Joy and Hope, Grief and Anguish
Forty years ago, on Dec. 7, 1965, the Second Vatican Council issued its “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.” This conciliar text laid out the most challenging vision of the church’s social mission of the modern era. It proclaimed that the Catholic community sh
Friends in the Lord
From the archives, the story of the early followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
"Spots of time" is what the poet William Wordsworth called those places that imprint themselves so deeply into our minds that simply remembering them can lift our hearts – in other words, holy places. I thought about that phrase as I left Kentucky last month after visiting the Abbey of Get
Letters
Letters
Not Rhetorical
Thank you for writing about the important matter of torture and for the good editorial, The Shame of Torture (11/7).
I was a bombardier in Europe during World War II, which I regret in my old age, and I am even more ashamed of our country today because of its blatant practice of torture on…
Editorials
Debating Evolution
Botanists in a greenhouse can cross a white flower with a red flower and raise generations of pink flowers that do not revert to red or white. This experiment provides a tiny example of evolution, but it provokes no debate because it was observed happening. The situation was different in 1859, when
Faith in Focus
The Virtue of Hope
The mark of authentic Christianity has always been a paradox: it is thoroughly rooted in the earth (God’s creation) and entirely bent on moving toward heaven (God himself). It is a dynamic balance if there ever was one. The virtue of hope is not different. How could it be? It is as human as ca
Books
Vienna’s Visionary
In the last months of his long lifehe died at 98 in 2004Cardinal Franz K nig the former Archbishop of Vienna wrote this very personal book In Open to God Open to the World he highlights milestones in his service to the church as the Holy See rsquo s longest serving cardinal and tireless bridge
Parables of Faith
Scholars have long noted a religious quality in Shakespeare rsquo s drama in which human histories are magnified through symbolic rites of passage sacramental language and ritual We witness life death and resurrection in his plays Over the past decade scholarly attention has focused on Shakespe
In Harm’s Way
Consider that cancer is the leading killer of Americans under age 85 that 40 percent of victims are under 65 and that for 25 years childhood cancers have been increasing 1 4 percent annually mostly because of environmental contaminants If the National Institutes of Health are right industrial to
Poetry
Silk Road
The Silk Road never came to Cleveland.
The Word
Joyful Witnesses
The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin verb for ldquo rejoice rdquo The opening line in Paul rsquo s list of imperatives at the end of 1 Thessalonians captures the spirit of the day ldquo Rejoice always rdquo Besides the theme of joy running throug
Faith
The Council at 40
From its opening session in October 1962 until its close 40 years ago in December 1965, the Second Vatican Council held millions of Catholics and others riveted.
News
Signs of the Times
FEMA Gave Bishops Runaround on DisasterChurch officials got the runaround from the Federal Emergency Management Agency when they wanted to know what federal plans were for helping the regions devastated by Hurricane Katrina, said the head of the bishops’ hurricane relief task force. The harsh
Portfolio
Jesuit Arts
Members of the Society of Jesus are often accused of excessive pride in their order and its history. This can be a fair critique. Sometimes, for example, Jesuits speak as if St. Ignatius Loyola were the first Christian to discover prayer. Not long ago at a retreat house, I gave a talk about Ignatian
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts