It might surprise many to learn that no bishop has ministered to more persons living with AIDS than Cardinal John O’Connor, who by his own report tended to countless patients at St. Clare’s Hospital. I dare say also that no bishop has directly ministered to more priests and bishops who w

Health care is emerging as a major campaign issue, and rightly so, because we are in trouble. The U.S. Census Bureau has found that over 44 million people lack health insurance. It is estimated that by the year 2008, the number of uninsured will have risen to 55 millionalmost a quarter of all non-el

Always fall in love with what you’re asked to accept. Take what is given and make it over your way.... The best way is through. Robert Frost

Suicide is a major mental health problem that touches all our lives The incidence of suicide is frighteningly highthere are few among us who do not know a friend or family member who has either attempted or committed suicide and no one of us is immune from its reach We have much to learn from tho

The day after Cardinal O’Connor’s death I received a package delivered by U.P.S. It was from Alba House (Society of St. Paul) and contained a copy of their newest publication, The Life and Times of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. The author, Myles P. Murphy, is a New York archdiocesan priest

In this Jubilee year, the issue of wealth distribution, especially as it relates to the larger macroeconomic issues of international debt and globalization, has received a good deal of attention and analysis. For this we should be thankful. What has not received much attention, however, are the resp

Poor George W. Bush. It was bad enough when, during the primary season, a Boston reporter surprised him with a snap quiz about foreign leaders, including some from nations that Rand McNally himself might have had trouble spelling. Bush’s tentative answers inspired snickers in some quarters, al

Patrick Tyler The New York Times rsquo s Beijing bureau chief from 1993 to 1997 begins his history of U S relations with China by emphasizing the risk of war between the People rsquo s Republic and Taiwan American presidents have sought to deter such a war and since 1972 have endorsed the idea o

Pope Links Fatima Secret To Assassination AttemptPope John Paul II, ordering the publication of the third secret of Fatima, believes part of it was a direct reference to the attempt made on his life in 1981, said the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Cardinal Sodano, the highest-ra

Generalizations about races or nations, however prejudiced, usually have some basis in fact.- Peter Mansfield, The Arabs.

When did your anti-sweatshop work begin?We began our labor rights activities in Latin America in the early 1990’s in El Salvador and Honduras. One of our first projects was to help a local human rights organization in Honduras, called the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, to do a surv

The debate over whether the United States should give permanent normal trade relations to China pits human rights concerns against economic ones. While others focus on labor, environmental or military issues, the U.S. bishops oppose special trade privileges for China because of China’s human r

DisengagedWhy confine our concern to killing priests (4/29)? It seems that we could say the same about every person in church ministry. The outdated paradigm threatens the soul of every director of religious education, pastoral assistant and active minister who tries to balance the increasing demand

When was the last time you picked up a long and thorough study by a professional historian that you couldn rsquo t put down Ruth Harris rsquo s new book published to critical acclaim by the academic and literary communities may well do the trick for you It provides an elegantly written intellig

Samuel Clemens rsquo s birth in 1835 and his death in 1910 coincided with successive appearances of Halley rsquo s comet providing an apt image for the periodic reappearance of Mark Twain on the U S literary cultural horizon Two recent books on Clemens adopt different approaches in order to provi

At a Jesuit university halfway around the world, a visiting Latin American theologian told the assembled Jesuits, "Students? Oh, students are the necessary sin of a university!" The comment was made tongue-in-cheek to stir the audience up. But his line of thought was deadly serious. Studen

Every time I see a movie (which is a lot) and a priest or a nun appears on screen (which is not a lot) I steel myself for the worst. Though directors, screenwriters and actors have of late been able to furnish moviegoers with convincing portrayals of, among other difficult subjects, middle-aged toba

Even if there were no Ex Corde Ecclesiae or U.S. bishops’ Application, those involved in higher education in Catholic and Jesuit universities would be examining the mission and the direction of our institutions. Publications like Michael J. Buckley’s The Catholic University as Promise an