Same-Sex Marriage: Threat or Aspiration?
The debate over legalizing same-sex marriage has become a worldwide issue. On Sept. 4 Pope John Paul II denounced the notion to the new Canadian ambassador to the Holy See, Donald Smith. The issue also has been the subject of court decisions and legislative actions throughout the United States and w
The Primacy of Procreation
I am grateful for Stephen J. Pope’s careful reading of my essay and glad to have the opportunity to reply. His basic claim, it seems to me, is that a specifically sexual kind of friendship, not procreation nor friendship as such, is the feature that defines marriage. Marriage is “about a
Helping Immigrants Find a Home: An Interview With Joel Magalln
Joel Magallán, S.J., is the founder and executive director of the Asociación Tepeyac in New York City. (Tepeyac is the name of the hill near Mexico City where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to Blessed Juan Diego in 1531.) A network of 40 community and parish-based organizations, the
A Catholic Vote?
In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, a combination of media experts and religious leaders have argued that “religion” and “moral values” have taken on a new importance in American political life. The evangelicals are claiming control of the Republican Party bec
Remembering Fulton Sheen
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) wore many hats throughout his illustrious lifetime: teacher, preacher, bishop, orator, writer, fund-raiser for missions abroad, convert-maker, radio personality, television star. And perhaps some time in the future, if the incipient cause takes root, there will
Letters
Letters
Can of Sardines
I wish to comment on Immoral Bingeing by Terry Golway (10/18). I feel that I not only do have a right to complain about the price of gas with which I fill my gas-guzzling S.U.V., but I have a right to complain about the cost of my S.U.V., along with the cost of…
Editorials
The Stem Cell Debate
The debate about stem cell research focuses on money and morality, on how to pay for this enterprise and how to guarantee that it is guided by ethical principles. In California last month, 60 percent of the voters dealt with the first of these concerns but not with the second. They passed Propositio
Faith in Focus
The Bad Thief
There is a chip in the paint on my bunk bed where Keith hanged himself. Like everything else in prison, penitentiary paint is cheap. Even a suicide’s shoestring rope is enough to nick it. That scratch is all that is left of Keith now. In the year or so that we shared a cell, Keith…
Books
A Necessary Process
This extremely useful book brings together the major conclusions of seven years of conferences on forgiveness sponsored by Washington rsquo s Woodstock Theological Center held in collaboration with the Office of International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The
Odyssey of the Long-Winded Lady’
In 1997 literary luminaries like Alice Munro and Mavis Gallant hailed a collection of stories written by an Irish writer named Maeve Brennan Entitled The Springs of Affection Stories of Dublin Houghton Mifflin these stories were set in Ireland and often revolved around young girls or women Th
Weigel’s Catholic World
Reading George Weigel rsquo s Letters to a Young Catholic is a bit like watching Kevin Costner attempt a British accent in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves You can see that he rsquo s trying and for stretches he gets it but despite his best efforts he can rsquo t avoid returning to his normal…
The Word
Rejoice in the Lord!
In the middle of Advent we pause for a moment of rejoicing This is not a period of rest taken during a long journey It is more like a short stop at a scenic view where we stand in awe of the spectacular panorama before us Advent is a liturgical journey toward Christmas the feast…
News
Signs of the Times
Boston’s Archbishop Closes 47 ParishesIn mid-November Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., of Boston put the properties of 16 closed parishes up for sale but gave six parishes that were slated to close an extension on their closing date. He also issued a letter to all Catholics of th
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