The Case for Dancing
The angel girls were ready on Easter morning. Their feathered wings were attached, their wreaths securely bobby-pinned to their braided heads, their pastel ribbons around their waists. The nine of them had practiced for this Mass for many hours; they had become an earthly corps of angels. They await
The Carrot and the Sticks
Overseas, the war in Iraq has exposed the limits of American military might at an enormous and still-growing cost to taxpayers. At home, meanwhile, this nation’s three-decades-long preference for hiding away social problems behind penitentiary walls has produced the ironic result that the land
A Work Desired by God
"Yah isayi padiri hai. Isayi padri apni zindagi ko waqf kar dete hain.” (“He is a Catholic priest. Catholic priests make their life an endowment [waqf] in the service of God.”)With these words Maulana Muhammad Islam Qasmi introduced me to his students. Maulana Qasmi teaches th
Letters
Letters
Fields and Tables
The article on genetic engineering by Gerald D. Coleman, S.S., (2/21) lays out a framework for evaluating the arguments for promoting genetically engineered crops to meet the problems of world hunger As one who has been engaged in this debate for some time from a practical, political and ethical perspective, I cannot let…
Editorials
Debt Burdens and Poor Countries
Crippling debt burdens accumulated over the past several decades still weigh heavily on many of the world’s poorest countries. As they struggle to repay what they owe to rich countries and financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, they find themselves with
Books
The Shape of Things to Come
It was inevitable the academy has struck back After the early favorable reviews and popular success of Professor Stephen Greenblatt rsquo s ldquo biography rdquo of William Shakespeare his scholarly colleagues have now weighed in to remind him that such success comes at a price The New York Ti
Kentucky Widow Remembers
When Wendell Berry came to Seattle to read from his new novel Hannah Coulter he was introduced with the words ldquo For those of you who wonder where hope still lies rdquo The audience responded with rapt silence as if to say ldquo Yes we are eager for hope rdquo Berry rsquo s novel d
Theater
Attention Must Be Paid
There was a time in the American theater when ordinary people could collect quarters in a cup and, after some weeks, buy a ticket for a Broadway show. It was the decade after World War II, the cataclysm that put horror and hope on a seemingly equal footing. But American idealism had triumphed, or so
The Word
With Eyes of Faith
Generation after generation the Christian community re-examines its teaching regarding the resurrection of Jesus Carefully developed explanations continue to clarify the most minute details of this doctrine Many of us are so familiar with these details that we may have ceased to be amazed at thei
Columns
Patrick’s Season
It is safe to assume that within the communion of saints, envy doesn’t have a chance. It’s a good thing, too. After all, if saints weren’t so, well, saintly, imagine the plight of a noble Briton named Patrick. He’d surely be the subject of all kinds of begrudgery. Why? Most s
News
Signs of the Times
Catholic Family Wants Justice, Not Death, for Murderers Involving I.R.A.A Catholic family’s campaign for justice has put increasing pressure on the Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein, and its military wing, the outlawed Irish Republican Army.Robert McCartney, 33, a forklift driver from the sma
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts