It is a matter of surprise that I have occupied the Laurence J. McGinley Chair in Religion and Society for 20 years. When I reached the statutory retirement age at The Catholic University of America in 1988, I received several academic offers. As a Jesuit, I consulted my provincial superior as to wh

No one cares that Al died—not his family, not the folks at the halfway house where he lived, not even those of us who had served time with him. Only old man Bob on the third floor of B-Building mourned Al’s passing. Al used to clean Bob’s cell and wash his laundry. But Bob is as cr

Exploring new forms of pastoral leadership

Christopher Hitchens an atheist and best-selling author has provided a political sequel to his popular a-theological work God Is Not Great Gadflies such as Hitchens often try to attach themselves to past luminaries to bolster their causes In this case the author has fastened onto Thomas Paine

Bishops Urge Bill to Protect Farm Workers Expressing “deep concern for the men and women” who labor in the fields of southwestern Arizona and northern Mexico, the bishops of Tucson, Ariz., and Mexicali, Mexico, have issued a joint statement calling for legislation to end “exploitat

Perhaps the most telling symbol of the fragility of Kosovo is the family home. Upon arriving in Kosovo, one’s immediate impression is that the entire region appears to be under construction. Cranes dot the skyline and construction materials line the sidewalks and streets. The vast majority of

National Heresy As I read Of Many Things on March 31, by James T. Keane, S.J., and his reflections on Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the nation’s capital, I was jarred by his unnecessary putdown of the Washington Nationals’ lineup as one that would not “ever be worth rememberin

When Benedict XVI celebrates mass at Yankee Stadium today he will be the third pope to do so Paul VI celebrated mass there on his visit to the United States in 1965 and John Paul II celebrated mass there in 1979 as well as in 1969 as a cardinal In his 1965 visit Paul VI asked Americans to

Forty-five years ago this month Pope John XXIII published his ground-breaking encyclical Pacem in Terris Peace on Earth arguing that world peace depended on respect for and promotion of human rights On Friday April 18 just a week after the Pacem in Terris anniversary Pope Benedict XVI addr

How fitting that Pope Benedict traveled on Friday evening from the Park East Synagogue to St Joseph s Catholic Church on East 86th St The visit to the Synagogue on the eve of Passover was an event added on to an already busy schedule This visit surely reminded the assembled ecumenical leaders

Father Richard John Neuhaus has been doing on-air commentary for EWTN during the Pope s visit Yesterday at the papal Mass held in the new Nationals stadium he crossed a line he should not have twice criticizing the liturgy for its multicultural emphasis and questioning whether those who pla

The Pope s visit is stimulating a lot of different reactions on many fronts even if the drama of the sexual abuse issue tends to hog the media s attention Another appreciative response for me is focused on Benedict s active support of the UN and its international work on human rights Ameri

The Pope s itinerary did not include Boston the center of the clerical sex abuse crisis so Boston came to the Pope In a private meeting at the nunciature Pope Benedict XVI met with half a dozen victims of clerical sex abuse prayed with them and Boston Cardinal Sean O Malley OFM Cap gave

Today Pope Benedict met with five or six victims of sexual abuse from the Boston area The emotional meeting took place in the office of the Vatican nuncio to the U S in Washington D C For many Catholics this represents a significant step forward in the healing of the church It is not

Matt Malone S J is on assignment covering the papal visit to the United States The final installments of his review of the HBO mini-series John Adams will appear next week on America Connects You can catch up on his previous reviews here

The blogosphere erupted before last night s debate on ABC was even over and the eruption began on the pages of ABC s own Web site It was almost one hour before hosts Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos got around to asking a question about a real issue instead focusing on Rev Wright B

Thank goodness for Youtube among other graces in the papal visit so that we can hear President George W Bush utter what are sure to be oft-quoted words addressed to the Vicar of Christ Thank you Your Holiness Awesome speech The response of the Successor to St Peter is not audible Ja

Here s my take over at A Papal Discussion on the pope s landmark speech to the U S Bishops on a variety of topics including the abuse crisis Benedict and the bishops See if you agree James Martin SJ

As a product of Jesuit education who has dedicated his professional life to working in an international humanitarian agency of the Church I ve taken particular inspiration from Pope Benedict XVI s encyclicals I was particularly struck by how the Holy Father described charitable works as bein

For the fifth Sunday of Easter the first reading continues with the Acts of the Apostles and the passage chosen raises a number of historical questions Luke again makes the point that the number of disciples continued to grow 6 1 which directs us not only to the acceptance of the message in g