, the power to fill up the pews to force an egregiously recalcitrant bishop to live up to the charter. If a particular bishop is insensitive to this ago
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