The Perfect Storm
This past February, the landscape of American Catholic higher education was battered by a perfect storm. It was not a meteorological storm – the winter was uncommonly mild. It was an ideological storm, constituted by clashing winds of academic freedom, sexual expression, feminism, Catholic moral tea
Contagious Learning
I remember being a high school sophomore and getting the college brochures in the mailthey said St. Peter’s and underneath The Jesuit College of New Jersey. It almost seemed to be a part of the title of the school, that phrase so often followed its name. This was repeated on other brochures, l
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
In the previous Of Many Things column (4/24), Father Jim McDermott remarked how Easter, after the extended observance of Lent, can seem to come and go with barely any impact on believers. Because it demands more of us, Lent seems to draw our attention more dramatically. I have a different take on th
Letters
Letters
Equitable Rights
Thanks for the informative, if sobering, article by Fred Naffziger on the bankruptcy situations in the Portland and Spokane dioceses (3/27).
I have never been able to understand why our Catholic dioceses do not simply implement the spirit and letter of Canon 1256 and set up each parish’s property in an express trust, with the…
Editorials
Immigration Reform on Hold
Massive rallies around the country demonstrate a groundswell of popular opinion pressing for comprehensive immigration reform. Encouraged by the church, these have been peaceful events by primarily hardworking, family-oriented people. The demonstrators want to see undocumented people given the oppor
The Worst of All Options
The investigative reporter Seymour Hersh broke the story just as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had succeeded in enriching uranium. The Bush administration, Hersh wrote, is planning a preventive military attack against Iran, possibly with the use of tactical nu
Faith in Focus
From Grief to Hope
On December 10, 2005, a Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 aircraft crashed in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, killing 127 passengers. Sixty of those killed were students of Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja, Nigeria. This reflection was written shortly after the event.
Books
A Stormy Path to Integration
Feelings regarding race run deep in the history of New Orleans At the close of World War II returning black G I rsquo s were no longer willing to accept the many unjust racial laws or observe the many petty laws and regulations that made up daily life in the southern states A new and…
The Womb of Souls’ Formation
Emilie Griffin was in her 20 rsquo s when she was received into the Catholic Church in August 1963 after what she describes as a passionate choice an upheaval and a homecoming She was drawn to the church in part because it offered the possibility of an interior life a realm in which I would…
Heroine-Mystic-Martyr-Saint
Joan of Arc is a saint of perennial appeal, even in postmodern America. At the level of popular culture, Joan’s unlikely story makes for good reading and viewing, not to mention innumerable hagiographic and literary interpretations.
The Word
Christian Mysticism
At its most basic level the word ldquo mysticism rdquo refers to a direct intimate union of a person with God through contemplation and love The Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter can help explain why every serious Christian can and should be a mystic The allegory of the vine in
Columns
A Brighter View
A couple of months ago, I wrote a gloomy, mid-winter’s column about a depressing round of Catholic school closings in and around my home in New Jersey. I referred to the early months of the calendar year as the saddest time of year for many Catholic school students, because often that is when
Faith
Heroine-Mystic-Martyr-Saint
Joan of Arc is a saint of perennial appeal, even in postmodern America. At the level of popular culture, Joan’s unlikely story makes for good reading and viewing, not to mention innumerable hagiographic and literary interpretations.
Messianic or Bourgeois?
Following a junior varsity lacrosse game one slushy spring afternoon in suburban Boston, I overheard a player ask another, Can you be an M.F.O. and take the water jug back to the bus for me, so I can catch a ride with my dad? I wondered, What is an M.F.O.? As a teacher in a…
News
Signs of the Times
Archbishop Calls for More Spanish-Language RadioArchbishop Elden F. Curtiss of Omaha has encouraged his fellow U.S. bishops to develop Spanish-language Catholic radio stations as a way of reaching Hispanic Catholics. With the Hispanic population growing rapidly in the United States, many dioceses fa
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts