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Books
The Man's Full Measure
Francis J. Butler
Scott Stossel rsquo s uplifting biography of R Sargent Shriver deserves a prominent place on the reading lists of Catholic studies programs It is an inspiring and skillfully told story of a bright American hero whose public-minded outlook and optimism finds its source in his Catholic faith Stossel
The Word
Faith or Hope?
Dianne Bergant
We don rsquo t hear much about faith nowadays except faith in ourselves Ours is a culture of self-reliance and self-determination However if we are honest with ourselves we will have to admit that we are all burdened with a measure of self-doubt mdash not necessarily the unhealthy kind of self-
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Pope Urges Bishops: Collaborate in GovernanceIn the wake of the sexual abuse scandal, U.S. bishops should be open to a more collaborative style of governance that shares responsibility with lay Catholics, Pope John Paul II said.A consultative approach should not be seen as an abandonment of episcopa
A Catholic Votes for John Kerry
James R. Kelly
Many pro-life Catholics, like myself, find the positions of Democratic candidates on domestic and foreign policy much more to their liking than the positions of the Republican Party. But can a pro-life Catholic even consider voting for a pro-choice presidential candidate? Despite being pro-life, I a
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Try to Imagine

While admiring the nuanced article American Catholics and the State (8/2), one hopes that someday our legislators, with their degrees and posturing, will view our society through the eyes of the world’s people. Try to imagine the most primitive, illiterate, unlettered tribespeople on earth suddenly seeing our society of same-sex marriages and legalized abortion. They would be horrified. They would think we were crazy.

They would know a man is a man and a woman is a woman and they would reverence the miracle of birth.

Our nation may yet self-destruct.

(Rev.) George P. Carlin

Books
The Adolescent Faith Journey
Julie A. Collins
I first met James DiGiacomo S J in the mid-70 rsquo s at a national workshop he was leading for the Jesuit Secondary Education Association on adolescent moral development In 2003 he retired from a teaching career that spanned more than five decades His dedication to Catholic religious education
Editorials
Leave No School Behind
The Editors
No one had to tell the delegates at the fourth annual convention of the Catholic Educational Association that Catholic schools aim to help their students become true Christians. But that is not all they are supposed to do. At the pontifical Mass that opened the meeting, held in Milwaukee, Wis., in J
A Glass Half Empty
James J. DiGiacomo
At the height of the cult phenomenon in the 1970’s, Rabbi Maurice Davis, an experienced deprogrammer, reflected on his experience helping young people return to their families and mainstream society. He observed that most of them were dropouts from mainline churches and synagogues, and that wh
Faith in Focus
A Witness to Joy
Debbie Rosenberg
I grew up as the third oldest of six children in a liberal Jewish home. My parents were atheists, and for most of my early life I believed (as did they) in social justice but had no belief in God. Although my life had many ups and downs, nothing could prepare me for the devastation I would feel afte
Books
River+Mountains+Gospel Living
George M. Anderson
Reading a work by someone you rsquo ve met and whose life and ministry you admirethat inevitably counts as a factor when you sit down to review the person rsquo s first book Happily and objectively I can recommend Deirdre Cornell rsquo s A Priceless View My Spiritual Homecoming to all who find pr
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
In Northeastern Chad’s Heat and Rain, Refugee Graves Are Added DailyAbout 100 graves of Sudanese refugees line the cemetery of the Farchana refugee camp in northeastern Chad. New bodies are added every day, with most of the deceased being young children or the elderly who have succumbed to the
The Word
It's None of My Business
Dianne Bergant
The phrase Its none of my business can mean more than one thing It can be an acknowledgment that we must respect the right of others to self-determination and personal privacy On the other hand it can be used as an excuse for not stepping in to help when it is clear that another needs our help T
Hospitality at Church
Kristeen A. Bruun
The advice appeared in a newspaper column written by an interior decorator. A correspondent had asked, “What’s the single least expensive change I can make in my home in order to improve it?” The columnist responded: “Clean the place up. It’s virtually free, and it will
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Public Scandal

Having read your recounting of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s advice to the U.S. bishops on morality in voting (Signs of the Times, 7/19), I find it little wonder that there is a great deal of confusion. But it should be quite apparent to any right thinking person that the murder of 40 million innocents is not comparable to an individual’s marriage-vow problems. The point to be dealt with here clearly is public scandal. Any politician who purports to be Catholic and supports the intrinsically evil practice of abortion is giving public scandal, notwithstanding all the specious excuses that have been concocted.

Such a person should not be treated as a Catholic communicant for his own good and, more important, in order to avoid confusing people generally as to Catholic teaching and especially scandalizing the faithful. Christ’s teaching on giving scandal is frighteningly explicit.

The politician’s sin is openly public and should be dealt with by his pastor or bishop in a public manner, not with the hierarchy hiding in their offices for fear of unpopularity or loss of their tax immunity.

Not only does a public condemnation of the individual politician’s position emphasize his moral error in the arena most important to him; it would also serve to inform and emphasize to the public at large the importance of the issue in church teaching. Those who wish to follow Christ must be his witnesses and face martydom as he did in leading the faithful to the truth rather than worrying about public attack or approbation. It is significant and sad that the bishops who have done their duty by speaking out against the public scandal of pro-abortion Catholic politicians can be readily named because of their small number, which goes a long way to explaining the reasons for the difficulties, confusion and other scandals experienced by the American Catholic Church in the post-Vatican II era.

Thomas P. Dowd

Books
God Comes First
William Reiser
Michael McClymond is Clarence Louis and Helen Irene Steber Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University In language that is both accessible and engaging he has provided a concise straightforward and balanced overview of contemporary Jesus studies that should prove helpful to a varie
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Mark Mossa
In the spring of 2002, thinking it would be fun, I offered to take over a sixth grade C.C.D. class in the Bronx for another Jesuit who had an unexpected conflict. Maybe it was a case of bright-eyed suburban boy meets already world-wearied urban sixth graders. Or maybe it was simply the fact that the
Both Gen-Y and Catholic
Mark Mossa
"Isn’t he sooo cute!” coos Amy. She is not talking about some fraternity boy she’s in love with. She’s melting over John Paul II chanting a Latin hymn on a CD she has brought with her on retreat. Only the pope is that kind of cute. Even after 15 years of working with you
Selling Ourselves on the Marriage Market
Bridget Burke Ravizza
Talking with college students about marriage from a Christian perspectiveas a permanent, faithful, covenantal commitmentis like swimming against the tide. These students have grown up in a society in which nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. Not surprisingly, they are fearful that their fut
Columns
A Gross Campaign
Terry Gollway
Every election cycle, it seems, brings new evidence that politics is an ignoble profession not worthy of the average citizens active participation. This years voter turnoff is breathtaking in its audacity and downright cruelty. John Kerry, a man who volunteered for a war he could have evadedas so ma
Books
Meet the Innovators
Clayton Sinyai
In recent decades a growing number of social scientists like Theda Skocpol whose Diminished Democracy I reviewed in this space 10 20 03 have rediscovered the voluntary associations of civil society that flourish in the social space between government agencies and profit-seeking firms Today bus