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Books
Not long ago an English critic and essayist Geoffrey Wheatcroft cast a cold eye on the rash of memoirs written by Irish Catholics from both sides of the Atlantic Would there ever come a day Wheatcroft wondered when an Irish-Catholic memoirist would have something good to say about his or her f
Editorials
The United States went to war in Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction and depose Saddam Hussein. No weapons have been found; Saddam is under arrest. The time has come to declare “mission accomplished” and announce a deadline for bringing the troops home. The administration has mad
The Roman Catholic clergy in the United States report with dismay—and not a little self-pity—that their churches, once filled on Sunday, are now half empty. Some view this decline in Sunday Mass attendance as proof that the Catholic Church is falling apart, and many attribute the decline
Arts & CultureBooks
In the very useful Penguin Book of Irish Fiction 2000 editor Colm T ib n ultimately selected but one short story from the prolific Benedict Kiely an unenviable task to say the least T ib n chose Homes on the Mountain a modest-seeming tale about a 12-year-old boy and his extended family tw
Of Many Things
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. "It is a beautiful honor to die for one’s country.” In this famous line, the Roman poet Horace gave lasting expression to an ideal of republican virtue inherited from an age when citizen soldiers defended their homeland against its enemies. Even
President Bush’s 2004 immigration proposal seems on first reading to be both enlightened and in keeping with his policy of homeland security. The proposal, which would provide illegal workers certain rights and enable them to shed their illegal status and be counted as documented workers, is b
If a student at a Catholic college becomes pregnant, what kind of support, if any, can she expect the college to give her to help her carry her pregnancy to term? Not much, many observers would suppose. Students at Catholic colleges, particularly those that have a residential regulation that prohibi
Letters
Satisfactory Return
I read Michael McGreevy’s letter (5/3) about the editorial Trading Jobs (4/5), and I think the mind-set expressed by Mr. McGreevy is outrageous. It is, however, typical of investment bankers and lawyers.
Those of us who manage a business in manufacturing, as well as our friends who manage a service business that renders a genuine service, really do not feel that our function in running a business is primarily to make a profit and to provide this profit to the investor. Our prime responsibility is to manufacture a good product or supply good service and to provide constructive and satisfying careers.
Clearly everyone, whether owner, manager, salaried employee or hourly employee, recognizes that we must make a profit to maintain and grow our business, but I challenge Mr. McGreevy and those in their ivory towers with similar mind-sets to go onto the shop floor and ask the individuals there whether they feel the primary purpose of their career is to make a satisfactory return for the investor.
Carl C. Landegger
Books
A former Algerian army officer named Mohamed Moulessehoul writing under the pseudonym Yasmina Khadra paints a graphic picture of Afghanistan and Kabul under Taliban rule that is as troubling as it is unforgettable His evocative prose describes a once proud city brought to its knees by Islamic fund
Editorials
The presidential campaign of 2004 promises to be the most expensive in U.S. history. Unfortunately, and not by accident, the most expensive presidential campaign in history also threatens to be the least enlightened. The enormous sums available to campaign organizations are for the most part investe
FaithFaith in Focus
Catholic students are quick to talk about their experience of church—but what about their experience of Christ?
In our electronic, computerized, digital world, it was refreshing for me recently to discover once again the power of the printed word, specifically the words printed in a magazine like the one you are holding in your hands or are reading on America’s Web site.I teach at John Carroll, the Jesu
The Word
The blowing wind is a mysterious phenomenon It cannot be seen but its effects are constantly around us In the summer it can be a cooling touch on the skin while in the winter it can slap one hard in the face It carries the seeds that will eventually germinate into new forms of life yet it can
Books
This book as its subtitle indicates is a history of the Jesuits from their origins up to the present day It is well researched broadly learned sophisticated fast-paced sympathetic yet critical somewhat impressionistic in approach and sometimes breezy in style I recommend it Jonathan Wright
News
Judge Says Bishops Manipulated Review BoardThe head of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ National Review Board on sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy said on May 11 that a letter she wrote to the head of the bishops’ conference on March 29 prompted the U.S. bishops to decide they wil
The first step in teaching moral values to young journalists is to get them to feel pain—not their pain, the pain of others. From that, other virtues—compassion, skepticism, courage and the like—might follow. But virtue is getting harder to teach. Last spring two news stories force
Faith in Focus
The other evening, I was canvassing classmates for donations to the annual fund for the Jesuit high school I attended. A classmate I called said he would not make a contribution because he felt the Jesuits were too liberal. Whenever I hear something like that, I have a tendency to back off. We gradu
The Word
Legend tells us that St Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to teach about the three persons in one God It is an ingenious pedagogical device very neat and understandable But it does little to explain the mystery we call God While the readings for today do not really describe the divine esse
Books
Journalism can be a difficult and tricky trade for those whose heads are on straight and whose hearts are in the right places It is hard to get past the people those looking for decent housing the immigrants who seem to hold so much of the rest of this country up on their brave and persevering sho