Ain’t I a Fool?
Many read reports about victims of sexual abuse and wonder why the victim did not come forward earlier. Some readers suspect financial motives for newly important memories of abuse. Perhaps that is true in some cases. It was not true in mine. I am not suing anyone, and I cannot speak for anyone who
Forgive and Forget?
On the way home from a hospital stay several years ago, my husband and I stopped at a toy store to buy presents for our two sons. I did not want to arrive home empty-handed because I wasn’t sure of the reception I would receive. I don’t remember what we bought the boys, but I…
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
On Aug. 2, the Jesuits at America House celebrated the feast of Blessed Peter Faber, the first recruit and only priest among the early companions of St. Ignatius Loyola. A humble shepherd from Savoy, France, he was a skilled master of the Spiritual Exercises and was chosen to attend the ecumenical c
Letters
Letters
Complicity
Pope John Paul II’s affirmation of humanitarian intervention, mentioned by Drew Christiansen, S.J., (8/12), contrasts with the U.S. policy of acting only if it is in its strategic interest. East Timor showed the tragic gulf between the two.
The East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence in a United Nations-mandated referendum, believing as they courageously went to…
Editorials
A Pre-emptive War?
For months Washington and the world have been debating the Bush administration’s professed desire to carry out a pre-emptive war against Iraq. In early August, the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, headed by Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat of Delaware), opened hearings on the anticipated confli
Faith in Focus
Where Is God in the Clergy Abuse Crisis?
As the crisis of sexual abuse by members of the clergy grinds on and on, victims and perpetrators alike must surely be asking, Where is God in all this? The answer may come more easily to the victims. Consider envisioning God the way Jesus does in Lk. 15:8: What woman having 10 coins and losing…
Books
From Seal to Public Servant
In this disarmingly honest and haunting memoir the former governor of Nebraska and United States senator Bob Kerrey tells the story of his rite of passage from a rather na iuml ve and carefree childhood in the 1950 rsquo s Midwest to his transformation into a skeptical Vietnam veteran with the Cong
Whose Divine Right?
What more appropriate time than this year of bombings retaliations wars and rumors of war to investigate the meaning and practice of terror especially in its relationship to faith Lee Griffith in The War on Terrorism and the Terror of God offers a compelling start Although he examines histori
A Qualified Victory
As James M McPherson notes at the opening of his new book Sept 17 not Sept 11 was the worst day in American history mdash Sept 17 1862 Over 6 000 Americans died that day at Antietam four times as many as on D-Day and more than those who died in all the pre-1900 wars…
The Word
No Fair!
Today’s Gospel seems to challenge fairness, preferring concern for the “last.”
Columns
On Being a Patriot
The question, “Where were you on Sept. 11?” ordinarily asks for your location on that date one year ago. But as we mark the anniversary, the question needs an important update: Where are you on Sept. 11, 2002? What has changed at ground zero—as dramatically chronicled in William La
Faith
The Dallas Charter and Due Process
Before banks of cameras, intense lights and the gaze of victims of sexual abuse, the bishops of the United States recently debated in Dallas a new policy to “repair the breach” with those damaged at the hands of church ministers. They approved overwhelmingly a Charter for the Protection
No Fair!
Today’s Gospel seems to challenge fairness, preferring concern for the “last.”
News
Signs of the Times
New Los Angeles Cathedral DedicatedNearly five years after its ground was blessed, and with thousands of people gathered in celebration in its plaza, the world’s newest cathedral church was opened and dedicated on Sept. 2 in downtown Los Angeles. “My friends, welcome to the city’s,
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts