Loving the Sinner
In the lecture he gave when he received the Nobel prize for literature in 1970, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn remarked about totalitarian states: Violence does not live alone and is not capable of living alone: it is necessarily interwoven with falsehood. Between them lies the most intimate, the deepest of
A Pro-Life Strategy of Persuasion
The United States bishops in their 1999 statement, Faithful Citizenship, called on Catholics and all citizens to stay involved in public life…and participate in the debates and choices… and for voters to examine the position of candidates on a full range of issues….Central to the bishops&rsquo
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
As I write this column, Pope John Paul II is celebrating the end of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 on the feast of the Epiphany. I must admit that I dont get very excited about celebrating events like this, and the constant reference to jubilee wore thin as the year progressed. Part of…
Letters
Letters
Much Missed
A word of thanks to you for the wonderful Of Many Things column by James Martin, S.J., about women as disciples (1/8). It both humbles and energizes me to read your words. I live and pray with the belief that the church will experience a conversion and recognize how much is missed without the…
Editorials
Foreign Policy After Jan. 20
On election night last November, PBS-TV’s NewsHour With Jim Lehrer asked three veteran journalists to size up the media’s coverage of the presidential race. Marvin Kalb, who directs a center at Harvard University for the study of the press and politics, complained that foreign policy had
Faith in Focus
The Least of These
I spotted the baby in the gardening section of the store. While his parents were scrutinizing tomato plants, the baby perched in his stroller, watching intently. He had a head of lazy blond curls, stout legs and a round face. What a beautiful boy! I exclaimed, and both parents smiled proudly. He cou
Books
Technology and the Moral Order
This is a book that promises much but delivers relatively little at least if we are to take the authors declared intentions at their face value We are told unambiguously in the preface that Recreating Medicine is intended to be on the cutting edge of the new medical ethics issues of our time Urgi
Crusader for a better society
Maurice Isserman the William R Kenan Jr Professor of History at Hamilton College in Clinton N Y has a well-earned reputation as a leading historian of the American political left His specialty has led him to explore the life of the socialist activist Michael Harrington (1928-89).
The Shaping of a Literary Life
George Orwell commented in his Confessions of a Book Reviewer that reviewing was a thankless task Jeffrey Meyers reports in Orwell Wintry Conscience of a Generation that Orwell learned to skip expertly through these worthless texts Had Orwell been given Meyers rsquo s biography to review he woul
The Word
Turning Toward
Rarely are the three Lectionary readings so integrated as they are this Sunday They all portray Gods call though in diverse and dramatic fashion Isaiah the confidant of kings receives Gods call in an overwhelming vision of the Holy One in the temple and responds simply Here I am send me Paul
Turning Away
Todays readings exemplify the diversity of Scripture Jeremiah and Luke express the strong biblical motif of the prophet called by God but opposed and rejected by those to whom he is sent Each reading has overtones of violence Jeremiah is told to gird up his loins that he will be a pillar of iro
Columns
Immigration and the Borderless Economy
Nobody seems quite sure what the immigrant-returning immigrant ratio might be today, but I suspect it is higher than most people might think. Labor is following the lead of capitalit is fickle, it follows the market, and it is decidedly unsentimental. To cite just one example: thousands of Irish imm
News
Signs of the Times
In Final Jubilee Document, Pope Outlines Vision of Church’s PathIn a final document on the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Pope John Paul II revisited highlights of the Holy Year and suggested how its spiritual gifts can help lead others to the Gospel. The apostolic letter, titled Novo Millenn
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts