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Books
In the wake of the Industrial Revolution an excess of consumer goods flooded the marketplace As it became clear that there was a surplus of interchangeable suppliers a way was needed to differentiate a given product from its competition Out of necessity branding was created as a way of doing ju
Arts & CultureBooks
The ultra right may have the loudest talking heads these days Limbaugh O rsquo Reilly Hannity etc but the left has cornered the market on stylish witty substantial writers Lewis Lapham Frank Rich Maureen Dowd Hendrik Hertzberg and others None of the leftist gang are likely to become
Editorials
"Put not your trust in princes," the Psalmist advises. Friendly Israeli civil servants have given similar advice to Catholics dealing with today’s Israeli politicians. Given the recent history of relations between the church and the Israeli government, it is a counsel born of hard ex
Columns
It was the final day of Catholic Schools Week, a dreary and wet winter’s day in the Vailsburg section of Newark, N.J. Stepping gingerly on the marble floor of Sacred Heart Church were 500 children from the parish school, who had come to hear the word of God at a special liturgy to mark the wee
Both the developed and developing worlds are facing a critical moral choice in the controversial issue of genetically modified food, also known as genetically modified organisms and genetically engineered crops. Critics of these modifications speak dismissively of biotech foods and genetic pollution
Arts & CultureBooks
Upon John Gregory Dunne rsquo s death of a heart attack in December 2003 the many obituaries and eulogies for this famous man of letters stressed the deft touch Dunne brought as a writer to those subjects he knew well the Irish-American experience the chaotic and morally bankrupt culture of Holly
Editorials
As expected, President George W. Bush used his State of the Union address to praise the successful election in Iraq and argue for his private investment model of Social Security reform. The Iraqi election certainly merits great attention. The images of long lines of people waiting to vote, even retu
As one of the world’s last industrialized nations to be without a national health care system, the United States is beleagured by a host of public health problems and contrasting proposals to solve them. Yet all the discourse appears to have generated no great public outcry for universal cover
Faith in Focus
"We have to close parishes.” “Many of our young priests are very conservative.” “So many couples who come to be married in church or to have their babies baptized don’t have a clue about the faith. People call themselves Catholic but have nothing to do with the Chu
Letters
Medieval Practice
Thank you for your well-reasoned editorial about the number of innocent people condemned to death in America, and the public’s growing distrust of a flawed death penalty system (2/7). Wrongful convictions, however, are not the only problems evident with this medieval practice. The system is arbitrary, unjust and riddled with inconsistencies. Death sentences are doled out overwhelmingly to poor defendants and racial minorities who kill whites. More than 90 percent of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977 have taken place in states of the former Confederacywhat’s called the Death Belt. While proponents claim that the death penalty deters crime, no study has ever demonstrated this. State killing is revenge, pure and simple. As you pointed out, a sentence of life without possibility of parole protects society and stops the cycle of violence. We commend the Catholic Church for its leadership on this issue, and look forward to the day when the government no longer stoops to the crime for which it punishes the perpetrator. To quote Bishop Gabino Zavala, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, The power to take a life is God’s.
Jeff Gillenkirk
The Word
We are children of the earth The fact that we live on the land has been reinforced by the biblical story of how God formed the first man out of the clay of the earth Gn 2 7 It might be more accurate to say that we are children of the water Life on earth began in the water and then developed ou
Arts & CultureBooks
One finds in theological circles frequent appeal to the ldquo sacramental imagination rdquo as a distinguishing trait of Catholicism Like all truths when unimaginatively intoned it quickly becomes platitudinous The Rev M Owen Lee rsquo s finely crafted and deeply moving memoir never invokes t
News
Vatican Official’s Comment Reopens Debate Over Possibility That Pope Will ResignWhen a high Vatican official said papal resignation should be left to the conscience of Pope John Paul II, it reignited a debate that has been smoldering for many years. Inside and outside the Vatican, prelates and
Yousif Thomas Mirkis, O.P., is an Iraqi Roman Catholic priest. He recently welcomed me to his community home in Baghdad, the convent of the Dominican friars. In the courtyard, he pointed to the ground. Look, he said. A cross lay molded into the tiles. This is to remind us that the cross is down here
Faith in Focus
To celebrate my 50th birthday, my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids took me on vacation for two weeks to Alaska. It was a wonderful summer vacation, with spectacular scenery and memorable moments. Midway through the vacation, my sister Mary Beth, her husband, Dominic, and I had the opportu
Arts & CultureBooks
Patrick Allitt is professor of U S history at Emory University He has been teaching undergraduates for more than 20 years and holds an endowed chair designated for ldquo Teaching Excellence rdquo When you read his newest book you will understand why As the book rsquo s subtitle indicates the r
News
Pope Hospitalized With Breathing ProblemsAfter Pope John Paul II was rushed to a hospital in Rome on the evening of Feb. 1 for treatment to help him overcome breathing problems, his condition stabilized and he was able to concelebrate Mass from his hospital bed, the Vatican spokesman reported. The H
"Is that stuff still going on?” the American college professor asked incredulously. He had heard of a Dalit boy whose college acceptance was revoked because he broke a coconut in his temple in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The boy, overjoyed at having graduated with honors
Film
In 1931, as the Depression tightened its grip on the American imagination, a very young Bing Crosby recorded a Harry Warren jazz ballad with the words, “I found a million dollar baby in a five-and-ten-cent store.” The song became a hit, and its singer went on to become one of the great i