Awaiting a spring that is coming slowly to the Big Apple, I fast-forward my thoughts and summon the words of the 18th-century poet James Thomson: “…who can paint/ like Nature? Can imagination boast,/ amid its gay creation, hues like hers?” Signs and wonders will soon abound in all

A change of position by one Catholic Supreme Court justice could make a difference.

A new majority enters the culture wars.

Mary Oliver has done it again She has assembled a collection of poems that is moving intense and evocative in its engagement of the natural world Yet this latest book by the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winner is distinctive among her 17 volumes for the dark undercurrent that runs thro

A Watched Pot Never Boils In “Curbing Medical Costs” (3/10), Daniel Callahan starts a necessary discussion about health care. Unlike the proverbial frog in the pot of water, which did not detect the rising temperature until it was too late to jump out, the American people are becoming aw

What is the proper role of an ex-president Should he retire to enjoy his newfound freedom from public life write his memoirs and perhaps attend official functions as might be asked of him Most former presidents have done just that Presently we have three living ex-presidents in the United Stat

Under George W. Bush, the executive branch consolidated power to a dangerous degree.

There I was, a 50-something woman of privilege, in front of the Salvation Army homeless shelter in a seedy neighborhood of Austin on a sultry summer evening, dutifully putting bright orange traffic cones out in the street. I was startled by a tough-looking female police sergeant, who pulled me aside

New and selected stories from Tobias Wolff, reviewed

Sewing up the torn paw of a Javanese leaf-monkey, with the help of an Indonesian vet, might seem an untried and unexpected form of interfaith dialogue, but it proved very productive for me. This particular encounter took place in a wildlife rescue center, ProFauna Indonesia, in the hill country of E

Russia rsquo s cultural history in the 20th century presents both ldquo triumph and tragedy rdquo For every masterpiece published or exhibited countless more never saw the light the state mobilized artists and writers to serve its goals but kept them on a short leash ready to break any who da

View a slideshow of images of Pope Benedict XVIs first visit to the U.S. as pontiff. This feature will be updated daily over the course of his visit.

For those who were moved by the pope s meeting with abuse victims from Boston here is an interview from The Boston Pilot the archdiocesan newspaper with Cardinal Sean O Malley on how the meeting came about Q Can you explain your involvement in that unannounced meeting in Washington that

Cambridge MA There are many good things and interesting things to reflect on after the Pope s visit to the Washington and New York but here I pick up on only one Benedict s April 17th visit with representatives of various religions at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington Benedict

Mark does not explicitly give us the purpose of his Gospel Certainly one can deduce that he is interested in encouraging Christians to follow Christ no matter what the cost for the rewards are great He also appears to want to show the injustice of the interpretation of Jesus that led to his d

Matt Malone has just posted the final installment of his review of the fabulous John Adams miniseries on HBO Read it here For those of you who haven t seen the series be sure to add it to your Netflix queue it comes out on DVD on June 10 You can find Matt s review and other notable W

Sometimes the irony is so close it is difficult to see My friend Andrew Sullivan heads his blog with a quote from George Orwell To see what is in front of one s nose needs a constant struggle And as often as not the irony is in the words themselves Catholic is a word with a meaning

The Bible is populated with many characters that appear briefly and then vanish from the scene Philip the most prominent person in Acts 8 is one of these Except for a brief mention of his name in 6 5 and 21 8 all we know about him involves two scenes of preaching--one to the Samaritans and one

Barack Obama lost the Catholic vote in Pennsylvania to Hillary Clinton by an enormous margin of 68 -31 but his inability to attract Catholics has dogged him in earlier contests too The Catholic vote overlaps with other demographics blue collar older ethnic white all of which have garnered

As America’s readers know, we are celebrating our hundredth year of publication. Ever wondered what the magazine looked like in April of 1909? Online editor Tim Reidy has scanned and posted the April 17, 1909 initial issue of America as a .pdf file--you can read it here. (it’s a big file: be patient). The initial issue wasn’t big on graphics or readability, but heavy on content.