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Donald Kerwin
Yolanda González and Hermilo Hernández Velasco grew up in families of subsistence-level farmers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. After they married, Hermilo traveled to the United States and found work as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Portland, Ore. In May of 2000, Yolanda, 19 years old, hired a
News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Christians, Churches Attacked in Rioting Over Miss World PageantAt least 215 people were reported killed (as of Nov. 25), during riots in Kaduna, Nigeria, sparked by a newspaper article about the Miss World pageant, reports Emmanuel Ijewere, president of the Nigerian Red Cross. About 12,000 people h
James O. Clifford, Sr.
As a Catholic and a retired journalist, I feel shame when I read about the latest sex scandal involving my church. I am also ashamed of my former profession. I spent 40 years as a reporter and editor with wire services, a career that encompassed newspapers, radio and television. I don’t plan t
Books
Thomas Bokenkotter
Jay P Dolan professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame and founding director of the Cushwa Center there sets out in his new book to examine the interaction of American culture with Roman Catholicism ldquo in the land of the free rdquo under the heading of a ldquo search for
William A. Proefriedt
One afternoon in the late 1940’s, the eighth-grade classroom in Our Lady of Lourdes elementary school in Brooklyn was disrupted by the entrance of five or six boys from the local public school. They were part of a released time program that allowed public school children to attend religion cla
Letters
Our readers

Protecting

I commend you on the most timely and relevant editorial on domestic violence (11/18). My experience is that one of the best-kept secrets in the Catholic Church is the bishops’ document When I Called for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women. Very few pastors talk about this issue from the pulpit. Often the women who come to our center, Woman’s Place, are told by their pastors, Just be a good wife, try harder, pray more. The pro-life stance of the church must be proactive in protecting women and their children from the abuser in their family. Your editorial should be available to all pastors and pastoral councils as the first step in the education process of our parishes.

Jeanne Meurer, F.S.M.

Faith in Focus
Mary Sherry
Is he your father? The woman smiled benevolently as I coaxed Father Don to take another spoonful of puréed meatloaf. With his huge bony frame randomly folded and tucked into the wheelchair and his head supported by a neck pillow, Father gave no indication he had either heard or understood the quest
Poetry
William F. Bell

It is our emptiness and lowliness that God needs, and not our plenitude. --Mother Teresa

Somehow by day, no matter what,

Books
Marc Saperstein
I cannot identify any constructive role for this new book by Daniel Goldhagen currently an affiliate of the Minda Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University Unlike his previous book Hitler rsquo s Willing Executioners whichfor all its problemswas based on original research into a
The Word
Dianne Bergant
The wilderness which can seduce us with its beauty and its majesty has many faces In one part of the country its dense forests and lush vegetation fill up our senses In another its stark barrenness purges us of affectation while its grandeur takes away our breath It is a place of wonder and e
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
The name Kateri Tekakwitha may not strike chords of recognition in the minds of many readers, nor did it in mine until I made a retreat this past summer at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, N.Y. The shrine is dedicated primarily to eight French Jesuits who came to evangelize w
Antonio J. Ledesma
In the Philippines, we have a Muslim minority living together with a Christian majority. One Indonesian bishop explained his country’s situation to me in this way: “The manner in which you majority Christians deal with the minority Muslims in the Philippines will be the way the majority
Editorials
The Editors
The eight million Haitians who share the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic have the unwelcome distinction of populating the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is also a country that has endured for two centuries a series of governments inept and oppressive in vary
The Word
Dianne Bergant
The readings for the feast of the Immaculate Conception are rich in meaning but frequently misunderstood when viewed through the lens of the feast itself First contrary to some artistic depictions of the Immaculate Conception the Genesis account states that it is the woman rsquo s offspring rath
News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Vatican Official Says New Norms Give Greater ProtectionsFar from weakening the church’s ability to protect children, the revisions to the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse establish a rigorous procedure for dealing with offending priests and highlight the gravity of such crimes, the Va
Portfolio
Leo J. ODonovan
Some images are so powerful that, if we take time for them, they can alter our lives. The spirit hovering over the waters, the Lord who is our shepherd, the mountain on which every tear will be wiped away are such images, given us by the Jewish people and still nourishing us centuries later. Others
John F. Kavanaugh
Reactions to my Ethics Notebook column on leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent reminded me how volatile discussions can become when they meld the world of politics with the moral life. I’ve received some strong comments from both wings of the spectrum. How could you ever have
Books
George W. Hunt
The authorial tone of this delightful memoir is captured nicely in its subtitle ldquo A Baseball Valentine rdquo for its spirit as in a billet-doux reflects affection gratitude and recollection of the sweeter memories The main title The Last Commissioner coined by George Vecsey a sports rep
The Word
Dianne Bergant
We spend so much of life waiting As children we could hardly wait for birthdays free days and holidays we could hardly wait to grow up Now as adults we wait for buses and trains we wait in doctors rsquo offices and government agencies we wait for our turn on the golf course or the tennis c
John J. Paris
In a 5-to-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court recently upheld an Illinois statute that mandates an independent medical review whenever a primary care physician and an H.M.O. disagree on whether a requested treatment is “medically necessary.” The ruling, Rush Prudential H.M.O. v.