| America Magazine

Poetry

Diane EngleOctober 20, 2003

Safely young and just beginning,

Books

Andrew M. GreeleyOctober 20, 2003

Suddenly there are two books on anti-Catholicism both of which have the same subtitle The Last Acceptable Prejudice The one by Philip Jenkins purports to describe a ldquo new rdquo anti-Catholicism the other by Mark Massa S J portrays an ldquo old rdquo anti-Catholicism Philip Jenkins

News

Signs of the Times

From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sourcesOctober 20, 2003

Papal Envoy Says Events Proved Vatican Right About Iraqi WarSeven months after he tried to convince President George W. Bush not to invade Iraq, Cardinal Pio Laghi, papal envoy, said events have proved the Vatican right about the consequences of war and the difficulties of consolidating peace. Cardi

Cuba's Catholic Dissident: The Saga of Oswaldo Pay

Tim PadgettOctober 20, 2003

Dissident movements never get much traction in Communist Cuba. That is partly because Fidel Castro is vastly more charismatic than the stone-faced apparatchiks of the old Soviet bloc and partly because his security apparatus would tax Orwell’s imagination. Either way, El Comandante has always

Faith in Focus

Matters of the Heart

Bo CaldwellOctober 20, 2003

My dad taught me many things. He taught me that if you had enough duct tape, you could fix anything, and if you had enough extension cords, you could plug in anything anywhere. He taught me that each day, you should do three things: take care of your responsibilities, do something for someone else a

Letters

Our readersOctober 20, 2003

Voices of Which Faithful?

The three models for the Voice of the Faithful outlined by Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., (9/29), are interesting from a merely academic point of view. But his suggestion that the incorporational model may be the most effective in the long term appears nave when a practical application is considered. Does Father Rausch seriously believe that those who might be proponents of a bishop’s resignation or a sharing of power, authority and decision making with the episcopacy (not to mention ordination of women or optional celibacy for priests) would ever be allowed to serve as members of parish councils and diocesan offices...

diocesan committees and advisory boards? I think not.

Those who oppose the status quo or dissent from the policies of those in power will never be given an effective hand in shaping policy. Accordingly, until the day when the laity is given the opportunity to choose episcopal leaders and the authority to set policy, organized groups such as V.O.T.F. must remain independent. This is the only way that allnot somevoices will be heard.

Frank V. Pesce

Books

Civic Collapse

Clayton SinyaiOctober 20, 2003

According to a certain triumphalone might say self-satisfiedview of recent American history our nation today is a far more democratic place than it was 50 years ago Then our republic was defaced in so many ways by invidious discrimination Today thanks to the civil rights crusades and the women r

Of Many Things

George M. AndersonOctober 20, 2003

Public libraries dot the landscape of Manhattan, and hardly a week goes by that I don’t pay a lunchtime or after-work visit to the one near America House to take out or return books. Although it is the closest, it is not the only one I visit. Walking home, I pass the city’s research libr

Columns

A Curious Silence

Terry GolwayOctober 20, 2003

A few years ago, the cultural community of New York worked itself into a frenzy when the city’s mayor denounced a piece of art he deemed to be anti-Catholic. The piece in question was a representation of the Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung and decorated with offensive images, designed no

Crowds await the arrival of Pope Francis for his Mass in Mother Teresa Square in Tirana, Albania, Sept. 21. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Faith

Remembering Mother Teresa

Brother Roger SchutzOctober 20, 2003

We live in a world where light and darkness coexist. Through the life she lived, Mother Teresa invited people to choose light. In this way she opened a road to holiness for many others. So we shall be numerous, in Saint Peter’s Square on Oct. 19, rejoicing that Pope John Paul II, by declaring

Columns

The Choice Is Mine

Ellen RufftOctober 20, 2003

I used to like the idea of placing all people into one of two groups: the brave or the fainthearted. I willingly put myself in the latter category and therefore felt justified in not doing many things that only “brave” people do: being a missionary, going to jail to protest some injustic

Blessed Is She

Patricia A. KossmannOctober 13, 2003

It was on a balmy day in early autumn, some 20 years ago, that I was privileged to meet Mother Teresa personally. She was in the United States making visitations to some of her Missionaries of Charity communities. At this particular time she was at their house on 145th Street in the South Bronx. Act

Television

God and the New Fall Shows

James Martin, S.J.October 13, 2003

This year the question of which new fall shows to review proves unusually easy. For two new series feature a character familiar to readers of this magazine: God. In CBS’s wonderfully inventive new drama Joan of Arcadia (Friday, 8-9 p.m. ET), the teenage Joan, daughter of the local police chief

Books

A Bridge Crossed

Richard J. HauserOctober 13, 2003

The Inner Experience is a significant addition to Thomas Merton rsquo s 1915-68 books in print In this text Merton the most prolific and widely read Christian spiritual author of the 20th century gives an orderly approach to his thought on contemplation available in no other text Further the

Of Many Things

George M. AndersonOctober 13, 2003

Movies have long been one of my passions, but considering the ticket prices—an average of $10—first-run films in New York City seldom find me in their audiences. As a child, I rarely missed the Saturday features at my hometown’s sole theater, the Milo, located across from the court

Clash-Talk

John RenardOctober 13, 2003

As uncertainty and anxiety over global political, social and economic instability rise, so does the quest for the intellectual equivalent of comfort food. Conspiracy theory, reductionist interpretations of history and sweeping demonizations of whole ethnic and religious communities—in short, b

Letters

Our readersOctober 13, 2003

Sisters Still Say...

As the chaplain at a large motherhouse of Dominican sisters, many of whom are elderly and infirm, I write to thank you for the extraordinary editorial Valiant Women (9/22).

It is a magnificent and well-deserved tribute to all sisters everywhere to whom the church in our country is so indebted. In the name of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, I express our/their gratitude.

To celebrate Mass each day and to see in the chapel balcony so many faithful sisters in wheelchairs or using walkers; to sit at table and listen to so many reminisce cheerfully about their years of ministry; to be the beneficiary of countless lived homilies; all this is a special privilege for this aging Dominican chaplain.

Though the sisters may no longer be engaged in active apostolates because of age and poor health, this is still a rewarding and effective ministry of presence.

To this day the Catholic faithful can still profit and grow spiritually because Sister says....

Raymond Daley, O.P.

Books

Source of Salvation

Denise Lardner CarmodyOctober 13, 2003

If you are looking for a concise and clear introduction to Christology look no further Like the fine teacher he must be as professor of theological studies and department chair at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles Thomas P Rausch S J uses the work of many scholars to wrestle with the question W

Books

150 Reasons to Reform

Terry GolwayOctober 13, 2003

Is there a high school student in the United States who does not know the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire Thirty years ago the answer would have been obvious and emphatic No The terrible tale of the disaster that took place in a relatively few minutes on March 25 1911 was part of