This capacious impressive often enjoyable book takes as its point of departure the late 19th-century orchestral cultures of New York and Boston assembling a story for which the author rsquo s Understanding Toscanini and Wagner Nights well prepared him This focus is understandable since Joseph H

It’s hard. Reviews of Woody Allen’s new films generally break into two categories: The master hasn’t lost his touch, or the master is in decline. Those of us who have followed Allen’s career closely over the last 30 years and consider him the greatest American filmmaker of th

In its decision in the case of Zorach v. Clauson in 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York City program that provided released time for the religious instruction of public school pupils during school hours but apart from public school buildings. The opinion for the 6-to-3 majority was writte

It is clear that the Catholic Church has a moral position on abortion. It is not clear that it has a political policy on the issue. Moral positions do not automatically create public policies. I may be morally opposed to the use of addictive drugs, but I may also think that the U.S. public policy of

Cardinal Walter Kasper prefect of the Vatican rsquo s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was well established as a theologian long before being made a bishop For many years he was on the faculty of the University of T bingen where his colleagues included Hans K ng His present bo

From 2005, a popular article about faith and the intellect by the late James J. DiGiacomo, S.J.

Born in Berlin in 1923 to affluent Jewish parents Gregory Baum was sent for safety to England as a young teenager With the outbreak of war the refugee became an enemy alien and was interned in Canada Befriended there by a Catholic family he discovered Augustine rsquo s Confessions Like Edith S

It would be foolish to pretend that in the wake of the announcement of the departure of Thomas J. Reese, S.J., as editor in chief of America, the past weeks have not been turbulent ones for the editors and staff, for many of our readers and for others as well who are concerned about the Catholic Chu

At its annual convention in the year 2000, the National Association of Pastoral Ministers celebrated both its 25th anniversary and the retirement of its founder, the Rev. Virgil Funk. The occasion was marked with a special evening of songs by composers instrumental in the development of liturgical m

For several days I had noticed colorful floats lined up in Zahal Square near City Hall in Jerusalem. Large painted plastic figures of men and women dressed as kibbutzim with tools and tractors were surrounded by fruits, vegetables, trees, flowers, grasses, greenery and barley sheavesall in readiness

The problematic issues regarding art and architecture vis- -vis worship and current liturgical practice have seldom been thornier The saying that real art won rsquo t match the sofa seems to sum up the status of art today At least in the areas of painting and sculpture what is considered ldquo

Jesuit Officials Say America Editor Resigned After Vatican ComplaintsJesuit officials in Rome said Thomas J. Reese, S.J., resigned as editor in chief of America magazine after repeated complaints from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who objected to the magazine’s treatment of sensitive church

In May 2003, the city of Oakland, Calif., had already reached its 44th homicide of the year. At one intersection three young men were tending a shrine set up to remember their friend, killed in a drive-by shooting. The shrine consisted of a picture of the deceased from much earlier school days, ciga

As a youngster, I wondered why there always seemed to be so many old people in church. A few kids and younger adults attended Mass every morning, but most in the church were really old - 50 and above. We cynical teenagers speculated that older folks came to church so often because they were bored ju

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were historical landmarks This double-barreled assault on apartheid in the United States was the first time since 1875 that Congress was able to muster the votes necessary to make good on the Constitution 8217 s promise of equality Un

On a fine sunny Sunday in May, the priest in the pulpit was talking about the everyday beauty that may have escaped the attention of some of the busier people in the pews, but clearly not his. With the precision of an amateur botanist, he described the magnificence of the dogwoods, lilacs and cherry

The precious Catholic Church in the United States is in trouble. This is not news, of course, to anyone who has watched a newscast or read an American newspaper within the past few years. When I moved from Denver to the Netherlands a year ago, I did not know what to expect, but I was certain things