Substance Abuse: The Feminine Mystique
Despite promising statistics indicating recent declines in youth substance use, more than a quarter of high school girls currently smoke cigarettes and binge drink, almost half drink alcohol regularly, and one in five uses marijuana. Another 4 percent use cocaine and inhalants.A three-year study by
A Campaign to Divide the Church in the Holy Land
In Rome and Jerusalem, proposals have been made to divide the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to establish alongside it a church jurisdiction for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel. This new jurisdiction would be directly dependent on Rome and independent of the local Latin (Roman Catholic) pat
Justice in Executive Compensation
There is a growing consensus that the top executives of our corporations appear to be overly compensated and that something needs to be done about this. The Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, has spoken about infectious greed in American corporate leadership. Business Week has pointed out tha
Unjust War, Good Outcomes
It was unjust to go to war in Iraq. There was no imminent threat; there was no proper authority; and it was not a last resort. No, I am not going to keep quiet because we won. Winning is not the determinant of good. Nor do the good outcomes we hope forpeace and just representation…
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
With their sky high prices, Broadway-level shows are largely unknown to me. But thanks to an actor friend at my parish, I received a complimentary ticket to a matinee performance of “Hank Williams: Lost Highway,” which until late June will be playing on West 42 Street. It arrived there a
Letters
Letters
R.I.P.
It’s never easy to lose a friend, and when I heard on April 29 that Alma Roberts Giordan had died, I felt a deep loss, tempered only by the fact that we had brought affirmation and joy into each other’s lives. She certainly had done the same for readers of America, as your respected and…
Editorials
Welfare’s Unfair Work Requirement
Heavier burdens are in store for single mothers who currently receive Temporary Aid to Needy Families—if the administration and the House of Representatives have their way in the re-authorization of the 1996 welfare reform law. The re-authorization was to have taken place before last Oct. 1, b
Faith in Focus
The Sign of the Cross
My niece’s friend asked: “Does the Sign of the Cross always have to be made with the right hand?” Another friend reacted immediately: “Of course it must.” A third retorted, “But isn’t that awkward for a left-handed person?” An account of this debate th
Books
A Sacerdotal Bildungsroman
The great bulk of Thomas Keneally rsquo s 30-some books have been fiction but he rsquo s at his best when dealing with facts as in his splendid novelized biography Schindler rsquo s List 1993 his family-clan-nation epic The Great Shame and the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking Worl
A Voice for the Voiceless
Not very long ago the only people who knew about Megan McKenna were those who heard her lecture in college courses or who were present at conferences conventions and retreats where she was a featured speaker Reports filtered back from these occasions that she was an accomplished storyteller who c
Tested to His Limit
A quaintly phrased prologue seeks a ldquo most gracious and deliberate rdquo reader rsquo s trust The voice of ldquo a minor cleric rdquo a preacher long at his post reveals that he has committed ldquo Davidic sins rdquo But now in older age he rests content in his work because of the st
Theater
John Adams’s Oratorio El Nio
“El Niño,” the winter child that blows up a storm, is also the name of an oratorio by the modern composer John Adams. It celebrates the coming of the miraculous child, Jesus, as recorded in the Nativity scenes and as interpreted expansively between the scenes, often with Latin Ame
Poetry
Spring Tonic
At twenty-one, a new Hunter College graduate,
The Word
Just Where Did Jesus Go?
If Jesus ascended into heaven, might we still find his body up there?
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
The command to love is found in the report of the Last Supper discourse This exhortation is considered the heart of Jesus rsquo teaching certainly in John rsquo s Gospel Love for others is here grounded in God rsquo s love for Jesus and Jesus rsquo resulting love for us It is a profound messag
Faith
Just Where Did Jesus Go?
If Jesus ascended into heaven, might we still find his body up there?
News
Signs of the Times
Bishop Lifts Ban on Voice of the Faithful MeetingsBishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn has lifted his ban on the use of church property for meetings of the lay group Voice of the Faithful. Bishop Daily said his decision was based on the recommendations of a diocesan committee, headed by Auxiliary Bish
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts