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Books
Inclusive Pluralism
Peter C. Phan
Very likely the first question that will pop into the minds of readers of this latest and third book by Jacques Dupuis on the theology of religions is this How well has its author answered the charges by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that his previous work Toward a Christian Theo
Faith in Focus
Hold On to What Is Good: Home
Richard J. Rodeheffer
It was an unexceptional Catholic childhood in the Rochester, N.Y., of the 1950’s: St. Boniface parochial school, the family rosary (for the conversion of Communist Russia), pennies placed in our cardboard collection boxes to save pagan babies and serving as an altar boy. Although we had neighb
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Keener Comprehension

One of your correspondents (Letters, 1/6) was outraged that the severe penances practiced by Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha were described in a favorable tone in the Of Many Things column on Dec. 2, 2002, by George M. Anderson, S.J. I think the correspondent is forgetting that things were viewed in a different light 300 years ago. Among us, pain is practically a dirty word. We do not wish to suffer a minute of it, and we believe that our doctors should immediately find medications and treatments to relieve us of it. But years ago, pain was simply a fact of life. This was well known to Blessed Kateri. But her deep faith enabled her to understand that the pain Jesus suffered was not a necessary part of our divine Lord’s life; she knew he had suffered pain willingly for our salvation, and she was grateful for that. And her love encouraged her to be like him; since he had suffered, she wished to suffer with him.

Furthermore, saint that she was, she had a much keener comprehension than we do of her human failings, and saw them as more grievous than they really were, or than we would be willing to acknowledge. Her faith made her want to suffer in order to resemble her suffering Savior, but also to make reparation for her failings and those of people who had not responded to the love Jesus poured out for us.

In speaking as he did of Kateri’s penances, I don’t believe Father Anderson was saying, Go thou and do likewise. Rather, he was presenting this indication of the depth of Kateri’s love and devotion that we might admire it and be moved, in our own modern way, toward a similar devotion to him who has loved us so much.

John J. Paret, S.J.

Habla Ingles?
Ernest R. Freeman
The New York Times recently published a book review about a biography of the writer Neil Bissoondath. The reviewer mentions that Bissoondath dedicated his book, Doing the Heart Good, to his uncle and mentor, who had warned him that race is a trap; to make that the center of your worldview limits you
Arts & CultureFilm
Melting Pot: Gangs of New York
Richard A. Blake
Not long ago a distant cousin, a genealogy buff, sent me an antique clipping from a local paper about a possible ancestor on trial for murder. In the labor wars of the 19th century, scabs did not have much longevity in the Irish factory towns of the Middle West. This long-forgotten enforcer simply p
Editorials
Pacem in Terris 40 Years Later
The Editors
Pope John Paul II’s message for this year’s World Day of Peace, Jan. 1, 2003, anticipates the 40th anniversary of Blessed Pope John XXIII’s landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris in April. At a time when the world seems more troubled than at any time since the collapse of Communism in
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, often stays at America House when she comes to New York. She was here last fall for the opening of the opera based on her book, which recounts her experiences as spiritual advisor to men on death row. What we spoke of, though, was not so much the ope
The Word
The Lord in Our Midst
Dianne Bergant
Some of our most beautiful architectural creations are synagogues cathedrals mosques temples of every kind Believing people express religious sentiments in the structures they set apart for prayer It is there that they unite themselves in a special way with God so the place itself is considere
Books
A Daring Integration
Michael Bisesi
What are public issues What organizations are best prepared to address them Do we have a welfare problem or a poverty problem Is education a concern because of failing schools or failing social equity These important questions have become increasingly perplexing especially if we consider the cen
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Broken Connection

Your editorial and the interview with Patriarch Michel Sabbah (12/23) brought back memories of my childhood in Bethlehem and my student days at the College des Frres in the Old City of Jerusalem. The majority of Christian Palestinian towns, such as Bethlehem, Nazareth, Beit Jala and many other smaller towns, are losing population. The native Christian community that has maintained for almost 2,000 years a living presence in the cradle of our faith is slowly being forced to seek refuge in other lands. Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter are festivals that I recollect vividly and wistfully. They were celebrated as community and family festive occasions. The processions of pilgrims and Arab Christians from the local congregations as well as the neighboring countries were a visual demonstration of a living church.

The Christian right pours in millions of dollars in support of the oppressive Sharon regime and lends it moral support, while the Catholic Church and other mainline churches take very timid steps in support of the Palestinians. Is it fear of being branded as anti-Semitic, or is it a lack of connectedness to the Holy Land, our Promised Land?

Gabriel John Batarseh

Diplomacy: Still Our First Line of Defense
Anthony C. E. Quainton
From Jan. 20, 2003. Anthony Quainton on the role of diplomacy before the Iraq War.
Books
A Year on the Farm
Ron Hansen
Writing of his need to keep a journal Verlyn Klinkenborg indicates in The Rural Life that he hopes it will be a conscientious record of the count of crows in the field every afternoon If a flock of turkeys walks into the barnyard I want to mention the fact If one of the horses throws a shoe
Real Prevention: Alternatives to Force
Maryann Cusimano Love
Will military force work to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction? The Bush administration’s National Security Strategy issued last fall states that the United States will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to destroy threats abroad before they reach U.S. borders. In the docu
Columns
Two Flags Side by Side High Above the Altar
Thomas J. McCarthy
For a lifelong member of a large institution, at what point does a stance of healthy dissent toward that institution become a full-fledged breach? For a dozen years or so I’ve lived in a state of tension with the two most elemental institutions in my upbringing, the church and the state. My ex
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Pope, Other Leaders Urge That War With Iraq Be AvoidedAs war clouds darkened the coming of a new year, Pope John Paul II joined other church leaders in asking that a U.S.-led war be avoided with Iraq. In a year-end speech to Vatican officials, he warned against conflicts “that risk exploding again
The Word
The Fish Story That Tops All!
Dianne Bergant
God seems to choose the most unlikely people to proclaim the good news a prophet who tried to escape his call and was carried to his ministry in the belly of a large fish simple fishermen who knew a lot about bait and nets but little about preaching a tent-maker who became a disciple when the po
Books
Because the Bible Says So
Robert Monahan
As its mighty big title suggests God and the Constitution Christianity and American Politics attempts to address some broad issues Paul Marshall rsquo s essential thesis is that it is the God-given duty of Christians to engage in politics But in God and the Constitution he criticizes the average
Editorials
The Old Year and the New
The Editors
Even in a nation that is for the moment the richest and most powerful on earth there are many who must be glad to see the year 2002 go. Only an inattentive chronicler could fail to record that this was not a good year for the U.S. Catholic bishops, the managers of the Democratic Party, the frustrate
Poetry
What, then?
Kelly Cherry

"Do unto others as you’d be done unto."

The Word
Through the Waters to New Life
Dianne Bergant
The Christmas season closes with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord This is not the end of things but rather the beginning The readings remind us that the one born of our flesh is the servant of God mdash the very Son of God mdash who brings a promise of justice and hope to a world in desperate