“God is in the room—even more than Elvis,” quipped the lead singer Bono in reference to U2’s concert performances last summer. The third and final leg of their world tour, called “Elevation,” opened on Oct. 10 in Notre Dame’s Joyce Athletic Convocation Cente

David Kertzer author of the acclaimed study of the kidnapping of the Jewish child Edgardo Mortara by Pope Pius IX here expands his purview to take in the anti-Semitic behavior of all the popes from the restoration of the Papal States in 1814 to the accession of Pius XII in 1939 His study he says

One of the most striking developments in recent years concerning international law and the protection of human rights has been the emergence of the concept of universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity. The essence of the concept is that any country can prosecute violators of human rights,

Out of BoundsProfessor Daryl Domning’s boldness in tackling the very confusing matter of evil in the world deserves respect (“Evolution, Evil and Original Sin,” 11/12/01). But some of his conclusions leap out of bounds. They go beyond the limits of his working method, a scientific

Most Americans were in a party mood on New Year’s Eve two years ago. Although they had been admonished that 2000 was, properly speaking, the closing year of the 20th century, they generally celebrated its first day as the start of a new millenniumand celebrated with carefree exuberance. There

During his first official visit to New York, President George W. Bush paused between other duties to present a Congressional gold medal to the family of the late Cardinal John O’Connor. While covering that event, National Public Radio explored this administration’s efforts to reach out t

Finding books right before your eyes on the sidewalk: this is one of those phenomena you can encounter almost daily in New York City. Here in Manhattan I have had the good fortune to come across both paperbacks and hardbacks in my comings and goings. If you are an undiscriminating book lover like me

The World Day of Peace this year is being celebrated in the shadow of the dramatic events of last Sept. 11. On that day, a terrible crime was committed: in a few brief hours thousands of innocent people of many ethnic backgrounds were slaughtered. Since then, people throughout the world have felt a

It was after working hours, but I was still in the prison clinic, reviewing lab work, reading X-ray reports and noting recommendations from specialists to whom I had referred patients. From the clinic officer’s radio I heard a call to officers assigned to the emergency response teamthey were b

War on Terrorism Unjustifiable, Say Some Catholic LeadersThe current war on terrorism is unjustifiable, says a group of leaders from Catholic institutions and religious congregations. Using the criteria laid down in the Catholic just war theory, they say, “the strong moral requirement of immun

We sit at the kitchen table in our pajamas, the late morning sun filtering through the windows. The Washington Post lies untouched on the table, along with bagel crumbs and big mugs of tepid, strong coffee. It is New Year’s Eve day, and four of us, our college friendships eight years young now

Frantically searching for ways to postpone sitting down at the keyboard and trying to find something relatively new to say about the most over-analyzed film and social phenomenon of the year, I idly called up my favorite search engine and typed in harrypotter. The monitor blinked once and then came

John Simon known for the pungency of his drama and film critiques in New York magazine and elsewhere here delivers himself on writers touched by the spirit of poetrydreamers of dreams in the words of the prophet Joel The principal essays in this collection have appeared from 1991 onwards in Th

I dreamt I was standing at the pearly gates, clutching a handful of coupons. What are those? St. Peter asked. My volunteering coupons, I replied, placing them in his hand. Then I explained how I had earned them: all the times I had pitched in at church answering phones, singing in the choir, volunte

On the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday several years ago, I sat on my living-room sofa fuming at the television set. My wife entered the room and patiently asked me what news story had caused me such exasperation. I had just watched the national director for the American Red Cross urge

If the church that hosted my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting had been Catholic, I wouldn’t have gone near it. The religion I had been brought up in made me so angry in those days that I boycotted it in any way I could. But since the church was Presbyterian, I condescended to take a rear sea