It is funny to see conservatives rushing to support Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito who told an Italian-American lawyers rsquo gathering that he is tired of hearing people question the fact that six of the nine current justices on the Supreme Court are Roman Catholic as if there was something wr

In this time of the apostolic visitation which is intended to investigate the quality of life of women religious in the post-Vatican II era I d like to share with you the story of nbsp a woman religious who died just this morning in Dubuque Iowa--one of the best people I ve ever known nbsp S

I suppose it was more than ten years ago that the waiters at the caf eacute I was managing started telling me about ldquo Raves rdquo These were all-night drug-infested parties where the music was loud and to my Bach-attuned ears obnoxious the incidences of copulation or near-copulation many

It sounds like someone is torturing an animal while Christmas music plays in the background Thus did one of my brothers sum up Bob Dylan s new holiday album Christmas in the Heart And he s got a point Bob sounds more like the guy who stumbles in the back door during midnight mass

Cambridge MA Here is Mr Manohar rsquo s latest entry to our conversation following upon my recent reply to him The following are his comments with my additions clearly marked and italicized nbsp nbsp nbsp ldquo In this post I wish to consider two difficult issues ndash dialogue and the

The prophet Jeremiah preached so far as we can hear from the book bearing his name mostly harsh threatening and accusatory words urgently necessary in his day nbsp There are a few chapters of hope promise and joy as sampled in the first reading today nbsp The prophet exults to announce th

Early news coverage suggests that the strategy of the bishops of Westminster and Canterbury of downplaying the ecumenical damage threatened by this morning s announcement by Rome -- see earlier posts here and here nbsp -- has met with limited success nbsp The Times notes how Cardinal Levada pref

This morning s firecracker announcement by Rome of a new canonical instrument for receiving Anglican congregations en masse see my earlier post here has been welcomed by Anglo-Catholics in the Church of England -- the ones who most matter Forward in Faith the main Anglo-Catholic grouping in the

The news from Rome about the establishment of special ordinariates for disaffected Anglicans should not be seen as a re-lighting of the fires at Tyburn Indeed Archbishop Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop Rowan of Canterbury held a joint press conference to put the announcement in the context o

Rome today has announced a legal means for disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholic while hanging on to their liturgies and rites It is a major move by Pope Benedict XVI the potential negative impact of which on relations between the two Churches was vigorously played down by the Archbishops

As Caritas Internationalis and Catholic Relief Services expanded their efforts to respond to the unprecedented flooding throughout Asia following a series of typhoons and accompanying torrential comes news that a 2007 U S EPA report finally released in response to a Freedom of Information Act peti

The first reading for the Solemnity of All Saints on November 1st is from Revelation 7 2-4 9-14 I thought that it might be worthwhile over the next two weeks to take a look at Revelation in particular and at apocalyptic thought in general For if it is true that biblical literacy in general is wa

Archbishop Raymond L Burke former archbishop of St Louis and currently prefect of the Apostolic Signatura the Vatican s highest court nbsp has been named to the Congregation of Bishops where he will have a great deal of say in who is chosen to become a bishop in the United States along with C

One of the goals of the America s Web site is to foster a community for our readers friends--even our critics To that end we have decided to revisit our comments policy As of today comments for blogs and articles will no longer be vetted before being posted We hope this will allow for a more l

After two days on the front page the Pakistan army rsquo s offensive operations in South Waziristan are this morning consigned to page 6A below the fold The editorial decision no doubt made to permit room for a color photo of Redskins rsquo quarterback Jason Campbell being sacked is unfortunat

Cambridge MA I had intended not to blog on another topic until after Mr Manohar and I finish our first round of exchanges in Hindu-Christian understanding but can rsquo t help making this brief entry today mdash in light of the just passed feast of Diwali and NPR rsquo s report this morning o

Traditional economic indicators have proven to be unreliable measures of social well-being.

The poet Peter Steele's territory of joy

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