The Nuclear Impasse With Iran
For most of the past several months, the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program has largely been a theatrical collision of highly antagonistic political attitudes with political leaders in both the United States and Iran using the issue to address their domestic constituencies. It now appears, ho
The Honor of It All
It was just 40 years ago this spring that the documents of the Second Vatican Council first appeared in English translation. The 791-page, 95-cent paperback was chiefly the joint interfaith production of America Press and the Y.M.C.A.’s Association Press. The general editor was Walter M. Abbot
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
In some ways I am an old-school Jesuit. In a succession of assignments and apostolic responsibilities, I have lived by St. Ignatius Loyola’s perplexing maxim that he preferred a man of self-denial to one of prayer. I am scandalized, but only slightly, by some young Jesuits’ need for the
Letters
Letters
Something Different
As a lover of France and French, I have long been fascinated by Joan of Arc, although I find her truly problematic (Believe Me If You Like, by James Martin, S.J., 5/22). Why would God call her to lead an army and fight to put a weak king on the throne of France? But…
Editorials
America means unfinished business.
The Fourth of July is a time for challenging ourselves on the state of the American proposition.
Sanctions for Evil
A tragic irony of the war in Iraq is that it is a Marine Corps unit that is suspected of the largest single atrocity so far reported there. For while the Marines have suffered a disproportionate number of casualties, they have also made an exemplary effort to treat Iraqi civilians with respect. They
Faith in Focus
Mysterious Tools
One night a few months ago, my 8-year-old son was very sick in bed. He lay there moaning and crying because of terrible pain in his ears. While my wife was on the phone attempting to get hold of a doctor, I did what I could to comfort him. We tried the usual things, but…
Books
Faith and Freedom
Jon Meacham managing editor of Newsweek and author of the bestselling book Franklin and Winston states in American Gospel that the United States of America is not a Christian nation that is it was not founded as a confessional state Rather the United States is a nation that allows for religiou
Ahmads Plot
John Updike has written a contemporary thriller a first for him after publishing 50 fiction and non-fiction books and a pleasant surprise for the rest of us because it is a fine one John Grisham et al stand aside A pro has entered your ranks The terrorist of the title and the story rsquo s…
Philip Roth’s Complaint
Roth’s language is mostly matter-of-fact, but often enough he launches into eloquent spasms of what the Germans call erlebte Rede (lived discourse), where writer and character breathe as one.
Television
The Year in TV
Over the Memorial Day weekend I visited a friend who lives with his large family and who owns, improbably, a horse–a retired police horse, to be exact. As we ambled through the stables, my friend’s 13-year-old daughter said, "Do you like Taylor Hicks?" Somehow the look on her face t
The Word
Count Your Blessings!
Do you ever count your blessings Much in today rsquo s advertising strategy is designed to make us dissatisfied with who we are and what we have The idea is that buying this or that product is going to solve our problems and make us happy Counting the blessings that we have as Christians instead
Rejected Prophets
Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus are among the most prominent figures in the Bible. Each was a prophet sent from God. What links them together is their apparent lack of success according to the standards of their own time and place.
Columns
The Old and the New
Sometimes resurrection happens right under your nose. Maybe that’s especially possible when the land is watered by soft rains, most of which fall upon less than appreciative heads, and smiled upon by sunny spring days, a rare treat that can all too easily be missed if you blink. Such a land is
Current Comment
Current Comment
Havoc in East TimorDespite the efforts of peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia, violence continues to wreak havoc in East Timorone of Asia’s poorest countries. Thousands have fled the unrest in the young nation’s capital, Dili, to set up makeshift camps in outl
Faith
Rejected Prophets
Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus are among the most prominent figures in the Bible. Each was a prophet sent from God. What links them together is their apparent lack of success according to the standards of their own time and place.
News
Signs of the Times
Bishops Approve New Texts for Order of MassIn what Bishop Donald W. Trautman called a truly important moment in liturgy in the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a new English translation of the Order of Mass and adopted several U.S. adaptations during a national meeting
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Vatican
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