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After the Tsunami, Peace
Robert N. Lynch
There is definitely a “peace dividend” to disaster relief, as I found in mid-December during my second visit to Banda Aceh, the large city in northern Sumatra (Indonesia) where over 118,000 lives were lost on Dec. 26, 2004. That was the day of the multiple catastrophes of a huge earthqua
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Respectful Appreciation

In Aquinas in Africa (2/6), Thomas F. O’Meara, O.P., suggests that an African attitude toward technology and economic growth will influence how Africans think about Christianity. When I read this statement, it seemed to me that the opposite was true: that one’s fuller understanding of Christianity would influence how one regards technology and economic growth. In ordinary parlance, technology and economic growth are equated with progresswhich is never very well defined.

It is fairly clear that current technology is not harmonious with the earth’s processes. We are using the gifts of the earth at an unsustainable rate, which is not only unwise and inequitable, but also an affront to the creator who bestowed them. Is the author implying that the African attitude toward technology and economic growthand presumably toward progressis innately closer to a respectful appreciation and utilization of earth’s treasures than is often accepted? People close to the earth do seem to have a deeper understanding and bond with creation.

Dean Brackley, S.J., well points out in the same issue that while contemporary society [offers students] jobs, the only vocation it seems to propose is getting and spending. It is in our Christian faith that we are taught the vocation to love and serve.

The message of the Gospel, then, should inform the technological and economic strategies that humanity employsin Africa and elsewhere.

Sheila Murphy, O.S.U.

The Word
The Rainbow
Daniel J. Harrington
The Lectionary texts for the Sundays of Lent follow a somewhat different pattern from that of Ordinary Time The series of Old Testament readings develops the history of our salvation with reference to the theme of God rsquo s covenant with his people Israel The various Epistle texts help us reflec
Arts & CultureBooks
Shared Authority
William A. Galston
In Active Liberty Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer offers an alternative to Justice Antonin Scalia rsquo s advocacy of text-focused statutory interpretation and a constitutional jurisprudence that takes its bearings from original intent Instead Breyer argues statutory interpretation should lo
Editorials
Culture Clash
The Editors
The chasm between the Muslim world and the West yawns still wider as a result of the furor over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Some of the protest, particularly in Syria, Lebanon and Iran, was government instigated; some was fomented by radicals keen to whip up animosity against the West.
The Francis Next Door
Karen Sue Smith
In the early 13th century, Francis of Assisi stood before Pope Innocent III and asked him to sanction a new way of life, which ultimately became a new religious order with a twist. The Franciscans would not be cloistered monks, but active brothers living in towns and countrysides, sustained by alms.
Ruined for Life
George M. Anderson
"Ruined for life”—that is the humorously ironic phrase used of young women and men who give one or two years of their lives to service in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. The phrase was coined by Jack Morris, the Jesuit credited with having started it all—of whom more later. Althou
Arts & CultureBooks
A Life Changed
Mary Donnarumma Sharnic
Two scenes leap off the pages of Nobel prize-winning author J M Coetzee rsquo s latest novel Slow Man the in medias res opener in which protagonist Paul Rayment is accidentally knocked off his bicycle by young driver Wayne Blight and loses a leg and the penultimate scene in which the Jokic fam
Guantnamo Journey
George M. Anderson
"Our daily Mass was at the center of all we did,” said one of the Christian activists who set out for an 11-day pilgrimage to Cuba during the Advent of 2005. It was undertaken as a prayerful protest of the treatment of prisoners held incommunicado at the Guantánamo military base. Those w
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Who Owns What?

Forgive me if I am confused on the current question of who owns and/or controls assets of Catholic parishes. Two items in the Signs of the Times section (2/6) seem to express contrasting viewpoints on this issue.

First, Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland, Ore., asserts that the archdiocese has no authority to seize parish property or assets to satisfy claims against the archdiocese.

Second, the Vatican has denied appeals from members of parishes that were closed by Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., of Boston. While there were other reasons given for these closings, the financial distress of the Archdiocese of Boston is an underlying cause. Did the parishes and the parishioners receive the benefits from disposing of these assets, which were claimed without their consent?

The Wall Street Journal of Dec. 20, 2005, reports the situation of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish in St. Louis, which has been placed under an edict because the parish board will not turn its assets over to Archbishop Raymond L. Burke to be under his control. These assets reportedly include a cash fund of some $9 million.

Do the parishioners, who have paid for parish assets, have control except when the local bishop wants those assets? It seems to me that the bishops are working both sides of the street.

John L. Coakley Jr.

The Word
To Fast or Not to Fast?
Daniel J. Harrington
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent a period of 40 days of prayer and penance which reaches its climax and goal in the solemn celebrations of Jesus rsquo death and resurrection in Holy Week One of the traditional Lenten observances is fasting During Lent Catholics are asked to abstain fro
Editorials
Toward a More Civil Debate
The Editors
In his State of the Union address on Jan. 31, President Bush called for greater civility in our public debates about national policy. Our differences cannot be allowed to harden into anger, he said. While it may prove to be an elusive goal, a restoration of civility in our public debate could have i
Chinas New Role
John A. Worthley
I seems inevitable that the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See will eventually establish formal diplomatic relations. Whether this takes months or years, both China and the Vatican have reached an understanding of their mutual interests. China, for its part, seems intent on resolving
Arts & CultureBooks
Let It Be
James S. Torrens, S.J.
An anthology of poems is usually a guaranteed pleasure After all a judicious editor is spreading out his or her favorites which is bound to yield the reader a handful of authentic finds The judicious editor in this case is Peggy Rosenthal teacher and author of The Poet rsquo s Jesus Oxford Uni
Faith in Focus
Offering the Good News
E. Ann Hillestad
A number of years ago, I belonged to a parish that brought Communion to a local hospital each Sunday. One Sunday, as I approached one of the rooms and looked in, all I could see were white sheets covering a mound of pillows. Coming around the bed, I discovered a small, emaciated woman in a fetal pos
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Bush’s Health Care Plan Seen as InadequatePresident George W. Bush’s plan to expand health insurance coverage through health savings accounts, outlined in his State of the Union address on Jan. 31, is of no value to low-income populations, the head of the Catholic Health Association said
Evolution and Christian Faith
Robert John Russell
On July 7, 2005, The New York Times published on its Op Ed page an essay by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., the archbishop of Vienna, entitled: Finding Design in Nature. In it the cardinal stated:...ever since 1996, when Pope John Paul II said that evolution (a term he did not define) was more
Arts & CultureBooks
Specialist to the World
Patrick J. Ryan, S.J.
It was not my first visit to Kevin Cahill M D a tropical medicine specialist based in New York but it was probably the most memorable Returning from Africa to recuperate from both hepatitis-A and food poisoning I had to be driven to his Fifth Avenue office too weak to go on my own by public t
Film
Star-Crossed Lovers: Brokeback Mountain
Richard A. Blake
Brokeback Mountain received one of the most enthusiastic receptions of any film released this past year. The pony had scarcely left the barn before reviewers filled its saddlebags with potential Oscars. They seemed almost afraid to corral their enthusiasm. Why should such a competent but really quit
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Drew Christiansen
The victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections two weeks ago sent the diplomatic world into turmoil. The United States and the European Union immediately demanded the victors renounce terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist or suffer the loss of economic aid. Later, the remaining two me