Few Iraqi Refugees Resettled in U.S. More than 1,000 refugees from Iraq arrived in the United States in May, the most in recent months, bringing the fiscal-year total to 4,742 so far, the State Department reported June 3. But with just four months left in the fiscal year, the administration’s

Twenty years after the cold war, the arms race intensifies.

The issue of religious liberty is of the highest interest to me both as a theologian and as an American. It is, as it were, the American issue at the Council. The American episcopate is greatly pleased that the issue has finally appeared on the agenda of the Council, notwithstanding many efforts to

Reformulating Reform In my review of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s book Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church (3/10), I professed a profound sympathy for much of Bishop Robinson’s analysis of the clerical sexual abuse scandal. Indeed, I believe that his analysis of much of what a

George W. Bush’s victory in 2004 has been credited to Latino voters. Some political commentators have even claimed that a majority of Latinos elected Bush in the 2004 presidential election. The statistics disprove the latter claim. Yet Latino votes in certain swing states did lead to a Bush wi

Cambridge MA In a moment I will return as promised to reflections on my spring seminar on the Yoga Sutras and the Spiritual Exercises But first I wish to thank all those who have been commenting on my bi-weekly entries particularly the last two on the anniversary of my ordination as occasi

Sen Barack Obama announced yesterday that he is opting out of the public finance system for the general election His campaign concluded that his internet fundraising base with more than 1 5 million donors and which raised 272 million through April could deliver more cash than the 80 million th

David Gibson former Vatican radio correspondent and author of The Coming Catholic Church and The Rule of Benedict has recently been invited to begin a new blog on Beliefnet Gibson full disclosure a good friend is full disclosure this would be true whether or not he s a friend one of

A few years ago there was an English film entitled Secrets and Lies It charted the story of a dysfunctional family who sat on terrible secrets and told many lies for decades Like many successful dramatic films audiences flocked to see it not only because of its compelling story but also bec

Now that the general election season is underway we are beginning to hear absurd mantras like True leaders don t change their minds My opponent flip flopped My thinking on fill in the blank is the same today yesterday and tomorrow I find this certitude bordering on idolatry--and it

Shortly before the opening of what is set to be for Anglicans a wearingly divisive Lambeth Conference comes the fuss over a gay wedding of two clergymen officiated by the rector of a well-known City of London church Martin Dudley rector of St Barts as St Bartholomew s is affection

First John McCain and now President Bush have announced support for lifting the ban on offshore drilling along America s coastline in response to the rise in gas prices This is an idea that only an oil man could love but then of course Bush is an oil man so we should not be surprised McCain

Above Tim Russert at Boston College in 2004 In the midst of the avalanche of news coverage of Tim Russert s death comes the inevitable reference to his working-class Catholic background his early education by the Sisters of Mercy as well as his Jesuit education at Canisius High School i

The image of a classic Catholic pol is Mayor Richard Daley or someone very much like him Daley built and ran a political machine that used patronage and politics to deliver government services to his constituents and re-election victories to himself His son has carried on the tradition and it is a

From Britain comes a dilemma capable of exercising grey matter in an ethics classroom one faced by 13 Catholic adoption agencies many of which go back to the eighteenth century From January 2009 when a new Equality Act comes into force they must either close down sever their links with

An ABC News Washington Post poll this morning focuses attention on independent voters those who do not identify with either political party Increasingly this is the largest group of the electorate as partisan identification declines for both Democrats and Republicans The bad news for John McCa

For everyone who said What s the big deal when the earlier Vatican document about the Tridentine Mass was promulgated comes a report from Catholic News Service Remember that even if there is and this is debatable not a groundswell of interest on the part of the American Catholic laity

After months of relatively good news from Iraq with lower levels of violence and fewer casualties this past week brought two bad pieces of news First the Iraqi government and the U S government have failed to agree to terms for a new security arrangement that replace the current UN mandate due

Sad news from Washington today Tim Russert host of NBC s Meet the Press died of a heart attack at 58 The CNN Report is here Despite an acerbic style in interviews and aggressive personality Russert has been one of political television s class acts over the past two decades He was als