Vantage Point

The greatness of a great man may have different aspects. An artist—Michelangelo, for example—is considered great only for his applied genius. […] Saintliness is certainly a criterion for greatness. Not all great men are saints, but all saints are great men. […]I have no int

As Pope John Paul II celebrates 25 years in office, the world is taking stock of a pontificate that has helped shape political events, set new directions for the Catholic Church and offered spiritual inspiration to millions of people around the globe.By any measure, this is a papacy for the ages. Si

By the second Sunday of Easter, April 10, as the African Synod opened in Rome—the official title for this meeting is “The Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops”—details had just reached the outside world of the slaughter in Rwanda. Among those killed in the wave

Vantage Point 1994: Fr. James Martin, S.J., on the Western media’s difficulty in confronting the tragedy in Rwanda.

From the archives, the editors on the assassination of John F. Kennedy

From 1973, the aftermath of Roe v. Wade

Excerpts from America’s editorials on Vietnam from between 1954 and 1974.

Conscious of his pastoral responsibility for the whole flock of Christ, Pope John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical letter “Ut Unum Sint” (No. 96) invited leaders and theologians of other churches to suggest ways in which the papal office, without prejudice to its essential features, could