North Korea’s Nuclear Challenge
In the wake of North Korea’s first nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9, 2006, the long-stalled six-party talks resumed in Beijing in December, but quickly ended without tangible progress. The multinational talksin which Russia, China, South Korea and Japan joined North Korea and the United Statessta
A New Treaty for the Holy Land?
Since the Islamic conquest of the Holy Land in the seventh century, the church has sought to put in place a political-legal system to protect the presence of Christians in the region. Over the last thousand years, scholars tell us, the church has employed in succession three distinct methods in its
Challenged to Serve
“Knowing they were going to die, the H.I.V.-infected parents we were visiting in a slum section of Nairobi were worried about the education of their children.” These were the words of Joseph Oganda, co-founder of the new St. Aloysius Gonzaga High School for AIDS orphans in Kenya. They were rep
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Experts differ as to how the just war tradition should be applied to real-life conflicts. Hard as it may be to believe, some regard it as an academic exercise with no bearing on the real world. For others, it is a calculus for decision makers, with no relevance for others, whether other authorities
Letters
Letters
Recalling
The juxtaposition of the article on Kofi Annan: Visionary and Victim, by Barbara Crossette, and What Distinguishes the Jesuits, by Avery Dulles, S.J., on the Jesuit charism (1/15) recalls a Jesuit presence at the United Nations in its very early days.
A French Jesuit, Emmanuel S. de Breuvery, joined the secretariat in the Department of Economic…
Editorials
Here Comes Everybody
Sometimes a nation ought to pause in order to celebrate a major collective achievement. And the approaching presidential primary season may well be one of those times. After more than 200 years when only one segment of the populationnamely, white, non-Hispanic males who, with just two exceptions, we
Books
Mixed’ Group Portrait
As a former Wall Street Journal reporter Paul Barrett knows how to get people to talk to him American Islam is organized around interviews with seven representatives of the Islamic faith some immigrants others born in the United States But in preparing this book the author interviewed hundred
Media Shine a Light
In 1940 the Carnegie Foundation commissioned a study to assess the state of race relations in America segregation and white supremacy in the South The Foundation chose a Swedish sociologist named Gunnar Myrdal to lead the project They selected a non-American scholar because they wanted an outsid
History Unhinged
The Middle Ages are popularly perceived as a period of intellectual and cultural stagnation This perspective is reinforced by the common description of this era as the Dark Ages or the fact that the word medieval is frequently used as a pejorative in our modern vocabulary These stereotypes many o
Television
America the Beautiful
The Golden Globes used to be the most relaxed of the awards ceremonies. For many years the lesser-known stepcousin of the Oscars, the Emmys and the Tonys, the ceremony wore its raffish air with the pride of a starlet wearing a couture gown. A recent issue of Entertainment Weekly featured Helen Mirre
The Word
Love Your Enemies
Love of one rsquo s enemies is among Jesus rsquo most distinctive characteristic and difficult teachings Most of us have a hard enough time loving our family and friends or even loving ourselves But to do good to those who hate us bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us see
Columns
Race in America
As Senator Barack Obama explores a presidential bid, media headlines across the country ask, Is America ready for an African-American president? Between 50 percent and 62 percent of Americans polled answer yes, that race is no longer a barrier in the United States. But that this is considered a news
Current Comment
Current Comment
Eldest Son of FranceFrance has been a fertile seedbed for some of the most popular Catholic saints: Joan of Arc, Thérèse of Lisieux, Vincent de Paul, Bernadette Soubirous. Lately, though, the eldest daughter of the church has been notable more for the tepidity of its Catholic observance, with Mass
News
Signs of the Times
U.S. Urged to Follow Church Example on CubaThe U.S. government should emulate the Catholic Church and look for a dramatic way to improve relations with Cuba, said a U.S. lawmaker after returning from a fact-finding trip to the Caribbean island. Representative James McGovern, Democrat of Massachusett
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts