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A Bad Day for the Bishops
Andrew M. Greeley
Feb. 27, 2004, was a bad day for the bishops of the United States. They received little credit from the media or victims’ groups for the study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on the prevalence and incidence of sexual abuse of children by members of the Catholic clergy dur
Books
The Dead Are Raised
Dennis P. Kehoe
Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea is Thomas Cahill rsquo s fourth volume in the Hinges of History series which includes his How the Irish Saved Civilization The Gifts of the Jews and Desire of the Everlasting Hills In these books Cahill interprets the achievements of the ancient civilizations that are f
Facts, Myths and Questions
Thomas J. Reese
For those who have been following the sexual abuse crisis in the American Catholic Church since the mid-1980’s, the reports by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People provided confirmation of hunches and the destruc
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Resurrection Faith

Many thanks for the fine article by John W. O’Malley, S.J., on Anna Katherine Emmerich and the Mel Gibson film (3/15). His historical sketch of the Passion tradition prompts two thoughts regarding the relationship between that tradition and the post-Vatican lI emphasis on the Resurrection. That emphasis makes sense theologically, of course, but liturgically it has generated zingy church songs (I hesitate to call them hymns) in which we Catholics now celebrate ourselves as the finger-snapping people of God who, it seems, are so lucky to know that God loves us, thanks to our Resurrection faith. Fortunately, that is hard to do during Passion Week, one of the few times a Catholic is likely to hear a classic hymn in Latin. It also occurs to me that unlike Good Friday, or for that matter the Jewish Day of Atonement, Easter, which (as we might say) celebrates the fact that the last words of Jesus on the cross were not God’s last word, must compete with chocolate bunnies, egg-rolls, pagan sunrise services and other insipid rites of spring. Without the somberness of Passiontide, Easter these days would be unbearable, just as Good Friday without Easter would be meaningless.

Kenneth L. Woodward

A Movie, a Mystic, a Spiritual Tradition
John W. OMalley
In devout Catholic circles 50 years ago, Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), a German mystic and stigmatic, was a well-known and revered figure. She was later all but forgotten by most people until last fall, when Mel Gibson mentioned in an interview that her book on Christ’s Passion had infl
Film
Mel O'Drama: The Passion of the Christ
Richard A. Blake
Why am I writing this? More to the point, why are you reading it? The answer is simple. Everybody has to say something about it, and many of you feel you have to see it. Even before seeing the film—and making it clear that I had not yet seen it—I was badgered into making statements on it
Culture
Apply Your Whole Self: New Books on the Bible
Daniel J. Harrington
Johannes Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752), the scholar generally regarded as the founder of New Testament textual criticism, had a wonderful Latin saying about reading Scripture: Te totum applica ad textum; rem totam applica ad te (“Apply your whole self to the text; apply the whole thing to yourse
Editorials
Fraternal Correction
The Editors
The National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People is to be commended for its candid and balanced report. It is an example of the kind of lay participation in church governance that the sexual abuse crisis has taught us is necessary today. The report calls for transparency and
Presiding at the Liturgy of the Eucharist: The third in the Lent-Easter series 'Good Liturgy'
Keith F. Pecklers
By the 16th century, the priest had become such a predominant figure in the celebration of Mass that several bishops at the Council of Trent (1545-63) went on record with a startling proposal. Perhaps it would be better, they suggested, if the laity just stayed at home and let the priest say his Mas
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Something Great

Of Many Things (2/23) honoring the life and the work of Jim Santora was one of the nicest tributes I have ever read. I hope and pray that you said all these same things to him not only on his deathbed but also 10 and 20 and 30 years ago during the middle of his tenure at America.

By way of background: I, like Jim, am a C.P.A., and like many others I have heard for years that I must remember my Christian values and live them in my professional life. I was lucky. During my years at LeMoyne College I took courses in corporate responsibility, religion and philosophy, so I actually had an idea what it meant to be true to my Christian values while running a business and trying to make money. You cannot believe how many businessmen there are out there, good people, who just don’t understand that Christian values and acceptable business conduct can be reconciled and demonstrated.

I am one of the leaders of a youth group at our church, 8th, 9th and 10th graders. I have been talking to the kids for two years about leading their lives with Christian values, being idealistic, trying to do something great. I knew I was not getting through to them. I handed out your article last Sunday night, and we all read it as a group. The lights went on! They finally understood what I have been talking to them about. Jim may not have been a saint; he wasn’t even a Jesuit. He was not the president of the United States, nor was he C.E.O. of I.B.M. Jim was a working guy, a father and a husband, and he touched everyone’s lives and made the world a better place as a result of his work.

I loved your closeyou asked Jim to pray for us. Thanks from my kids. I am hopeful that because of your article at least one of them will grow up to be another Jim Santora.

David W. Morris

Books
Applying the Traditioning Process
Lawrence Boadt
Walter Brueggemann has written over two dozen books on nearly every section of the Hebrew Bible Professor emeritus of biblical studies at Columbia Theological Seminary he is a widely acclaimed scholar who constantly applies new methods of reflection to explain the richness of biblical texts In th
Election Year Economies
John F. Kavanaugh
Although it has been irritating at times to have to listen to Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton in the Democratic nomination debates, I will miss them if they withdraw from the race. At least they keep me from falling asleep when I listen to Senators Kerry and Edwards.Kucinich and Sharpton speak to a
Faith in Focus
The Abuse Scandal: What Did I Miss?
Emil A. Wcela
Some of the priests identified as abusers, staring out from the pages of the local newspapers, are not strangers to me. I was on the faculty of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, N.Y., from 1965 through 1979. I taught Scripture all those years and was rector for the last six. I
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Sexual Abuse Brought Smoke of SatanIn its report on the causes of the crisis of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the United States, released on Feb. 27, the National Review Board said grievously sinful acts of priests and inaction by bishops let the smoke of Satan enter the church.As a result the
The Word
Rejoice!
Dianne Bergant
It may seem strange that in the middle of Lent we are told to rejoice The reason for this is not that we might have a breather from the rigors of penance How many of us are even experiencing any real rigors Rather this moment of rejoicing fittingly follows the fundamental theme found in the re
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
John W. Donohue
One afternoon in early February, a sad-eyed man in a faded parka was standing on a corner in Midtown Manhattan. He was timidly trying to distribute cards for a nearby sandwich-and-salad shop, but the crowd brushed past him. Not far away, two young women were more successful. Smiling and twittering,
Books
On a San Francisco Stage
Raymond F. Hopkins
This engaging and lively historical study weaves personal stories diplomatic correspondence and other accounts to depict the principal forces that shaped the founding of the United Nations While the author focuses on a conference held in San Francisco from April to July 1945 he effectively outlin
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
James Martin, S.J.
You have to hand it to Mel Gibson. Whether his decision to screen The Passion of the Christ in advance for only a hand-picked cadre of sympathetic reviewers (mostly evangelical Protestants, conservative Catholics and sympathetic rabbis) was motivated by fear, money or faith, it was an excellent mark
Columns
A Day of Reckoning
Steven M. Kissing
How wonderful it is to have someone beg forgiveness. A dear friend of mine is a recovering alcoholic working the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. After a searching and fearless moral inventory (Step 4), he came to me, and others, to make amends (Step 9). This is where the repentant alcoholic
Presiding at the Liturgy of the Word: The second in the Lent-Easter series on 'Good Liturgy'
John F. Baldovin
There is a saying, “Well begun is half done.” Liturgical celebrations are among the places where that saying is especially true. What follows is one presider’s and teacher’s reflection on the first half of the liturgy of the Mass, from before the entrance procession to the en