The cover for this delightful collection of interconnected essays is the famous photo taken in 1932 of 11 ironworkers enjoying a relaxed lunch break as they sit side by side perched on an I-beam a thousand feet up in open space overlooking mid-Manhattan their legs nonchalantly dangling from the sk

I hope you will not think it hopelessly chauvinistic if I suggest that we no longer celebrate St. Patrick’s Day but St. Patrick’s season, at least in the Northeast. On the day itself, March 17, New York City will hold its oldest and grandest parade. But because so many neighboring towns

Influx of Iraqis to Jordan Strains ResourcesThe enormous influx of Iraqis over the past five years has put a large burden on Jordan, said church aid officials who are trying to help the refugees. Though official estimates put the number of Iraqi refugees in Jordan at about 1 million, Catholic groups

On a stunning midwinter’s day, with blue sky above and a gentle breeze blowing, I stand on the banks of the River Jordan, a 30 minute walk from the Sea of Galilee. To my left is a small dam; the river stops, for all intents and purposes, here. To my right is the source of a nauseating stench:

"All of us long for a pentecostal church: a church in which the Spirit rules, and not the letter; a church in which understanding breaks down the fences we erect against each other. We are impatient with a church which seems so unpentecostal, so unspiritual, so narrow and fearful. Joseph Ratzinger s

Comparing himself to Flannery O 8217 Connor the novelist Walker Percy describes himself as a writer of the Catholic perspective in the 20th century From a Catholic perspective at least Christianity underwrites those very properties of the novel without which there is no novel I am speaking of

Noahs DinosaursDuring eight days last September, 16-year-old Matthew LaClair carried a concealed tape recorder to his 11th-grade American history class at Kearny High School in Kearny, N.J. He recorded any comments about religion made by his teacher, 38-year-old David Paszkiewicz. Matthew, whose fam

On the day I write this column, The New York Times has published side by side on its front page two articles that embody the divergent possibilities of our future in Iraq. The United States, contrary to all previous statements, will join Iran and Syria in talks on Iraq. As the Iraq Study Group had e

A shard of bone from the body of St. Francis Xavier—I held it in my hand, gazing at this tiny remnant of a human body centuries old, contained under glass in its small reliquary. This particular relic belongs to one of two collections of relics with which Ihave become familiar at Jesuit parish

Trust receives no flag-draped coffin, no posthumous medals and stirring eulogies, but it has ever been a tragic casualty of war, and we have been in a state of war for nearly a century now. Words lose their meaning, and covenants prove hollow. What political leader can we believe? Who from the busin

Vatican Rejects Appeal Against ExcommunicationThe Vatican’s highest court said it has no jurisdiction over a decision in March 1996 by Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., that Catholics in his diocese who are members of Call to Action Nebraska and 10 other organizations were automati

De gustibus non est disputandum is a snippet of medieval wisdom mostly honored in the breach as evidenced by Michael Kammen 8217 s Visual Shock a cheerful history of more than a century and a half of arguments about art Kammen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of American culture and his re

Last May in Oaxaca, one of Mexico’s poorest states, members of the national teachers’ union began a strike for higher salaries, which led to an encampment in the city’s central square. The Mexican government initiated a repression of the teachers’ struggle, which then expande

The 12 jurors responsible for deciding the fate of I. Lewis Libby Jr., former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, faced a perplexing task. Mr. Libby was charged with obstruction of justice, lying to federal agents and perjuring himself before a grand jury during an investigation to determ

Back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when a group of like-minded individuals wanted to found a movement, they usually started by founding a magazine. The Atlantic Monthly was the brainchild of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Boston luminaries who wanted to create a place t

Viktor Frankenstein created the Monster Walt Disney created Walt Disney but the outcome was pretty much the same The creation takes control of the creator Even more chilling in Neal Gabler rsquo s unspoken subtext is the suggestion that the Disney empire provides a cautionary tale for America M

More than a quarter-century ago, the Archdiocese of Chicago embarked on what must have seemed a radical idea at the time: catechetical barhopping. Well, that’s probably a bit too glib and irreverent. But it’s also not far from the truth. The program, after all, was called Theology on Tap

Catholic tradition helps me navigate the dangerous waters of medical decision-making.

An Anglican Schism? Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, faces an almost impossible challenge. Last week in Tanzania, a gathering of three dozen Anglican bishops rebuked their American branch, the Episcopal Church, for supporting gay clergy; consecrating Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an openly g

Two churchmen made headlines in 2006 with their comments about mandatory celibacy for Latin rite Catholic priests Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo of Zambia dropped from sight in Rome and appeared in the United States with his wife Maria Sung In July he founded Married Priests Now an association of m