The jubilee year dawned with the publication of the second U. S. edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Regrettably it continues to treat early Genesis accounts in a Tridentine fundamentalist light, completely avoiding any references to modern biblical exegesis or evolution. Its failure to

What really got under my skin about Beverly Donofrio rsquo s Looking for Mary came toward the end Returned from Medjugorje to Los Angeles she has stocked up on rosaries she brought to one of the alleged apparitions so she can hand them out as souvenirs and good luck charms The souvenir part I g

Faith on the EarthThe Rev. Donald Cozzens’s excellent article (11/4) points out that forces and factors are both pushing and pulling at today’s priests. True. But it seems to me that the various stresses confronting today’s priests may correctly be condensed into one single urgency

Last July 6 the Vatican once again reaffirmed the church’s rule that prohibits divorced Catholics from receiving Communion if they have remarried while bound by a valid previous marriage. The declaration no doubt disappointed divorced Catholics who hope to remarry one day. With half of America

This volume presents the lectures of a seminar held at Fordham University rsquo s Graduate School of Education in 1999 a year that spawned several events celebrating the centennial of the Ratio Studiorum the program of the Society of Jesus for all its schools in 72 countries over the course of fou

The percentage of Americans living in poverty is the lowest it has been in over 20 years. Nevertheless, over against this positive news is the fact that a sixth of the nation’s children remain poor. Indeed, the Census Bureau has reported that poverty among children has actually deepened—

Martin Marty the church historian and trusted commentator on American religious life has recently spearheaded a three-year multi-pronged national conversation about religion and public life Under the sponsorship of the Pew Charitable Trust Marty rsquo s symposia focus groups and probes of this

Is there anything more central to our existence than hope? And when it is denied, is there anything more disheartening? There is a poignant moment in Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man when the nameless black narrator realizes he is bereft of hope: I am invisible, understand, simply because p

Bishops Join Death Penalty Moratorium Appeal to ClintonThe president of the U.S. bishops’ conference and the chairman of its Domestic Policy Committee are among 40 prominent Americans who have asked President Clinton to declare a moratorium on federal executions. The first execution since 1963

Road maps provide a wonderful metaphor for life. The thick double line of the Interstate marks the quickest, most direct route to our destination, but a nearly infinite number of blue and red side roads offer unimagined possibilities. By choosing the safe, direct route, we miss a great many of life&

Michael Ruse a professor of philosophy and zoology at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada is that rare bird a theologically literate scientist He was a major expert witness along with the theologian Langdon Gilkey in the 1981 test case of the state law signed by then Governor Bill Cli

It seems as if every complicated moral issue sooner or later becomes a legal issue, at least in the United States. Consider, for example, the recent tobacco litigation. The moral question is whether tobacco companies should profit by selling such a dangerous product. This moral question immediately

While the number of refugees who are residing in a foreign country dropped worldwide in the 1990’s, during the same period civil wars, government repression and other forms of social violence led to a dramatic increase in the number of persons displaced within their own countries. In Sudan alo

Ecumenism in spiritual book publishing is alive and well. We are increasingly presented with spiritual reading intended for all ChristiansCatholic, Protestant and Orthodox. If there is any truth to the axiom lex orandi, lex credendi (our way of believing mirrors our way of praying), one is tempted t

Choices More WorthyI want to thank America for the attention you have brought to the pledge Renewing the Mind of the Media (11/11) and for John McCarthy’s excellent explication of the mind of the U.S. bishops in asking that this pledge be taken on Dec. 17 this year and on World Communications

In this the third and presumably final volume of his Agnes Browne trilogy Brendan O rsquo Carroll sends poor Agnes off to heaven at the relatively young age of 60 All her living children and grandchildren are around including a son with whom she is reconciled at the last possible second Agnes h

There it was, Baltimore’s huge gulag of a jail and prison complex covering two and a half city blocks. I was looking at it from the northeast corner of St. Ignatius Church, where I was to give a talk on prison ministry that Monday evening; the sight served as a useful if painful inward prepara

The world of Catholic-Jewish relations is far, far better today than it was when I was growing up in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where Jews were the overwhelming majority. Sure, as a youngster I had some Italian, Polish, Puerto Rican and Russian friends, but I didn’t know they w

Two nights before Thanksgiving, and no president-elect yet. A remarkable turn of events! Morning news anchors, cable-television pundits and op-ed sages insist that Americans are demanding a quick end to the madness. A quick end? Madness? Why, I don’t know a soul who feels that way! Most people