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Letters
Letters
Our readers

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
Literary Road Map
Tom O
If she rsquo s not careful Susan Wise Bauer will wind up a guru on PBS Her maiden name doesn rsquo t hurt her chances but neither do her ideas which are both erudite and down-to-earth wise yet in touch with the commonplace If she talks the way she writeswith spark and flair but also the right
Books
Through an Urban Lens
Richard A. Blake
Woody Allen has never been in the Spielberg or Lucas class of popularity with American audiences yet the critical literature surrounding the artist and his work continues to grow beyond any correlation to his box-office numbers With the possible exception of Hitchcock Allen may be the most scruti
Editorials
Rape as a War Crime
The Editors
Ethnic and regional wars, especially over the past two decades in Africa and the Balkans, have brought with them death and destruction on a massive scale. But these same destructive forces have also taken the form of widespread sexual violence as a deliberate strategy. In Sierra Leone, rape has been
Vatican II and American Politics
Thomas J. Shelley
During much of our history as a nation, many Americans wondered what their Catholic neighbors would do if someday they became the majority of the population. Would the teaching of their church require them to declare Catholicism the official religion of the country and to limit the religious freedom
Books
St. Patrick Kavanagh?
Richard Haslam
While W B Yeats towered over Irish poetry in English from the 1890 rsquo s to the 1930 rsquo s Patrick Kavanagh dominated the period from the 1940 rsquo s to the 1960 rsquo s Kavanagh was a questioning and often querulous writer relentlessly interrogating the state of his muse his soul and his
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Proposed Vatican Document on Liturgy Returned to CommitteeA proposed Vatican document on liturgical norms was sent back to its drafting committee after cardinals and bishops raised objections and encouraged changes. Among other things, the draft, presented to consulting prelates in June, reportedly
Portfolio
Twenty-five Years as Pope: A Pictorial History
The Editors
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the election of John Paul II, we figured that if a picture is worth 1,000 words, then the only way to describe his pontificate briefly is with pictures. To see these photos, click here to display a PDF version of these pages in America.A PDF file is easy to read
Books
A Prodigious Intellectual Effort
Luke Timothy Johnson
Robert Wilken states his book rsquo s purpose in the introduction to depict the pattern of Christian thinking as it took shape in the formative years of the church rsquo s history It is a large task but one that Wilken carries out with great learning and deep appreciation This is not a book writ
Columns
Swimming Upstream
Thomas J. McCarthy
I am very sensible what a weakness and presumption it is, to reason against the general humor and disposition of the world. Jonathan Swift, 1708Two fall rituals go together in the United States: the new school year and the new football season. From countless boyhood games in the crisp air of leaf-st
John Paul's Quarter-Century
John Thavis
As Pope John Paul II celebrates 25 years in office, the world is taking stock of a pontificate that has helped shape political events, set new directions for the Catholic Church and offered spiritual inspiration to millions of people around the globe. By any measure, this is a papacy for the ages. S
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Patricia A. Kossmann
Children are a fascinating lot. In their innocence, trust, playfulness and inquisitiveness they can often be our teachers. They question and wonder about big and small things; they hunger for knowledge. There’s no end or limit to their sense of wonderment. And this will never change.   Th
Books
Lady With a Cause
Pam Kingsbury
Dorothy Height thinks of her life as a unity of circles Some are concentric others overlap but they all connect in some way Sometimes the connections don rsquo t happen for years But when they do I marvel As in a shimmering kaleidoscope familiar patterns keep unfolding Too well-bred to compl
A Light for the World
Mary Ann Walsh
As part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of John Paul II, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has sponsored a handsome new book entitled John Paul II: A Light for the World (edited by Mary Ann Walsh, R.S.M.; Sheed & Ward). Accompanying the many photographs by off
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Memory of Millions

While Nicholas Mele makes some important points in his article The North Korea Conundrum (9/8), he begins with a comparison that fundamentally weakens his overall argument. In the second paragraph of his essay, he states that while the policies of the North Korean leadership have resulted in the starvation or malnutrition of millions, which is reprehensible, Americans should perhaps consider the impact of the current and previous U.S. administrations’ policies on the American poor before stigmatizing the North Koreans.

While the American people and their elected officials have often ignored the principles of social justice in legislating policy that affects the poor and marginalized, in no way can one seriously compare America’s past and present faults with the crimes against humanity perpetrated by Kim Jhong Il, his father and their cronies. Such a comparison does violence to the memory of the millions of North Koreans who have died at the hands of the monsters who have led their nation for the past decades, whose atrocities can rightly be compared to those of Hitler, Stalin and the Khmer Rouge.

Anthony D. Andreassi

FaithThe Word
Choose Life!
Dianne Bergant
The readings challenge us: “I have set before you reputation and wisdom, comfort and eternal life.” What will we choose?
Editorials
A Pope for the World
The Editors
Pope John Paul II’s trip to Great Britain in late May 1982 was such a smashing success that The London Times said if there were such a title as First Citizen of the World, John Paul would win it. That designation would be neither the only nor the most relevant way of describing the 263rd succe
Editorials
Victims
The Editors
There is a sense of relief in Boston, and in the rest of the country as well, now that the Archdiocese of Boston has finally settled the suits filed against it by the victims of sexual abuse. For 19 months, Boston has unfairly been perceived by many people as paradigmatic of the American church&rsqu
The Lay Vocation and Voice of theFaithful
Thomas P. Rausch
One unanticipated effect of the sexual abuse scandal that has been convulsing the Catholic Church in the United States is a growing realization on the part of the laity of how little real say they have in the government of their church. This was first brought home when many who were aware of situati
The Man Born Blind
Katherine Schneider
It happened one too many times. My Seeing Eye dog and I went to church and heard another totally uninspiring homily about John 9, the story of the man born blind. It contained the usual elements: “I knew a blind person who was amazing (climbed Mount Everest, was cheerful all the time); wouldn&