The Parish of Choice
I’ve been in town only a few weeks, and I’m still looking for a good parish to join. How often have we heard Catholics say those words, or something like them? Searching for a worshiping community is a hallmark of Catholic life these days. Moving to a new place, we look for a parish wher
‘They’ Are ‘Us’
Catholic social teaching calls us to identify with newcomers, who together with those long settled enjoy a litany of rights based on our common human dignity. Migrants serve as the church’s analogy for itself (a pilgrim church) and for the human condition (a pilgrim people). They recall our an
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Bangladesh lies on the other side of the world, but it came a bit closer when a missionary working there stopped by America House for a visit during a recent trip to the United States. Bill Christensen, a Marianist priest who has been in Bangladesh since 1986, founded the Institute of Integrated Rur
Letters
Letters
Oral TraditionWhile I have great appreciation for the article by Robert P. Waznak, S.S., “Preaching Faith in the Midst of Tragedy” (10/8), and recommended it enthusiastically to a class, I must demur from his comments (Letters, 10/29) on The Word for Oct. 8. Till proven otherwise I am wi
Editorials
Torture Today
Amnesty International’s wide-ranging report, Torture Worldwide, was issued last fall, but it remains sadly current as new accounts of torture continue to come to light through Amnesty and other organizations, like Human Rights Watch. In May, for example, the latter documented the torture of et
Faith and Reason
Joseph Ratzinger: The local church and the universal church
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger responds to a 2001 America article by Cardinal Walter Kasper on the relationship between the universal church and local churches.
Faith in Focus
True Confession
It was a dark and stormy night. Really. I parked in the lower lot and came through the parish center entrance. Taking the stairs two at a time because I was on the edge of being late, I hurried toward the church, thinking about all the other things I needed to do before Christmas. The…
Books
Presence and Absence
Louis-Marie Chauvet professor of sacramental theology at the Institut Catholique in Paris is not widely known this side of the Atlantic His first work published in the United States Symbol and Sacrament A Sacramental Reinterpretation of Christian Existence caught the eye of many sacramental th
It’s a Hard-Knock Life’
It was 1998 the Welfare Reform Bill had just passed and the writer Barbara Ehrenreich wanted to know how the four million women about to be booted into the labor market were going to make it on 6 or 7 an hour When the question came up over lunch with Harper rsquo s editor Lewis…
The Mosque Next Door
The Sri Lakshmi Temple is a popular center for the worship of the goddess Lakshmi known for her graciousness and generosity Tamil-speaking Hindu priests perform the daily and festival rituals while Hindus young and old come from neighboring towns to beg her favor and celebrate her glory To Lakshm
The Word
Fit for a King
Ask a group of boomers who pops into their minds when they hear the word king Some candidates might be simply The King Elvis or the King of Pop or more soberly some might remember The Boss singing Poor man wanna be rich Rich man wanna be king And a king ain rsquo t satisfied…
Columns
An Unexpected Source of Consolation
Flags are ubiquitous, and patriotism is in full flower. It puts me in mind of Operation Desert Storm, when the country was awash in flags, yellow ribbons and tough talk. I felt disconnected and isolated from the mass of my fellow citizens, a disgusted and impotent voice of dissent. Then I met Dan La
Faith
Joseph Ratzinger: The local church and the universal church
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger responds to a 2001 America article by Cardinal Walter Kasper on the relationship between the universal church and local churches.
News
Signs of the Times
Nuncio Urges Pro-Poor’ Plan to Close Nations’ Rich-Poor GapThe Vatican nuncio to the United Nations said on Nov. 6 that growing inequalities both between and within states should be countered with promotion of economic growth that was pro-poor. Archbishop Renato R. Martino said, More pro
Politics
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Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts