Ready to Cast the First Stone
Until I first came to Nigeria in 1964, I never had given much thought to Islam. But when I arrived, my eyes were opened to a new world. At the international airport in Lagos, men in “Arabian Nights” outfits swarmed around me. Some months later, on a visit to Lagos during Christmas week,
The Supreme Court, H.M.O.’s and Patient Rights
In a 5-to-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court recently upheld an Illinois statute that mandates an independent medical review whenever a primary care physician and an H.M.O. disagree on whether a requested treatment is “medically necessary.” The ruling, Rush Prudential H.M.O. v.
Drug Companies and AIDS in Africa
Over the last 20 years, 22 million people have died from AIDS. The United Nations predicts that without a drastic change in treatment and prevention efforts, 68 million more people will die from AIDS over the next two decades.
An Isolationist View of the International Criminal Court
In yet another move toward isolationism and unilateralism, the Bush administration has withdrawn all American support for the International Criminal Court, which came into existence on July 1, 2002. The administration went so far as to declare on May 6 of this year that it had unsigned the statute (
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Three years ago I had the pleasure of introducing John R. Donahue, S.J., as our Word columnist. He joined the roster of successors to Vincent P. McCorry, S.J., who had written the column for 20 years until 1973: Thomas H. Stahel, S.J., George McCauley, S.J., Joseph A.Tetlow, S.J., John C. Hawley, S.
Letters
Letters
Barefoot in Rome
Practicing the Faith, by John F. Kavanaugh, S.J.(11/4) gave me some comfort, the kind that comes from finding that one is not alone. Almost like Father Kavanaugh’s student-friend, I am connected with Catholic history and tradition and sought a truth worth understanding, a good worth loving and a faith to die for. Unlike…
Editorials
A Mandate to Govern?
The Republican Party and President Bush must be congratulated for a stunning victory in the Congressional midterm election. Not only did they overcome the normal historical pattern, whereby the party in the White House loses Congressional seats in a midterm election; they did it in the middle of a r
Faith in Focus
Resting in God
‘We’re the original hippies!” Father Bernard broke into a mischievous grin, white teeth flashing in the spring afternoon sun. We were talking about the Trappist lifestyle: four hours of manual labor six days a week to earn enough to support the community; the rest of the time spent
Books
Our Favorite Pastime
The authorial tone of this delightful memoir is captured nicely in its subtitle ldquo A Baseball Valentine rdquo for its spirit as in a billet-doux reflects affection gratitude and recollection of the sweeter memories The main title The Last Commissioner coined by George Vecsey a sports rep
American (Mis)Fortunes
The debate over the compatibility of wealth and democracy is as old as the republic With this truism author and political commentator Kevin Phillips begins Wealth and Democracy From the start we have no doubt where the author stands on that issue Extreme inequalities of wealth he is certain end
The Blame Game
From late January to June as the sexual abuse scandal raged across the nation and ravaged the church Catholics looking for a silver lining noted that the crisis had united erstwhile opponents in the Catholic culture wars With the bishops serving as convenient whipping boys for liberals and conser
The Word
A New World Coming!
We spend so much of life waiting As children we could hardly wait for birthdays free days and holidays we could hardly wait to grow up Now as adults we wait for buses and trains we wait in doctors rsquo offices and government agencies we wait for our turn on the golf course or the…
Columns
Back to All War, All the Time
Talk of war faded from the American conversation as midterm elections approached, but now that the campaign is over and Republicans are in firm control of Congress, we can expect a return to all war, all the time on the news networks and political talk shows. The producers and hosts, of course, will
News
Signs of the Times
Bishops Approve Revised Norms and Charter With Zero ToleranceThe United States Conference of Catholic bishops on Nov. 13 overwhelmingly approved revised norms to deal with removal from ministry of any priest or deacon who has sexually abused a minor. By a vote of 246 to 7 they adopted the new docume
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts