Before you begin to read The Sky Unwashed you think you know what you are in for Both jacket copy and preface explain that the novel deals with the Chornobyl nuclear accident The author born and raised in Chicago is a bilingual first-generation Ukrainian- American who has traveled often to Ukr

Nearly a half century ago, an anthropologist named Cora Du Bois analyzed the values of U.S. society and concluded that Americans are optimistic activists. They expect that they and their institutions will succeed and succeed quickly. When they run up against a hard question, they want the answer tod

Imagine a couple in their mid-30’s. These people have a beautiful 20-month-old baby girl. But now, at 18 weeks of gestation, their second pregnancy goes awry. Prenatal diagnosis reveals that the developing baby has a spina bifida and hydrocephalus so serious that, if he survives until birth, h

The United States has but one graduate program in canon law and many seminaries and theologates do not have a full-time canonist among their professors Much of the extensive U S research in canon lawwhich covers a broader spectrum of ecclesial concerns than the law governing the nullity of marria

Hard ChoicesIt is times like this that I most regret allowing myself to fall behind in my reading of America. On the eve of the elections, I am about one and a half months behind, and have just read The Faces Behind Us by Robert Heaney (9/30). The call to respond is strong within me.Dr. Heaney&rsquo

A relatively new phenomenon in this centurythey began to appear only in the early 1980’sprivately operated prisons have rapidly proliferated throughout much of the United States, especially in the South and West. Their upward surge is one result of ongoing tough-on-crime policies that have swo

It is a strange happenstance that many people, whether justified or not, see foreboding clouds looming over Catholic health care, Catholic higher education, and Catholic ecumenism. While some may contend that the problem is within these institutions, others fear that the threat is from the hierarchi

Don and his three colleagues were strolling the aisles of the department store, singing holiday carols as they’d been hired to do. Wrapped in colorful scarves, jaunty caps on their heads, they gave a wondrously festive feel to the bustle of the shopping experience. The fact that they were very

Flophouse is greater than the sum of its parts That is it is far more than a book of striking photographs of Bowery men and their surroundings with brief accompanying texts Because the four Bowery hotels described in the book are among the last of their kind in New York City the book has an ele

To walk where the young Henry James once walkedthat is what you can do if you are lucky enough to visit Linwood, a spiritual center near Rhinebeck, N.Y. The mid-19th-century owner of the property was Augustus James, Henry’s uncle. During his boyhood, Henry used to spend some of his summers the

Last May the people of Boston were stunned, angered and depressed upon being informed about yet another case of alleged child sexual abuse by someone working for the churchindeed, about what prosecutors say could be the largest child molestation case in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachuset

Pope Says Politicians Must Conform Civil Laws to God’s LawPope John Paul II said political leaders must conform civil laws and policies to God’s objective moral law and to principles of solidarity and justice. An estimated 15,000 public officials from 92 countries attended the Jubilee fo

What may even be worse than racism an African-American friend said not long ago is white guilt over racism He went on to quote everyone from Lenny Bruce and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr to W E B Du bois Racism was a problem yes but focusing on what is not being done to balance racial rel

The Exorcist’ is back. A fresh review of a 27-year-old movie would surely tax the patience of even the most generous reader, but the reappearance of this now-classic horror film in its newly printed version with its enhanced sound and added 12 minutesnever before seen, according to the mislead

Election night proved to be the most exciting moment of the 2000 presidential campaign as American voters split almost perfectly over the candidacies of George W. Bush and Al Gore. The closeness of the race had been anticipated, but the networks added to the roller-coaster excitement by first predic

Contraceptive MentalityI am writing to offer a criticism of your editorial on RU-486 (10/14). I find one of the suggestions in your last paragraph most curiousnamely, your claim that there are people who accept the church’s teaching on contraception but reject her teaching on abortion. Aside f