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Books
I cannot identify any constructive role for this new book by Daniel Goldhagen currently an affiliate of the Minda Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University Unlike his previous book Hitler rsquo s Willing Executioners whichfor all its problemswas based on original research into a
News
Vatican Official Says New Norms Give Greater ProtectionsFar from weakening the church’s ability to protect children, the revisions to the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse establish a rigorous procedure for dealing with offending priests and highlight the gravity of such crimes, the Va
Portfolio
Some images are so powerful that, if we take time for them, they can alter our lives. The spirit hovering over the waters, the Lord who is our shepherd, the mountain on which every tear will be wiped away are such images, given us by the Jewish people and still nourishing us centuries later. Others
Reactions to my Ethics Notebook column on leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent reminded me how volatile discussions can become when they meld the world of politics with the moral life. I’ve received some strong comments from both wings of the spectrum. How could you ever have
As a Catholic and a retired journalist, I feel shame when I read about the latest sex scandal involving my church. I am also ashamed of my former profession. I spent 40 years as a reporter and editor with wire services, a career that encompassed newspapers, radio and television. I don’t plan t
In a 5-to-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court recently upheld an Illinois statute that mandates an independent medical review whenever a primary care physician and an H.M.O. disagree on whether a requested treatment is “medically necessary.” The ruling, Rush Prudential H.M.O. v.
Letters
Barefoot in Rome
Practicing the Faith, by John F. Kavanaugh, S.J.(11/4) gave me some comfort, the kind that comes from finding that one is not alone. Almost like Father Kavanaugh’s student-friend, I am connected with Catholic history and tradition and sought a truth worth understanding, a good worth loving and a faith to die for. Unlike the student, I believe that I have found it. (I am also some 50 years older than she is.) I have opposed capital punishment all my adult life, regard abortion as a moral and social evil, abhor the School of the Americas, the evil (yes, Mr. Bush, evil) practices that it teaches so well and the hypocrisy that allows our government to sponsor it. I also regard Bush’s obsession with war on Iraq as his own personal grudge match, no casus belli in any language. I regard many of my country’s foreign policies as bullying and its domestic policies as shortsighted and oblivious to the needs of the poor.
Along with the late Malcolm Muggeridge, I would like to see Christ walking barefoot through the Vatican. Christ was a radical, and oddly, the older I get the more radical I seem to become. At least I’m not alone!
Conchita Collins
Editorials
The Republican Party and President Bush must be congratulated for a stunning victory in the Congressional midterm election. Not only did they overcome the normal historical pattern, whereby the party in the White House loses Congressional seats in a midterm election; they did it in the middle of a r
Books
The authorial tone of this delightful memoir is captured nicely in its subtitle ldquo A Baseball Valentine rdquo for its spirit as in a billet-doux reflects affection gratitude and recollection of the sweeter memories The main title The Last Commissioner coined by George Vecsey a sports rep
News
Bishops Approve Revised Norms and Charter With Zero ToleranceThe United States Conference of Catholic bishops on Nov. 13 overwhelmingly approved revised norms to deal with removal from ministry of any priest or deacon who has sexually abused a minor. By a vote of 246 to 7 they adopted the new docume
Of Many Things
Three years ago I had the pleasure of introducing John R. Donahue, S.J., as our Word columnist. He joined the roster of successors to Vincent P. McCorry, S.J., who had written the column for 20 years until 1973: Thomas H. Stahel, S.J., George McCauley, S.J., Joseph A.Tetlow, S.J., John C. Hawley, S.
Columns
Talk of war faded from the American conversation as midterm elections approached, but now that the campaign is over and Republicans are in firm control of Congress, we can expect a return to all war, all the time on the news networks and political talk shows. The producers and hosts, of course, will
Faith in Focus
‘We’re the original hippies!” Father Bernard broke into a mischievous grin, white teeth flashing in the spring afternoon sun. We were talking about the Trappist lifestyle: four hours of manual labor six days a week to earn enough to support the community; the rest of the time spent
Books
The debate over the compatibility of wealth and democracy is as old as the republic With this truism author and political commentator Kevin Phillips begins Wealth and Democracy From the start we have no doubt where the author stands on that issue Extreme inequalities of wealth he is certain end
Until I first came to Nigeria in 1964, I never had given much thought to Islam. But when I arrived, my eyes were opened to a new world. At the international airport in Lagos, men in “Arabian Nights” outfits swarmed around me. Some months later, on a visit to Lagos during Christmas week,
Politics & Society
Over the last 20 years, 22 million people have died from AIDS. The United Nations predicts that without a drastic change in treatment and prevention efforts, 68 million more people will die from AIDS over the next two decades.
In yet another move toward isolationism and unilateralism, the Bush administration has withdrawn all American support for the International Criminal Court, which came into existence on July 1, 2002. The administration went so far as to declare on May 6 of this year that it had unsigned the statute (
The Word
We spend so much of life waiting As children we could hardly wait for birthdays free days and holidays we could hardly wait to grow up Now as adults we wait for buses and trains we wait in doctors rsquo offices and government agencies we wait for our turn on the golf course or the tennis c
Books
From late January to June as the sexual abuse scandal raged across the nation and ravaged the church Catholics looking for a silver lining noted that the crisis had united erstwhile opponents in the Catholic culture wars With the bishops serving as convenient whipping boys for liberals and conser
Portfolio
When I first saw prints from Louis Glanzman’s paintings of 12 women of the New Testament, something happened inside me. It was as if I suddenly recognized beloved sisters whom I had never seen before but knew in my heart. The paintings had a life of their own--unique, powerful and as real as a