When Michael Dirda took this summer off discerning readers of The Washington Post Book World were most likely disappointed They enjoy Dirda rsquo s erudite yet accessible reviews each Sunday The range of Dirda rsquo s interests and the breadth and depth of his literary knowledge are quite impress

As we approach the November midterm Congressional elections, most of official Washington has gone into recess. In the final weeks of campaigning, both the White House and the Congress have turned their attention from policy to politics. Those who take an idealistic view of the democratic process mig

Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II convened what has become one of the more significant symbolic and substantive events of his eventful pontificate. On Oct. 26, 1986, the participants in the World Day of Prayer for Peace gathered under an overcast and sometimes rainy sky in Assisi, Italy, “to

The distinguished political scientist and historian Jan Gross nails the title of his book with one word fear This is not the first time In 2001 he did the same with Neighbors another one-word title dripping with irony because the book told the story of the July 1941 gruesome murder of the Jew

I had very mixed feelings driving to Mass a few Sundays ago. The pastor of the church I had been attending for years was retiring, and this would be his last Mass there. I was trying to feel happy for Father Don; he deserved to be free of the administrative duties of a pastor. I knew he wanted more

Nigerias Potent CocktailNigeria is the 10th largest oil producer in the world, and its delta region provides much of America’s oil needs. But because the nation is plagued by violence, corruption and environmental degradation, the resulting wealth benefits few of its poorest inhabitants. The I

After watching her autistic son struggle through a difficult school year, Kristina Chew joined the blogosphere in what she calls a moment of desperation. Charlie Fisher, her 9-year-old son, seemed to have stopped making progress. Worse, he was having tantrums, banging his head violently and hurting

This year the Conference of Major Superiors of Men Religious and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious celebrate their 50th anniversaries. These vibrant organizations include most of the leadership of religious communities in the United States and have served well their members and the church

Until I lived in a homeless shelter, I did not know how bad things could getonions and grapes and bananas. That bananas could mold I never considered. An old banana went black and shrunk into itself, like a mummy; it could be frozen and revived later, slid from the peel into a bowl like a slick yell

Charles D rsquo Ambrosio says that as a young man he turned to fiction in part as a Daedalian act of snobbery against aspects of his Jesuit education In an essay on J D Salinger published in 2001 D rsquo Ambrosio recounts how during his time at Seattle Prep reading Joyce and other modern write

November’s midterm elections are approaching, but over five million Americans, in nearly all 50 states, will be denied the right to cast ballots. Why? Because they are current or prior felony offenders who cannot exercise a right guaranteed them in the Constitution. Two million of them have co

Several journalists have recently weighed in on the status of women’s religious life in recent years: Ann Carey’s Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women’s Religious Life (1997); John Fialka’s Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America (2003); Cheryl L. Reed&r

I have met many LAY Christians who put professional religious to shame by their dedication, their service and their heartfelt love of God. I have encountered many lifestyles that seem much more based on Gospel values than formalized vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Sometimes religious life f

Talk about heroic labors To flesh out the tale of his quirky Irish-American theologian Fr Eddie Danaher George McCauley a New York Jesuit invents major chunks of history an imaginary religious order the Christian Fathers founded in the 16th century by a swashbuckling Portuguese explorer-tur

When traffic on the Midtown cross streets and East Side avenues of New York City is backed up day after day; when police and police barricades appear at intersections, in front of hotels and before public buildings; when lines of black sedans and S.U.V.’s fill entire city blocks and dour men a

Patriarch’s Hopes for Papal Visit to TurkeyEcumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Benedict XVI’s November trip to Turkey will help calm recent tensions with Islam and advance his church’s struggle for religious rights. Patriarch Bartholomew,

A well-researched study of the negative dynamic that developed between the Catholic hierarchy and women religious in the United States in the decades following the Second Vatican Council has appeared as Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns (Doubleday), by