Father Damien held up by America's most wanted

There is no perfect way to measure as complex a condition as poverty.

Cambridge MA We are now safely into Fall and so it is really time to clear off my desk of books that came in during the summer that is to say books that were sent to me sometimes from friends or authors I rsquo ve known over the years and sometimes out of the blue In front of me right now ar

nbsp nbsp nbsp Our daughter s best friend got married over Labor Day weekend Our families met in 1986 when our oldest girls were three years old It was a beautiful wedding in beautiful Monterey where the newlyweds live The wedding theme was oceanic and tropical the bridesmaids in slim stra

nbsp Sunday s Gospel falls under the shadow of the second prediction of Jesus death and resurrection nbsp By writing in this way Mark nbsp wants the disciple of Jesus to look upon hardships and trials - the cross of the disciple - as things which should be understood to nbsp imitate both Jesus

The New Republic has an interesting review of Pope Benedict s encyclical Caritas in Veritate I think it speaks well of both that non-Catholic journal and of the substantiveness of Pope Benedict s thought that they even took cognizance of it and did so more thoughtfully than many Catholic commenta

The mainstream media of which this journal is a part relies on reporting on evidence on weighing a variety of opinions on controversial topics etc and generally I think the MSM does a fine job Certainly the press makes all politicians of all ideological stripes uncomfortable and accountable

I ve spoken today to bishops and to people who have also spoken to bishops about yesterday s story see my post on next year s papal visit to the UK which will be only the second in British history the first was John Paul II s in 1982 What I ve learned 1 Both Rome and the Church in the UK w

Much attention has rightly been focussed on the irrational aspects of right-wing protesters especially those whose irrationality is rooted in racism But the Left has its irrationalities as well and some of them are on full display these days The most obvious was the sad spectacle of the rostrum

The 28 September issue of America has a very interesting article by Alfred McBride titled A Sturdy Framework A Defense of the Bishops New High School Catechesis Recently on this blog I tried to buck up William O Malley s splendid article raising questions about the new US Bishops document o

After a night that exploded in looting gunfire and teargas and a day of ldquo absolute chaos rdquo in the capital city events on the ground in Honduras are escalating dangerously out of control Patrick Ahern a U S journalist based in Tegucigalpa told America today Thousands of demonstrators

The story is breaking that Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting the UK next year possibly to beatify Cardinal Newman But neither Downing St nor the Holy See are confirming or saying when -- so there s really not a lot to report And given that we knew he was going to visit next year at some point

I received an email this morning from a dear friend in Paris to whom I had written yesterday congratulating him on the new nuncio being sent to Avenue President Wilson the French nunciature Among other things my correspondent wrote For Europeans the battle Obama is forced to fight on the hea

The banking industry is objecting to two government initiatives which leads me to the conclusion that both programs should go forward quickly The first and funniest in its way is the Obama administration rsquo s decision to enact a government takeover of the student loan business That rsquo s

Charles K Wilber author of Misleading Indicators How U S Economists Missed the Great Recession will be responding to readers question this Friday September 25 So if you haven t already read his article and respond with your own comment or question Wilber a professor emeritus of economics

The second reading for the 26th nbsp Sunday in Ordinary Time is another no-holds-barred passage from James 5 1-6 Come now you rich weep and wail over your impending miseries Your wealth has rotted away your clothes have become moth-eaten your gold and silver have corroded and that corrosion wil

NBC spent millions hyping the debut of ldquo The Jay Leno Show rdquo which appeared in the coveted 10 00 PM slot for the first time on Monday Sept 14 TV viewers accustomed to the 11 35 ldquo Tonight Show with Jay Leno rdquo wondered what the variety and talk show would be like in prime time

Normally on the blog I highlight online content for the Culture section which might otherwise escape the view of the print audience but today I wanted to call your attention to a terrific nbsp piece now on our site and which will appear in this week s issue Fr Robert Lauder s nbsp interview wit