The President left a host of issues unresolved yesterday when he lifted the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research And the fact that he did so illustrates the point we made yesterday that the President has bought into scientism a belief that one can champion pure science by

The first reading provides the ten commandments still familiar to many who will hear the passage nbsp Unless the shorter Lectionary option is chosen please not it is evident at once how uneven is the attention or space given to the various commandments nbsp The ldquo firstborn rdquo gets t

I am no fan of traditional natural law theory even though I recognize that it is the framework for most Catholic moral theology and it has its utility I find that it tends to result in an act-centered view of sinfulness that quickly reduces the Christian faith to a moralism that misses the point

President Obama will sign an executive order today lifting the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research The decision is not a surprise and despite the demonization of Obama coming from the right it is a decision that John McCain promised to make as well Furthermore I believe that

Listening to the voice of conscience

Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop and the 'great might have been'

Women in parish leadership

Some books on St. Paul

Stopping Cluster Bombs “Civilian” is the key word in the title of an important new bill before Congress, the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act. Introduced on Feb. 11 by Senators Patrick Leahy (Democrat of Vermont) and Diane Feinstein (Democrat of California), with companion leg

Lawmakers have provided increased funding for basic necessities, including food and health care.

Church workers in Pakistan are concerned over the government’s decision to allow militants to enforce Islamic law in the pro-Taliban controlled North-West Frontier province. The government, in an attempt to bring about peace and order, agreed on Feb. 16 to allow Taliban leaders to enforce Shar

Aid to Poor Gets Boost in Stimulus Small towns, large cities, social service agencies and even the manufacturers of digital converters for television sets all expect to benefit from a piece of the $787 billion stimulus measure signed by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17. But amid all the mega-milli

Lectio divina and deepening marital intimacy

Baptismal Call The column by Thomas Massaro, S.J. (“Blessed Are the Poor” 1/26), discussing the moral requirements of the current economic downturn, is a wonderful addition to the pages of your magazine in these challenging times. Many of us feel bad about our own losses from these event

Hard work, solidarity and other ethical values must be part of the world’s response to the global economic crisis, said Pope Benedict XVI and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The pope and prime minister met Feb. 19 at the Vatican, and their 35-minute conversation focused on the economic cr

The Vatican has labeled “blasphemous” a satire of Christianity on an Israeli television network that included joking suggestions that Mary was impregnated by a school friend at the age of 15 and that Jesus died at a young age because he was fat. A Vatican statement on Feb. 20 said the pr

An exhibit on the treasures of Pompeii offers the reconstruction of a whole culture.

The state of the U.S. correctional system cries out for change

'Violations of workers' rights cannot go unchallenged.'