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After I graduated from high school, I became a professional firefighter in Kansas City, Mo. Going through drill school, I learned that some fires can be extinguished only by taking away their fuel. In some cases, uncontrolled fire can be stopped most effectively when it encounters blackened ash.It w
Books
In 1970 at the age of 56 Alec Guinness by then one of the best-known character actors in the world sat for a formal portrait Michael Noakes the artist recognized the overwhelming challenge of the task ldquo How does one paint what lies beneath the surface of the skin rdquo asks biographer
An overarching crisis in today’s church is a crisis of faith; not faith in God, not faith in Jesus Christ, but a crisis of faith in the institutional church. Members of an older generation have felt a certain testing of faith since the mid-1960’s. They remember their childhood: novenas,
I grew up three blocks from St. Mary, Help of Christians Church in West Allis, Wis. At the time, the parish sponsored no school, so my sister and I were enrolled in the school of a neighboring parish. But with the exception of school events, my entire religious life centered around St. Mary’s.
The autumn and winter have been consumed with the debate about Iraq, but decisions about Iraq are part of a more comprehensive policy vision announced by the Bush administration in its National Security Statement of September 2002. Here is a summary of the major themes of the statement, a survey of
The United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc. on Feb. 26. The question before the court was whether the massive pro-life abortion protest demonstrations of the 1980’s and 90’s constituted acts of extortion under the federal exto
Books
Lest anyone forget a war is still being fought in Afghanistan Moreover the capture or death of Osama bin Laden does not signal victory in that campaign If the objective is to make that region a less receptive host to future terrorists then Afghans on the ground will decide success This will be
Of Many Things
The television coverage of the war in Iraq has been like none other. As soon as President Bush’s deadline of March 19 had passed, TV viewers were offered the opportunity to see, in real time, images from the besieged city of Baghdad. And thanks to embedded reporters, viewers could peer into th
In the cathedral church of Amiens, in Picardy, there is a relic of quite remarkable distinction. It is the head of St. John the Baptist. Or if we are to be precise, the frontal part of the skull. There, set into the wall, is the sacred head that was separated from its body at the behest of a dancing
Columns
St. Patrick’s Day in New York this year was about short-sleeved shirts hauled out of storage and men and women sweating while blowing into bagpipes. In some places along Fifth Avenue, young men and women were inspired to talk of summer plans, filled with promise. The women wore sleeveless shir
Books
Ross Terrill rsquo s argument goes something like this China is not a modern state It has been unable to escape its heritage of empire and authoritarian political systems The revolution against the Qing Manchu dynasty in 1911 and the Communist seizure of power in 1949 reinforced these premodern
Books
Those of us who knew Paul Dinter as the Catholic chaplain at Columbia University in the 1970 rsquo s and 80 rsquo s were presented with a personable intellectually rigorous and obviously virtuous priest in a crisp Roman collar and well-tailored black suit It was not that he was an unblinking spear
News
Vatican: Both Sides to Blame for Failure to DisarmExpressing deep pain at the start of U.S. military strikes on Iraq, the Vatican said both sides were to blame for failing to achieve the peaceful disarmament of Iraq under international law. In a statement on March 20, just hours after U.S. missiles
This series focuses on the world of devotions in the life of contemporary believers. America asked a number of Catholics to speak about a favorite devotionits history, its place in the writer’s life and its possible role in the life of contemporary believers. In this sixth part of the series w
Letters
Sound Principle
Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., in Vatican II: The Myth and the Reality (2/24), suggests a sound principle for interpreting the Second Vatican Council in a continuum, which effectively refutes the arrogant polarizations of ahistorical and pseudo-theological extremes. But the setting up of straw men and their facile demolition hardly honors the principle and can even be, as we used to say, offensive to pious ears. One small example: In this time of manifest clerical sinfulness and hierarchical mismanagement in our church, to draw any conclusion, as Cardinal Dulles does, from the premise that people outside the church fall frequently into sin and error is at best embarrassing and at worst hypocritical.
(Msgr.) Thomas D. Candreva, J.C.D.
Editorials
Medicare, the health insurance program for Americans over 65, is getting much attention these days, because of the president’s much-contested plan to provide prescription benefits for low-income seniors. Medicaid, on the other hand, which is supposed to provide medical care for poor people of
The Word
When I was a child I climbed up on a billboard to see a soldier who had returned from an unpopular assignment We waved flags and cheered It was thrilling despite the fact that this hero had come home in disgrace I was proud that I could say ldquo I was there I saw him rdquo I wonder what
Books
Around Jesus rsquo time roughly from 20 B C to A D 70 Jews especially in Jerusalem developed the practice of a two-stage burial The corpse would first be laid out on a shelf cut into the wall of a burial cave and allowed to decompose Then a year later the bones would be gathered up and pl
Lectio divina is Latin for spiritual reading. It is a method of reading and praying on Scripture and other classics of spirituality like Augustine’s Confessions and The Imitation of Christ. It has deep roots in the history of monasticism. There are four basic steps in lectio divina: reading (W
Politics & SocietyEditorials
With the exception of some Southern Baptist leaders and mega-church pastors, nearly all U.S. churches are opposing war with Iraq. This has forced many Americans to wonder if loyalty to God and country are now in conflict. Must they choose between the military adventures of their president and the mo