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Books
I have only once in my life lacked shelter I was visiting a friend in Rome to join him on a tour to Assisi He was supposed to book me a room at his hotel My friend a well-meaning but proverbial innocent abroad told me he figured to save me money if I shared his room He had obviously never hear
Editorials
The U.S. Department of Justice reported in April that the incarcerated population of the United States has topped two million—men, women and yes, children too. Drug offenses account for a large proportion of those currently behind bars. Even low-level drug offenders regularly receive long sent
Of Many Things
My grandmother lived with us as I was growing up—a source of consolation who often shared her breakfast with me and who read to me when I was sick. Grandmothers not only play a supportive role in the lives of many children—in some cases they stand out as the single source of love amid ho
News
Dioceses and Charities Hurt by Economic UncertaintyWhile Catholic Charities agencies are facing new demands for assistance, an April poll showed that nearly three-fourths of Catholics across the nation are hesitant to give more money to charity because of concerns about their own personal finances.
FaithThe Word
What were once two feasts, Corpus Christi and Precious Blood, are now one celebration.
Books
Perhaps no period in the history of ancient Israel is as controversial as the two centuries between the Exodus from Egypt and the establishment of kingship in the late 11th century B C E under Saul and his successor David Contemporary views run the gamut from essential acceptance of the biblical t
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) set in motion gradually expanding sets of relationships between the Holy See and other Christian churches and communities. Because the United States is home to so many other Christian groupings, the ecumenical opportunities and challenges here have been greater t
Television
Certainly the biggest story in and on television this year was the war in Iraq. The calculated decision by the Pentagon to embed in the theater of war all manner of journalists (including reporters from MTV and Men’s Health magazine) greatly increased the quantity of news stories filed during
Books
With the publication of Truly Our Sister A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints Elizabeth A Johnson has reached a challenging theological goal that she set for herself almost a decade ago It was Johnson rsquo s initial desire to write a book on Mary and include a chapter on the communion
The November 2002 elections were notable for at least two reasons. First, they improved the position of the party holding the White House in both chambers of Congressan almost unheard-of event in an off-year Congressional election. Republicans slightly increased their majority in the House of Repres
Letters
Firmly Resolve
The Sisters of St. Joseph taught me to say, I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. It strikes me that avoiding sin and amending life are the same, although I used to think that the resolution to confess sins was strange in view of the fact that I had just done so (Of Many Things, 5/12).
On a related topic, when I teach the canon law of the sacraments to students each summer at The Catholic University of America, I am amazed at the students’ cluelessness on the difference between perfect and imperfect contrition, the former being sorrow for love of God, and the latter being sorrow for fear of punishment or hope of reward (and sufficient for forgiveness only in sacramental confession). They are also vague about the necessary matter for an integral confession: all serious sins by number and species committed after baptism not yet directly remitted through the power of the keys or acknowledged in individual confession that I remember after a diligent examination of conscience. I marvel that many of us knew these things at the age of seven and that there are priests in my class who do not know them at 40!
James J. Conn, S.J.
Columns
On the Monday holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., my two older daughters and I have for some years participated in a march for peace and signed a “Women for Peace” petition. It is a small rite of passage. Those daughters, now in college, signed their way through their formative year
Editorials
With the end of hostilities in Iraq, the Bush administration, along with the other three members of “the Quartet”—Russia, the European Union and the United Nations—has released its “road map” for peace in the Holy Land. The plan consists of a set of coordinated st
Politics & Society
The Jesuits certainly will return to Bagdad, because a place so important to Islam as well as to Christianity cannot be ignored for very long. What form the future mission will take we leave to the Holy Spirit, who took us there in the first place. But one thing is clear: the Jesuit mission to the Iraqis did not end in 1969.
Books
Flannery O rsquo Connor downplayed the deep spirituality that infused her life and her works She is probably saying ldquo Haw haw haw rdquo in the southern backwoods accent that she sometimes affected as she views this new title in the Modern Spiritual Masters series The series introduces read
Of Many Things
For some years my mother has lamentedand this is not too strong a wordthe fact that I never studied Latin. Whenever she spies a phrase in Latin inscribed on a church facade, or comes across a quote in a book or article, or hears an unfamiliar Latin hymn during a Mass, and I am unable to translate it
The Word
How does one go on when life seems to have been torn apart at the seams Loved ones die others turn away from us we are forced to assume responsibility we never chose We want things to be what they were before but we know that they never will be The world is just not the same and we are not su
Faith in Focus
On this feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord, we, the leadership of the Jesuits in the United States, fervently renew our opposition to abortion and our support for the unborn. In treating this delicate and controversial topic, we hope to provide our brother Jesuits, colleagues, parishioners and st