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Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Vatican May O.K. Experimental Application of U.S. NormsThe Vatican is leaning toward approval of an experimental application of the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse by clergy, perhaps after some clarifying language is added, a senior Vatican official said. “This would not be a rejection b
Goodbye, Democrats
John F. Kavanaugh
Why do media moguls think we are interested in Ashleigh Banfield? Why do they believe that we couldn’t wait to be afflicted with Phil Donahue again? Why do they imagine that we are concerned about Rosie’s magazine? Why do they think that Ann Coulter would be a media fixture if she were a
Hiding in the Thickets of the Law'
The Rev. John P. Beal
In the heat of a Dallas summer and the even more intense heat of national and international media scrutiny, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met on June 14 to address what they described as a crisis without precedent in our times, namely the crisis within the Catholic Church sparked by the se
Books
Get Connected
John Predmore
Singing to the Dead recounts the experiences of Victoria Armour-Hileman a Catholic lay missioner from the United States among the Mon Buddhist refugees in Bangkok in the early 1990 rsquo s As the Burmese government intensifies its ethnic war on its Mon people Armour-Hileman engages in the daily
Poetry
Early Sunday, After Deciding Not to Go to Mass
Rebecca Rotert

I pull my wool sweater on over my nightgown

Editorials
Hope, Not Optimism
The Editors
It takes great courage to speak candidly in the midst of a crisis. To speak serenely when surrounded by mayhem requires wisdom and tact. To speak at all these days to the members of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors requires fortitude. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, the coadjutor bis
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
Oct. 16 is World Food Day—the founding date over half a century ago of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. But in view of the starvation that is claiming many lives in the poorest countries, Oct. 16 might more appropriately be called World Hunger Day. During a late-sum
Books
Monks' Missives
Richard J. Hauser
Survival or Prophecy is the right book for Merton devotees seeking greater insight into Merton rsquo s thoughts about monastic renewal In his letters to his friend Jean LeClercq Merton candidly bares his own soul revealing frustration with his monastic situation at Gethsemani and a yearning to li
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Just War

I want to thank you for the very insightful article by John Langan, S.J., about whether or not we should invade Iraq (9/9). But I wish to offer some points for you to consider. First, the use of the term vigilante justice seems to be an oxymoron, based on the question raised about the justice being done by the aggrieved and angry party, which implies that it is more likely to be vengeance than justice.

Second, Father Langan seems to imply that if one could prove that the consequences of an invasion of Iraq can be mitigated, then such action might be acceptable. This can never be the case, because the primary consequence of such a unilateral action would be to undermine the rule of law. What makes us different from Iraq? We claim that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons, but we have more weapons than any other nation on earth. Isn’t our willingness to restrain our power and abide by international law the very essence of the difference between us and Iraq? Wouldn’t a unilateral invasion of Iraq destroy that difference? Wouldn’t it make us the most dangerous rogue nation in the world? If we got away with such an invasion, what would convince other countries that we can be trusted to restrain our power in the future?

Even if we are able to gain support from other countries in the region, wouldn’t a pre-emptive strike undermine the just war principles? The author chose to defer consideration of the just war principles until after all can agree that the goals for the region would not be hampered by an invasion of Iraq. That is a mistake. While I have serious reservations about the just war principles (to some extent because I do not believe that the church ever applies them honestly or in a timely manner), I believe it is a mistake to wait until after everyone agrees that a war is necessary to bring up the moral principles that should instruct such decisions. Once everyone believes that war is necessary, there is great pressure to bend the just war principles to conform to that belief.

Many are looking at the issue of war with Iraq in simplistic terms. Evil must be resisted. Your article has done much to remove the blinders from people’s eyes so that they can see the complexity of what they contemplate. But it does not challenge them to see the ultimate truth. If evil is to be resisted, why aren’t we resisting war itself? The just war principles give us permission to use evil to attain justice and security. But what good is justice and security when we have embraced evil?

Stephen D. Stratoti

Editorials
The First Teachers Rights
The Editors
Debbie Lannaman and her 8-year-old daughter, Chelsea, live in Harlem, a legendary New York City neighborhood with 10 public elementary schools. To each of these schools Ms. Lannaman gives an F. The failures in these cases are not the fault of the teachers, who are front-line troops doing the best th
Books
Rooted in Place
Stephen Bede Scharper
Though often labeled a modern-day Thoreau Wendell Berry is perhaps more akin to a biblical prophet a lone voice crying not in the wilderness but from his own farm Like Isaiah and Amos Berry is able to discern the embedded patterns of corruption and injustice in a culture of haves and have-nots
Seminary Visitation
Donald W. Wuerl
The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People endorsed by the bishops at the meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas on June 13-15 includes a pledge of “complete cooperation with the Apostolic Visitation of our diocesan/eparchial seminaries and relig
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
Henry James named one of his novels Washington Square, after a formerly fashionable area in Lower Manhattan known for its handsome row of mid-19th century houses on the square’s north side. Most of the houses are now owned by New York University, but one belongs to the Sisters of Charity. It i
The Troubles' at Holy Cross
Ray Hearn
It was all very different a year ago. Holy Cross Roman Catholic Girls primary school in north Belfast made headlines in all the newspapers and on television and radio stations throughout the world. Day after day, crying small childrensome as young as four years of ageaccompanied by their parents, ha
Ordination and Same Sex Attraction
Andrew R. Baker
Every bishop possesses the sacred duty of discerning the suitability of candidates for holy orders. St. Paul’s advice to Timothy is fitting for all bishops, especially today: “Do not lay hands too readily on anyone” (1 Tim. 5: 22). The church’s life and the way it manifests i
Books
Are Things Different Now?
Andrew M. Greeley
When we were in the seminary our economics professor Ed Roche God be good to him told us one day that his classmates were getting old ldquo I say to them when you start complaining about the young guys it rsquo s proof you rsquo re getting old rdquo Ironically his classmates in those days
Faith in Focus
Clerical Culture Both Beauty and Beast
Emil A. Wcela
Mama Leone’s was a famous restaurant in midtown Manhattan a few decades ago. A combination of location—West 48th Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue—food, atmosphere and entertainment attracted tourists into waiting lines that often stretched into the street. If the ma&
Columns
Betting on Dreams
Lorraine V. Murray
My dad was a gambler. One of my earliest memories is seeing him checking the racing results in the newspaper and circling likely prospects for the next day’s betting. My father’s habit wouldn’t have been a problem had we been a rich family, but we weren’t. When he and my mom
Yes, Gay Men Should Be Ordained
Thomas J. Gumbleton
One major fallout of the current crisis of leadership in the Catholic Church is the scapegoating of homosexual priests and seminarians. One bishop was quoted as saying that his “unscientific conclusion is that most sexual abuse by priests is against adolescent boys and therefore is rooted in s
Working With Prisoners: An Interview With Simone Ponnet
George M. Anderson
Walking up Willis Avenue, one of the more desolate thoroughfares of the South Bronx, I was on my way to interview Simone Ponnet of the Little Sisters of the Gospel, who is the executive director of Abraham House. Abraham House (www.abrahamhouse.org) is a residential program for prisoners assigned th