Dont Forget Justice
Pope Benedict’s first encyclical letter is superb in many ways and well deserves the nearly universal praise it has received. I found Deus Caritas Est informative, inspiring and at times extremely consoling, even sublime. The world certainly stands to benefit from this profound reflection on t
The Pope and the Poet
The two most prominent authors we are reading in my course this semester for advanced undergraduates on the classics of spirituality are Augustine of Hippo and Dante Alighieri. I see by his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, that Benedict XVI has been reading them as well. It will come as no surpri
Eros and Agape:Some Feminist Reflections
I was happy to discover that Pope Benedict’s first encyclical is not a crackdown on dissident theologians, nor a stern reprimand to the secular world. Rather, it is an extended reflection on the nature of Christian love. It is addressed not only to the bishops of the world, but also to priests
Bringing Back Charity
Self-styled progressive Catholics have, for over a generation, downplayed the role of charity in social action. They might revere Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a saint, but they dismissed her charitable approach as a superficial, Band-Aid response to poverty. Some even considered her approach dangero
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
A black wooden ring on his finger—what could it mean? A sign of mourning, as in Victorian times? I noticed it during a conversation with Bernard Lestienne, a French Jesuit who works in Brazil at the Instituto Brasileiro de Desenvolvimento. He was in New York for a conference, and as he rose to leave my…
Editorials
Intelligence and Policy
The world has always been a dangerous place, and each generation has had to confront its own set of challenges. During the years of the cold war, when the Soviet Union and the United States were locked in a nuclear standoff, the very survival of the international community was at stake. The danger w
Faith in Focus
Lenten Spirituality Reflection
The Sufi poet Rumi tells the tale of a holy man who sees a snake crawl into a sleeping man’s mouth. Shouting, the holy man wakes the sleeper and forces him to eat rotten apples. He then makes the astonished man run for hours, whipping him as the man cries out in exhaustion. Finally the…
The Word
The Paschal Mystery
In Christian theology the term ldquo paschal mystery rdquo refers to Jesus rsquo life death and resurrection and their saving significance for us The adjective paschal derives from the Hebrew verb pasach meaning ldquo to pass over rdquo and alludes to ancient Israel rsquo s rescue from slav
Culture
Bringing the Bible to Life
"Actualizing” Scripture, or bringing it to life, is based on the conviction that “the word of God is living and active” (Heb 4:12) and speaks anew to believers in different times and places. This process is carried out by theologians, preachers, teachers, artists, those who pr
Current Comment
Current Comment
Continuing EmbarrassmentThe Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba has increasingly become an embarrassment for the United States. In mid-February, a team of five inspectors from the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva issued a lengthy report documenting human rights violations alleged to be ta
News
Signs of the Times
Milwaukee School Choice Program to ExpandWith just days left before a rationing plan was to begin for students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Wisconsin’s Gov. Jim Doyle and Assembly Speaker John Gard announced on Feb. 17 that the enrollment cap will increase next fall by 7,500 stude
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts