Torturous Thoughts
Since the terrorist mass-murder attacks of 9/11, we have seen a growing debate over the use of torture. The famous civil liberties and defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, in Why Terrorism Works, wrote a full chapter to justify the use of an authorized torture warrant under highly controlled conditions
Curing, Caring and Coping
While there are many reasons to worry about what the future may bringwith global warming, oil depletion and international terrorism high on the listit is imaginable, at least for optimists, that these challenges can be dealt with in some fashion or other. One problem, however, should invite no easy,
Preying on the Margins
In the summer of 2004, when more than 60 victims of human trafficking were found in Long Island, local residents were shocked. Human trafficking had been going on in their backyards for two years, and they had not known it. Churches opened their doors; the local bishop provided temporary shelter in
Response to A Blueprint for Change
It was good to learn of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Administration (America, 9/26), and its members’ efforts to improve the stewardship of the church. As a city pastor, I see five difficulties in putting the excellent recommendations of the roundtable’s final report into
When Less Is More
Some artists whom you think you know well, like some old friends, can surprise you entirely. Perhaps experience has prepared you to share their vision. Or the times have taken a turn that gives the art new urgency. New scholarship uncovers influences and contexts. Radiography and restoration can tel
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
We have a policy at America of not running many obituaries. The practice saves the editors from agonizing over who gets one and who does not. Of course there are some obvious people who deserve obituaries or appreciations. Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, for example. Over the last year the theo
Letters
Letters
Now There’s a Fourth
Peter Heinegg’s perceptive review of Edmund Wilson: A Life in Literature (1/2) reminded me of an incident almost a half-century ago. I grew up a few miles from Talcottville, the upstate New York village where Wilson spent part of each year. As a Princeton undergraduate, I had learned about Wilson and wrote…
Editorials
The Vatican Instruction on Priestly Formation
There has been a notably wide variety of interpretations from Catholic leaders of the Vatican instruction, published on Nov. 29, concerning the admission of gay men to orders. It is difficult, therefore, to determine exactly what effect it will have on future applicants to seminaries and religious o
Features
Who was St. John of the Cross?
There are so many mistaken notions about St. John of the Cross (1542-91) that we might do well to clarify some of them.
Books
Woman Apostle
Everything about this book is elegant Embossed printing on the book jacket fits exquisitely the beautiful rendering of a medieval painting of a youthful bejeweled Mary Magdalene Equally appealing is the typeset and book design Instead of footnote numbers cluttering the text scholarly notes appe
Film
East Is East and…: Syriana
Syriana provides a valuable insight, one of those “Aha!” moments. Before sitting through this new film, brilliantly written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, I held the rather conventional belief that the news from the Middle East was relentlessly depressing because of the horrible events
Poetry
On the Death of Your Middle Son
The Greeks and Romans believed it:
The Word
Serving the Noblest Cause
It is hard to imagine a human being who does not want to be happy free and fulfilled It is a paradox of human existence however that genuine happiness freedom and fulfillment seem to come mostly to those in the service of a noble cause or project Caught up in his own losses and sufferings…
Culture
History and Language
How to approach—I mean adequately approach—the devastating reality of Ground Zero from Ground Zero? What happens to perception, history, language, syntax and grammar—to say nothing of lungs, flesh and brain—at that level as the second airliner rips into the swaying tower fill
Faith
Who was St. John of the Cross?
There are so many mistaken notions about St. John of the Cross (1542-91) that we might do well to clarify some of them.
News
Signs of the Times
Florida Court Overturns Voucher ProgramThe Florida Supreme Court struck down the state’s school voucher program on Jan. 5 in a 5-to-2 ruling that disappointed Florida Catholic Conference officials. The ruling said the Opportunity Scholarship program violates the state’s constitution, whi
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts