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Arts & CultureBooks
Vienna's Visionary
Doris Donnelly
In the last months of his long lifehe died at 98 in 2004Cardinal Franz K nig the former Archbishop of Vienna wrote this very personal book In Open to God Open to the World he highlights milestones in his service to the church as the Holy See rsquo s longest serving cardinal and tireless bridge
The Word
Joyful Witnesses
Daniel J. Harrington
The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin verb for ldquo rejoice rdquo The opening line in Paul rsquo s list of imperatives at the end of 1 Thessalonians captures the spirit of the day ldquo Rejoice always rdquo Besides the theme of joy running throug
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
FEMA Gave Bishops Runaround on DisasterChurch officials got the runaround from the Federal Emergency Management Agency when they wanted to know what federal plans were for helping the regions devastated by Hurricane Katrina, said the head of the bishops’ hurricane relief task force. The harsh
Portfolio
Jesuit Arts
James Martin, S.J.
Members of the Society of Jesus are often accused of excessive pride in their order and its history. This can be a fair critique. Sometimes, for example, Jesuits speak as if St. Ignatius Loyola were the first Christian to discover prayer. Not long ago at a retreat house, I gave a talk about Ignatian
Poetry
Silk Road
Mary Soon Lee

The Silk Road never came to Cleveland.

Arts & CultureBooks
Parables of Faith
Philip Crispin
Scholars have long noted a religious quality in Shakespeare rsquo s drama in which human histories are magnified through symbolic rites of passage sacramental language and ritual We witness life death and resurrection in his plays Over the past decade scholarly attention has focused on Shakespe
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
James Martin, S.J.
"Spots of time" is what the poet William Wordsworth called those places that imprint themselves so deeply into our minds that simply remembering them can lift our hearts - in other words, holy places. I thought about that phrase as I left Kentucky last month after visiting the Abbey of Get
The Council at 40
Gerald OCollins
From its opening session in October 1962 until its close 40 years ago in December 1965, the Second Vatican Council held millions of Catholics and others riveted. Pope John XXIII, who convoked the council only 90 days after he was elected, hoped that it would update the Catholic Church, renew it spir
Friends in the Lord
Mark A. Lewis
From the archives, the story of the early followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Letters
Letters

Not Rhetorical

Thank you for writing about the important matter of torture and for the good editorial, The Shame of Torture (11/7).

I was a bombardier in Europe during World War II, which I regret in my old age, and I am even more ashamed of our country today because of its blatant practice of torture on human beings.

To those who have paid attention to this subject, my comments might seem trite, but I believe there are two key issues we have not dealt with adequatelynot the government or the media.

First, while there has been a baker’s dozen of investigations on the use of torture by the U.S. government, these have been fox-in-the-henhouse inquiries, and not one of them has been an independent investigation. Why is this?

Second, a large body of evidence shows that the U.S. practice of using torture is not an aberration or the work of a few bad apples (the entire barrel smells like something washed up by Hurricane Katrina). Yet the blame is placed on a few low-ranking noncoms at a single prison, Abu Ghraib. The policy of state-sponsored cruelty has not led to anything but the trial and conviction of a private in the Army, as well as eight other hapless G.I.’s.

Am I missing something? If this were in a novel, no publisher would touch it; the plot is too far-fetched. When do we get to the heart of this problem? After America has lost its soul? The question is not rhetorical.

Tom Brubeck

Teaching About the Jesus of Islam
David Pinault
Recently I tried out on my students a new upper-level undergraduate course entitled "The Islamic Jesus." As a Catholic whose research interests range from the Middle East to Pakistan and Indonesia, I am drawn to opportunities for creative forms of interfaith dialogue. This new course certa
Arts & CultureBooks
Split in Two
Gene Roman
My parish church in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn announced its political inclinations with a poster hung in a glass-encased bulletin board just inside the front entrance during the 1960 rsquo s and early 70 rsquo s The photo showed an aborted fetus lying at the bottom of a silver bucket wit
The Word
There's Something About Mary
Daniel J. Harrington
Many people even some with extensive Catholic education confuse the immaculate conception of Mary and the virginal conception of Jesus According to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception Mary was conceived without original sin and so was prepared to be the mother of Jesus In this respect Mar
Faith in Focus
To Live Is to Hope
Ladislas Orsy
We are pilgrim people. So the Second Vatican Council proclaimed 16 times in its documents. Ever since Catholics heard these words, they have echoed them in songs and chants: we are pilgrims on the march, “for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
"Here today, gone tomorrow.” That familiar saying can apply to many things, including buildings and rare architectural artifacts. In a city like New York, buildings are torn down and replaced in a matter of months, their original accompanying artifacts lost. With this destruction of older
Columns
Unconventional Rules
Terry Golway
The question of how the United States is treating, or mistreating, prisoners captured in the war on terror has been simmering for some time. Indeed, it has been an issue ever since George W. Bush’s post-9/11 speech, when he committed the United States to a global fight against terrorism, a fig
Faith in Focus
Delayed Reaction
Teri Blair
I was traveling toward a major metropolitan area on the last day of a long holiday weekend. You can picture the scene: as far as the eye could see, both lanes were clogged, moving slowly. It was the sort of traffic that leaves only one option: double the expected travel time, find an entertaining ra
Letters
Letters

Already in Place

It would be a mistake to assume that the recent meeting in Rome of the World Synod of Bishops did very little to alleviate the associated problems of the unavailability of the Holy Eucharist and the shortage of priests (Signs of the Times, 10/31). A decision to go with married priests, suddenly and everywhere, would have been a colossal disturbance. But the ordination of married viri probati was floated at the synod. Married convert ministers are considered such, and are ordained. Therefore, the policy of ordaining viri probati is already in place. This policy can easily be extended, a quantitative change only, to permanent deacons. They, of course, would have to request priestly ordination. There is little reason to think they would not be offered the same treatment as converts. Neither of these groups, by the way, has been involved in the sexual scandal.

(Rev.) Connell J. Maguire

Editorials
Budget Cuts and the Poor
The Editors
Mean-spiritedthat is the only way to describe the budget cuts proposed by the House of Representatives. They are not only deep; their impact will be felt most by the very people who are least able to sustain them, namely, the poorest: low-income working parents, the elderly, children and legal immig
Religious Liberty
John A. Coleman
On Dec. 7 we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the “Declaration on Religious Liberty” (known also by the opening words of the Latin text, Dignitatis Humanae). No other decree of the Second Vatican Council was so controversial, underwent so many trials and setbacks (