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In terms of its harm and far-reaching effects, the present crisis in the church must be compared with the Reformation and the French Revolution. It is this conviction that brings to my mind the forthright declaration of the Second Vatican Council, Our era needs wisdom more than past ages.... The fut
Has there ever been anything like it in the history of the church? That is a question I have been asked a number of times since the sexual abuse scandal swelled to its present din. Not a day goes by without allegations of improper conduct by Roman Catholic clergy. Not a day goes by without evidence
It’s the conservatives’ fault. It’s the liberals’ fault. It’s because they wore cassocks. It’s because they stopped wearing cassocks. It’s because Rome is too much in control of the bishops. It’s because the bishops are too independent of Rome. It&rsqu
We have struggled this season with a number of deeply troubling issues related to the tragedies of sexual abuse of minors by priests in this country. The first wave of responses, rightly enough, has been to put a stop to systems and behavior patterns that pose immediate risks to potential victims. T
Books
In The Mercy Factory Christopher J Einolf offers a gripping firsthand account of the challenges terror and exhilaration of representing political asylum-seekers The book vividly captures the work rsquo s life-and-death intensity Like many charitable legal service providers in the field Einolf
Columns
The ideal is collaboration, not confrontation. It would be just as wrong for the churches to expect the federal and state governments to solve the problem of sexual abuse of children as it would be for the government to expect the religious denominations to solve the problem.The problem is not relig
The expectations surrounding the meeting in Rome on April 23-24 of the U.S. cardinals, the leaders of our bishops’ conference and members of the Roman Curia were enormously unrealistic. Those hopes ranged from a quick and final plan to end decades of child abuse in the church to a Third Vatica
Hillaire Belloc, an English Catholic writer from the first half of the last century, once remarked apropos of Catholic leadership that any organization whose leadership was guilty of such knavish imbecility must have the special protection of God. As we ride the turbulent waves of the latest reprise
Books
It would be difficult to discover two contemporary authors who rival Peter Hennessy and Roy Jenkins as articulate and authoritative interpreters of modern British political life Each author brings to his work a well-established reputation as expert analyst of the institutions and personnel governin
News
Bishop Gregory Says Bishops Will Hear, Pray With Victims in DallasWhen the U.S. bishops meet in Dallas from June 13 to 15 to develop a national policy on clergy sexual abuse of minors, there will be “direct participation by some who have been directly harmed by a cleric,” said Bishop Wil
Of Many Things
Not being a television fan, on free evenings I tune in to some classical music on National Public Radio. The music serves as background for reading. Early in the morning, I turn on the radio again for the news in Spanish as part of my efforts to learn that language.As a child, however, listening to
Letters
Compassion
You’ve done something wrong, repented and have spent the following years, even decades, in faithful, compassionate service to others. Then, without warning, you’re placed on extended medical leave, and your calling is gone overnight (4/22). The resultant trauma is mind-boggling.
We need to remember such priests now with a note that details their kindnesses to us and ours. We need to let them know how their counsel, homilies and actions have made us better people, and how, through us, this good continues in the world. As even that flawed place tells us, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Joan Huber Berardinelli
Editorials
Expectations are high for the spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas, Tex. Priests, bishops and laity hope that the meeting will resolve the credibility crisis that has afflicted the church since the latest round of sexual abuse scandals exploded in Boston. The
News
Cardinal Law Gives Deposition in Civil Suit Against ArchdioceseCardinal Bernard F. Law was interrogated under oath on May 8 by a lawyer representing 86 people who have filed suit against him and the Archdiocese of Boston, alleging that he was negligent in supervising John J. Geoghan when Geoghan was
Arts & CultureBooks
Robert King a retired philosophy and religion professor and academic dean, discovered only late in his academic career the contemplative dimension of Christianity
Speaking to the higher education community at Santa Clara University in October 2000, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., the superior general of the Jesuits, could have been anticipating the tectonic shift that the events of Sept. 11 would cause when he gave a new challenge to all Jesuit colleges and univ
Columns
The departure of a White House staff member, even one who is said to be a president’s alter-ego, rarely inspires a raft of cultural commentary. But when Karen Hughes, President George W. Bush’s top advisor, announced in late April that she would be returning to her home state of Texas wi
I can hear someone who reads my article “Does God Communicate With Me?” (Am., 12/3/01) asking, perhaps with some pique: “You tell me to pay attention to my experience as the privileged place where God communicates with me. But how do I know it is God who is communicating with me? C
Books
Although she died at age 39 the Catholic writer Flannery O rsquo Connor left a literary legacy that secures her place as a major figure in 20th-century literature In this carefully researched well-written study of her fiction George A Kilcourse departs from the usual realm of literary criticism