Another Step Forward
One of the most heartening aspects of the ecumenical movement today is the growing relationship between Catholics and Evangelicals. Their history had long been marked by disparagement and rejection. In 1873 the Evangelical Alliance in the United States said its greatest foe was not atheism, but the
A New Kind of Busing
On the Friday morning just before Mother’s Day, a group of children and caretakers board a chartered bus in a South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. One expects to hear a free-spirited ruckus, but the mood on the bus is oddly quiet and contemplative. These children are not, as one might guess
Pre-empting Moral Discourse
In one of his better moments last year, President Bush clearly articulated his ethical position on embryonic stem cell research, the principles and evidence his judgment was based on and a considered review of moral stances other than his own. We could use such clarity now, as the president mounts h
Seminaries Await Vatican Visitation
The communiqué released on April 24 at the close of the Vatican-U.S. summit on clergy sexual abuse contained some surprising news. According to the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting in Rome between the U.S. cardinals and Vatican officials, investigating teams will be sent to all of the 5
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Jimmy Carter, who learned Spanish in the Navy, found a special use for that skill in 1969, when he was a state senator in Georgia. In that year he worked for some days as a Southern Baptist lay evangelist in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Springfield, Mass.In a speech at the University of Havana
Letters
Letters
Inquisitorial Witch Hunts
The editorial Toward Dallas (5/27) contains many thought-provoking concepts for structural changes that I pray our church leaders will consider and implement during their upcoming meeting in Dallas. The church has been guilty of hiding behind the obfuscation of legal minds more interested in reducing liability than promoting justice. When Cardinal Egan equivocates,…
Editorials
The Future of Vouchers
Ohio’s school voucher program survived in the Supreme Court because five justices took into account all the educational choices Ohio provided for parents, not just the voucher choice. In the 1970’s and 80’s, the court looked only at the individual programs under challenge. Since mo
Faith in Focus
Threatened by Resurrection
…What won’t let us sleep
Books
Papaphobia
With Popes and Politics Justus Lawler has written two books His first four chapters analyze recent works about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust His final three chapters address issues of church renewal and reform So massive has been the devastation inflicted on the memory of Pius XII by Rolf Hochhu
Lies and War
I first began reading Ian McEwan when Black Dogs came out a decade ago subsequently I started collecting and reading all his novels Combining a shrewd narrative sense with acute psychology he often manages to pick subjects that push him and his reader into the borderlands of ordinary life where t
Peacenik Adrift
In 1998 just before he turned 50 Edward Gargan did what any normal Vietnam-era c o former Berkeley Ph D candidate in medieval Chinese history New York Times foreign correspondent and bureau chief West Africa India and Hong Kong and current Newsday Asia hand would do for a midlife sabbatical
Film
Clash Conscious: The Importance of Being Earnest
Those of us of a certain age can sympathize with poor Cecily (Reese Witherspoon), a prisoner of grammar lessons taught by the indefatigable and assertively dull Miss Prism (Anna Massey). Oscar Wilde certainly did, when he put her in The Importance of Being Earnest. Yet those tedious days of Latin an
The Word
How Odd of God!
This has got to stop Why doesn rsquo t somebody do something about this The refrains are heard from family kitchens to rec rooms of religious communities perhaps more frequently Jesus rsquo followers were no different Jesus compares God rsquo s kingdom to the work of a sower who sows good se
Finders Keepers!
This Sunday concludes Jesus rsquo sermon in parables with three kingdom parables and a covert reference to the Evangelist himself The kingdom or better God rsquo s way of reigning is first compared to the joy of unexpected discovery of a treasure in a field which causes a person to sell everyt
News
Signs of the Times
Bishops Respond to Dallas Actions with Reflection, PromisesBishops around the country assured their people that they intend to make certain their dioceses follow the new policies on handling cases of sexual abuse by priests that were approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on June 14. In
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts