Stephen Tipton's 'Public Pulpits,' reviewed

The innocent victims of wartime violence

Aviad Kleinberg a professor of history at Tel Aviv University belongs to that not inconsiderable number of contemporary historians who have taken seriously the cult of the saints in the history of Christianity That interest in the saints has been especially energized by Peter Brown rsquo s The Cu

I am expected, I was told, to say a few words about the “Apostolate of the Pen.” Let me confess that I would prefer not to do so, for I am afraid of big words. Moreover, any expression intended to designate some human activity should be used by those it concerns to mean the kind of task

Can we make sense of suffering?

As Mark builds his story that shows Jesus to have the powers of the Messiah he also includes elements that go beyond miracle-working These three stories show some of these elements 1 Pious Jews were used to fasting though frequent fasting was not obligatory In this religious climate it is

How about doing virtue scans on the candidates in this crucial election Surely such background checks and assessments would lead to better choices than simply listening to campaign rhetoric and spin nbsp Predictions of actual responses to future challenges can be most accurately based on virtuous

Fr Jim Martin presents his third video blog on prayer this time on the practice of lectio divina Previous video blogs covered the examination of conscience and Ignatian contemplation Tim Reidy

One week from today the eyes of voters will turn to Mississippi for the first presidential debate of the 2008 general election The editors of America have put together a list of some of the questions they feel should be asked The online editorial can be found here

As many readers of this blog probably know The Synod on the Word of God begins in October and lasts for most of the month The purpose of the gathering is for the world s bishops to discuss the place of Scripture in the life of the church America s special issue on the synod has just been pub

From his baptismal experience Jesus knows the purpose of his life to preach a major element of which was to call people to repentance We consider three episodes which follow the statement of Jesus purpose in 1 38 Jesus cleanses a leper Surely not as astonishing an exercise of power as

America magazine rsquo s special election blog is designed to help teachers in civics history politics and journalism use the blog to stimulate discussion in the classroom facilitate research projects by the students and familiarize the students with Catholic social thought and what that traditi

It is a good thing for democracy that more states are in play this year Too often the debates the television ads the Get-Out-The-Vote organizations ignore large parts of the country because they are considered indelibly red or blue A Republican could in theory try to contest Rhode Island or

The British prime minister must be trembling and gulping nbsp as he endlessly re-drafts nbsp his speech nbsp The Labor nbsp party conference nbsp opens nbsp tomorrow and all nbsp eyes are on theleast popular PM since nbsp the 1930s Surrounded by plotters openly seeking his replacement this is no

nbsp nbsp Cambridge MA As we get closer to the election there is naturally more discussion of the role of religion in politics including the responsibilities of Catholics both as candidates and as voters Much of the discussion has to do with issues such as abortion genetic engineering and

This essay from the Chronicle of Higher Education by Mark Bauerlein is more evidence for what I already suspected reading on a computer screen makes me stupid nbsp Or more exactly trying to read dense extended arguments on a computer screen results in an entirely different kind of comprehensio

From Catholic News Service By Jonathan Luxmoore WARSAW Poland CNS -- A top Polish theologian known for his work in the field of ecumenism has rejected a demand from the Vatican to retract and rewrite an article criticizing the Vatican s attitude toward Christians of other denominations Oblat

Yesterday rsquo s front page story in the New York Times headlined the abortion issue and its decisive role for many Catholic voters The pages of this blog which is less than a fortnight old have already shown the wide variety of opinions on that issue and I suspect there will be further debate a

After Jesus had spent time in the desert then called four companions to leave all and follow him Jesus and his four came to Capernaum a town on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee about twenty or so miles east of Nazareth Mark tells us four stories he has chosen about Jesus visit here Ma