Beautiful Rottenness
The New Yorker cover for the new millennium’s first week of March was a perfect cartoon rendition of our culture’s inverted values. A theater marquee, hyping some nameless show, is plastered with rave banner reviews of nameless critics. A New Low! Gratuitously Prurient! Lurid! Rock Botto
Public-Religious Partnerships
President Bush recently unveiled his promised White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. For Catholic Charities USA members across the nation, the ensuing debate has been stimulating, frustrating and important. It invites us to share with the president our own hopes and concerns. I
Devastation, Faith and Resilience
In an earthquake one feels very small. During the earthquakes in El Salvador on Jan. 13 and Feb. 13, the street heaved underfoot; buildings and light posts rocked; telephone cables swung like jump-ropes. The first quake, 7.6 on the Richter scale, had its epicenter off the coast, while the second, 6.
The Coming Synod of Bishops
Future development of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council on collegiality, liturgy, ecumenism and lay participation in church and society may depend heavily on how diocesan bishops face up to the prelates in Vatican offices before and during next October’s Synod of Bishops in Rome.The
A Harsh Light
Traffic, an Academy Awards nominee film directed by Steven Soderbergh, is a rapid-fire saga of the drug trade and of stumbling binational efforts to stop it. It is also a dark-hued morality play. The drug trading and the violence in Traffic take place on both sides of the border crossing between Tij
Congo: A Tale of Two Churches
The assassination of President Laurent Kabila in Kinshasa on Jan. 16 was but the latest violent episode in the tumultuous recent history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to Africa’s largest Catholic community. Having himself come to power in 1997 as head of an armed rebellion, Kabila
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
My mother was an immigrant, and ever since coming to New York a few years ago, I have wanted to visit Ellis Island. Now I have been there twice within the past year—last June and then on a bitterly cold day during Christmas week. My mother was luckier than most immigrants. Having grown up in…
Letters
Letters
People Before Profits
The article by Thomas J. Massaro, S.J., and Mary Jo Bane, Compassion in Action: A Letter to President Bush on Social Policy (3/12), was much needed. In recent weeks public dialogue has focused on across-the-board tax cuts and other proposals that do little to foster a just economic system in our country.
The electorate…
Editorials
Missile Defense Follies
It is understandable that at first glance the idea of a national missile defense system is appealing. It promises perfect safety, rendering obsolete the madness of nuclear deterrence based on mutual assured destruction. If the system were to work, the threat of some enemy from across the ocean pulve
Faith in Focus
Be Awake
It came as a surprise to find myself compelled to reflect on consciousness and mortality. It happened because I went to a Zen retreat by accident. But then, though there are surprises in this life, we may collaborate in bringing ourselves to the place of surprise—to the brink, or to the unders
Books
Exploring the Holy
This study of miracles draws upon excellent contemporary scholarship in the study of religion its acknowledgment of interpretative assistance reads like a who rsquo s who of academics working in the various fields its bibliography is extensive Kenneth Woodward rsquo s intention however is to ma
We Remember
These are two very different books on a similar topic Rychlak rsquo s is the lawyer rsquo s brief Phayer rsquo s the scholarly monograph Both approach Pope Pius XII from the standpoint of Vatican diplomacy Rychlak concludes that the criticism of Pius XII for not speaking out against Hitler and t
The Word
By the Cross, Weeping
Each year Holy Week begins with a re-enactment of Jesus entering Jerusalem amid shouts of praise The week soon moves to his rejection suffering and death and concludes with the preconium paschale the ringing proclamation that he has been raised Each Evangelist highlights different aspects Luke
News
Signs of the Times
Egan to Be a Leader at Synod of BishopsPope John Paul II appointed Cardinal Edward Egan of New York to be one of the principal leaders at the Synod of Bishops in October (see page 15 of this issue). As the synod’s general rapporteur, or recording secretary, he will have the very influential ro
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts