The face of the Catholic Church in America has changed--and will likely continue changing--in the wake of Vatican II historic events scandals a new papacy and an increasingly pro-active laity Based on almost two decades of Gallup surveys from 1987 to 2005 American Catholics Today has been uni

Sadly our summer open house has come to an end. But you can still sign up for our special $12 offer. And we hope you will. In the future, a selection of articles from America will be available to all those who register with the site. (Remember, registration is quick and FREE.) But to view all artic

Sick children are a nightmare for any family. But if the presidents 2008 budget is accepted without substantially increased funding for the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, or S-chip, millions of children will lack needed medical care when illness strikes. Created 10 years ago as a federal-

What does it mean to go for the gold?

Whatever you do, do quickly.” Spoken two decades ago, these words of Anne Montgomery’s provincial superior to her were both a sign of support and an acknowledgment of advancing age. Now 80 years old, 60 of them lived as a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sister Montgomery has

A review of essays by Anne Fadiman

Can Catholic identity be preserved at Notre Dame?

Being from Chicago, I have a weakness, a flaw really, for casting aspersions upon the Green Bay Packers, a football team from rural Wisconsin whose quarterback is so old they may need to provide him with a walker and an oxygen tent. Some-times I don’t even realize I’m doing it.   I

New Book Illustrates Mother Teresas StrengthVatican officials said a new book that recounts in detail Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcuttas long crisis of faith illustrates her spiritual strength in the face of doubt. This is a figure who had moments of uncertainty and discouragement, experiencing the

Reconciliation education is helping Rwanda to heal.

While camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota last fall, which I regularly do, I had my first encounter with a bear. Black bears are shy, but a dry summer had left few berries, and previous messy campers had advertised the area as a promising place to stave off a

Joseph A Califano was Lyndon Baines Johnsons chief domestic aide in the mid-1960s and 10 years later the last secretary of health education and welfare until July 1979 after President Jimmy Carters famous malaise speech In his acknowledgement for this new book he mentions his Jesuit formatio

Integrity Requires Candor Americas Current Comment Conversion/Covenant (8/13) seems to me to stress unduly the difference between the prayer for conversion of the Jews in the 1962 Missal, and the prayer in the 1970 Missal for the Jewish people, the first to hear the Word of God, that they may contin

To increase the visibility of our blog we ve set up an account with Technorati a site that helps viewers keep track of their favorite blogs If you have an account with Technorati and would like to add us to your list of favorites click Add to Technorati Favorites Tim Reidy Online Editor

Twenty-third Sunday The first reading Wis 9 13-18b offers a perspective that seems at odds with much that is claimed often in the Scripture predictably in homilies surely in popular pronouncement The Book of Wisdom likely the youngest book in the Old Testament speaks of the gap between what

The juxtaposition of the readings from Philemon 9-10 12-17 and the Gospel of Luke 14 25-33 place in high relief the issue of ancient Christian family values and much to the surprise and chagrin of some they do not replicate the values necessarily of either Mayberry or Riverdale or whatever

Our open house is officially over but you can still access old Word columns by registering with our site From now on Father Daniel Harrington s current Word column will only be available to subscribers Our special 12 offer is still in effect so we hope you ll join us It s a great deal