Crisis Management in the Church
The Catholic Church in the United States is going through the greatest crisis in its history. Dealing with crises is not a problem unique to church leaders; it is a task faced by leaders of any complex organization. When faced with a crisis, U.S. corporate leaders often bring in a firm like McKinsey
Fewer and Fewer
During the last couple of years, more than one American bishop has said that the clergy shortage is not unique to the Catholic Church. A recent expression of this view is found in Bishop Wilton Gregory’s letter of Aug. 29, 2003, to Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, in which he states: A n
Building Homes, Rebuilding Spirits
At the ripe old age of 32, I found myself in the midst of a mini-midlife crisis of sorts. Nothing seemed to be going my way. I was heartbroken and depressed, facing an uncertain career outlook in a terrible economy and looking for a cure for my ailing spirit. I found it in the wide…
The Church Was Right About Capitalism
The Catholic Church has taught for over a century that the use of money, capital and markets must be subservient to the good of humankind. It has said that free competition though justified and quite useful within certain limits, cannot be an adequate controlling principle in economic affairs, and h
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Those of us of a certain generation remember vividly where we were when we first heard that the president, John F. Kennedy, had been shot. We did not understand what we had heard at first, but after we found a radio, we listened to Walter Cronkite telling us that our president was dead, slain by…
Letters
Letters
The Housing Challenge
Your editorial Low-Income Housing Crisis (11/10), uncritically accepts the conclusions of a housing advocacy group, responding to a supposed crisis, that are based entirely on arbitrary standards. They state that minimum acceptable housing is a modest two-bedroom unit, and for that people should pay no more than 30 percent of their income. The…
Editorials
Vincible Ignorance
The Senate is in a row over the leak of a memo written by a staffer for the Democratic minority members of the Committee on Intelligence. It urges the Democrats, led by Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, to break with the Republican majority and conduct its own inquiry into events lead
Faith in Focus
Baltimore’s Viva House
Walking from the bus station to Viva House, the home of the Baltimore Catholic Worker, I passed block after block of boarded-up homes. I was coming to celebrate Viva House’s 35th anniversary and to visit its co-founders, Willa Bickham and her husband, Brendan Walsh, whom I knew even before I j
Books
Boston Boy
The most startling fact about Edwin O’Connor’s life was its brevity The acclaimed author of such mid-century Irish and Catholic classics as ‘The Last Hurrah’ and ‘The Edge of Sadness’ seemed a fit and healthy man. Yet he died when he was just 49 in 1968.
A Discipline of Diversity
Ever since John Gallagher rsquo s work Time Past Time Future 1990 chronicled the disintegration of the manualist genre in moral theology we have needed a serious study that would examine the method content style and purpose of the post-manualist conciliar-inspired fundamental moral theology
Poetry
Child With a Book
She is edgy and bored in the adult
The Word
What Does It Mean?
rsquo Hail full of grace The Lord is with you rdquo Mary was puzzled at such a greeting She was certainly familiar with God rsquo s mysterious presence in the Holy of Holies which made the temple in Jerusalem so sacred But this greeting was addressed to her The Lord was with her And…
Under Construction
In some parts of the country it seems there are only two seasons winter and road construction The excitement of a trip is often tempered by detours and single-lane traffic Major sports events political conventions or an upcoming visit by dignitaries also prompt the repair of our roads though
Columns
Wishful Thinking
With the 2004 presidential election looming, I find myself recalling George W. Bush’s mantra four years ago, when he was a candidate, about bringing honor and dignity back to the oval office. Whenever he lost his way in public speech, he would lurch back to his narrowly circumscribed comfort zone, no matter what the topic…
Culture
Who Do You Say I Am?
Who was Jesus, and what did he say and do? Was Jesus really raised from the dead? Why and when did Christians begin to worship Jesus? These questions go to the roots of Christian faith. The three massive books discussed here provide pertinent information and interpretive options that Christians toda
News
Signs of the Times
Boston Archbishop Calls Same-Sex Decision Alarming’Reacting to a decision by Massachusetts’ highest court to overturn a ban on same-sex marriages, Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley of Boston called it alarming and said he hopes the state’s legislators will have the courage and comm
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts