Autonomy and Communion
In the decades leading up to the publication of Ex Corde Ecclesiae in 1990, the Land O’Lakes statement was routinely denounced by critics like the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and the late George Kelly (The Battle for the American Church) as a surrender of the historic mission of Catholic c
Nativity-Model Schools Go International
It seems an unlikely place to start a school with a strong faith tradition—the formerly Communist Czech Republic. Yet as Josef Horehled, a priest of the Czech Province of the Society of Jesus, explains it, “This is what we need, a Nativity-type middle school in the Christian tradition, one that reaches out to the children…
Advice for College Grads
Graduation from college brings many questions: Who am I? What do I want to do? What kind of person do I want to be? How do I get there? Finding worthwhile answers is not easy.
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
http://americamagazine.org/internal/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=5440&issueID=613
Letters
Letters
Syndicated Columnist
Reading the tongue-in-cheek-but-with-a-punch column by Jim McDermott, S.J., (4/9) had me laughing out loud, as it resurrected a personal memory of my beginning writing days back in 1952.
I had written something, long forgotten from my memory, and sent it to Sign magazine, a respected Catholic publication. I do remember, though, that I included a…
Editorials
The New Outcasts
Civil commitment is a sanitized term for statutes that keep sex offenders behind bars long after they have served their prison sentences. Indefinite commitment laws of this kind have been rapidly increasing around the country, and thousands of people are being held far beyond their actual terms. As
Books
Off to a Distant Land
In a few months we will reach the 70th anniversary of the publication of Gilbert Garraghan 8217 s three-volume history of the Jesuits in the 19th-century Midwest Don 8217 t have a copy beside your night table Join the club I teach American history for a living I write about the history of Catho
Claiming Converts
Most people find few aspects of Jesuit history more fascinating than the mission of the Jesuits to China Matteo Ricci invariably depicted wearing Mandarin dress has assumed legendary status as a precocious herald of cultural accommodation He was succeeded by such other Jesuits of heroic stature
A Theologian in Verse
In his encyclical Deus Caritas Est Pope Benedict XVI explored the relationship between eros and agape desire and self-gift with pastoral sensitivity and theological depth A few days before publishing the encyclical the pope himself gave an important indication of his intent He sought he said
Theater
The Shore We Seek
The first stage picture of "Voyage," the initial play in Tom Stoppard’s thrilling trilogy The Coast of Utopia, must rank among the most memorable ever seen on a stage. Out of the darkness, in midair, a man appears sitting in a slowly revolving chair, absorbed in thought as the chair
Poetry
A War Story
So here’s a war story.
The Word
Openness to the Holy Spirit
In the final weeks of the Easter season the Gospel readings for the Sundays and weekdays are taken almost entirely from Jesus rsquo farewell discourse in John 13 ndash 17 In saying goodbye to his disciples Jesus reflects on what their lives will be like when he will no longer be with them as he
Columns
Another Insider’s Game
As most parents know all too well, financing a college education today is not for the faint of heart. The cost of a degree from an elite private or Catholic college long ago crossed the six-figure mark for tuition, room and board, and will soon break $200,000, if it hasn’t already.
Current Comment
Current Comment
The Court RulesThe latest U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the prohibition on partial-birth abortion is a healthy correction of an earlier court’s overreach in establishing a legal right to abortion. In his opinion for the majority in Gonzales v. Carhart, Justice Anthony Kennedy argued th
News
Signs of the Times
Vatican Calls for Durable Solutions’ for RefugeesThe international community must do more to welcome and support the thousands of refugees daily fleeing the horrific violence in Iraq, said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative to U.N. and other international organizatio
Politics
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Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts