Let the Children Come
The last piece of mail I opened that Friday afternoon was a large white envelope bearing the return address of the Diocese of Cleveland. Having already received a memorandum about this mailing, I tore into the rectangular package with curiosity. Inside, I found the newly released Standards of Conduc
Postwar Justice
The Just War Theory is a centuries-old set of principles that provide objective norms for the moral evaluation of war. With each new technological advance or new kind of warfare the just war theory has evolved in order to remain relevant. In the wake of the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanis
Alaska, Latino Style
Cramped into a mobile home, we were standing in a circle holding hands, each person uttering a brief prayer of thanksgiving in Spanish. Three were Mexicans, three from Colombia, two from Peru, one from Honduras, one from Panama and myself, the lone “gringo” of the bunch. What made this p
On Peace and War
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, is a remarkable summary of Catholic social teaching. Those who were disappointed with the abbreviated treatment of Catholic social thought in the Catechism of the Catholic Church will be d
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
The late Pope John Paul II frequently called for a “new evangelization,” by which he meant the renewed preaching of the Gospel in regions long assumed to be Christian, like Europe and the Americas. Pope Benedict XVI continues these efforts. On Sept. 29, presidents of the 34 European epis
Letters
Letters
Insights and Answers
Bishop Donald W. Trautman’s challenging article, Our Daily Bread (10/3), raised many concerns about the function of the World Synod of Bishops in pursuit of its mission. I urge him, once the current meeting of the synod is over, to give us the benefit of his insights and his answers, if there are…
Editorials
Constitution Day
Last month the nation observed for the first time Constitution Day. Some school administrators confessed that they were not aware of recent legislation that requires all public schools and colleges to sponsor an annual program on the Constitution on or around Sept. 17, the date in 1787 when the Cons
Faith in Focus
Saint of the Streets
In the catholic understanding, a saint is somebody who is all-out for God, full of faith, hope and love. Such a person, decidedly, was the Chilean Jesuit Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga. Hurtado, born in 1901, was four years old when his father died, leaving his mother saddled with heavy debts and forced t
The Anointing at Bethany: Biblical Economics and Extravagant Love
I am a wealthy woman. I don’t have as much as some, but I know that I have far more than I need. Compared with most human beings on this planet and even compared with most Americans, I am rich. This fact troubled me for a long time. I was aware of the violence of…
Books
One of Nine
Linda Greenhouse the Pulitzer Prize-winning Supreme Court reporter for The New York Times was off duty when in 1989 she joined a huge march supporting legal abortion in Washington D C This was shortly before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a major abortion case and other journalists c
R.N.’s in Crisis
When I was in junior high I decided after reading every Cherry Ames book in the public library to become a nurse because nursing sounded interesting and fun I went to Georgetown University and discovered that nursing was professionally and intellectually challenging During my first job in a lar
Bible and Battle
Erin Noteboom born in Iowa is now a Canadian writer whose two recent books illustrate a classic division of poetry into the genres of narrative and lyric Seal up the Thunder derives its title from the Book of Revelation ldquo Seal up what the thunder has said and do not write it down rdquo 10
The Word
If We Only Have Love
Every once in a while the world of popular music brings forth a song that can captivate our minds with its beautiful simplicity and can lift our yearning souls heavenward Jacques Brel rsquo s ldquo If We Only Have Love rdquo is such a song The melody is easy enough to grasp after singing only…
News
Signs of the Times
Monika Hellwig, Noted Theologian and Author, Dies After StrokeThe noted theologian and author Monika Hellwig died at Washington Hospital Center on Sept. 30 after suffering a severe stroke. She was 74 years old. She had recently retired as president and executive director of the Association of Cathol
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Podcasts