In All Things

Among the endless reports of senseless bloodshed and revenge killings coming out of Iraq is one curious and inspiring story reported by CNS yesterday Catholic Bishop Rejects Execution of Iraqi Archbishop s Murderer Though Al Qaeda operative Ahmed Ali Ahmed was found guilty of kidnapping and

The Anchoress has an honest piece on how one goes about praying for someone–even if one is not initially inclined to It s no secret that for every Catholic fan of Senator Ted Kennedy and I am an enormous admirer of this remarkable man though I don t agree with him on everything there is

An excellent article by George Packer in this week s New Yorker traces the steady disintegration of the conservative movement Packer s history is a reminder that from its earliest days American conservativism was deeply attractive to many Catholics Writing about William J Buckley s memorial

In 2007 I predicted to anyone who would listen that the Democrats would have their nominee at 8 01 Iowa time on the night of that state s caucus The effort to front-load the calendar to give states other than Iowa and New Hampshire a bigger say in choosing the nominee seemed destined to have t

Similar to the sane conservatives discussed last week some pro-choice liberals have begun to back away from the most extreme positions on abortion They have shifted their focus from fighting tooth-and-nail to eliminate even the whiff of a restriction on access to the procedure to trying and reduce

I recently returned from perhaps the best vacation of my life Eight days on the Mayan Riviera where some friends and I stayed at the Riu Palace Mexico a five-star resort south of Cancun Cozumel I highly recommend a trip there to all of you The all-inclusive package is a best buy for sure

This weekend Michael Tueth SJ a professor of communications at Fordham University in New York gave what I think was a wonderful homily at the baccalaureate Mass for graduating seniors And you don t have to be a student to appreciate it In just a few paragraphs leavened with humor he a

The recent kerfuffle over the National Abortion Rights Action League s endorsement of Sen Barack Obama put the radically pro-choice organization at the center of the news They were denounced by several pro-choice feminists including Ellen Malcolm the head of EMILY s List a group that seeks

Over the past few weeks I ve heard three stories about the recent papal visit that I ve found especially moving First The visit of Pope Benedict XVI with Cardinal Avery Dulles S J who has been ailing in a private meeting in Cardinal Egan s suite in St Joseph s Seminary Dunwoodi

There are some odd rules in the land of publishing For example if you blurb a book that is write a few sentences of praise for the back cover or for advertisements you can t review it Strange I know Or if you have some sort of professional connection to the author when you re r