When Worlds Collide: Watching ‘Cosmos’ with my daughter
At the vernal equinox, the day when the earth’s equator passes the center of the sun, signaling the official end of our first long and brutal northern Michigan winter, our kitten, Bonny Kate, gave birth to a litter of six. We had noticed she was getting a little round in the belly. So were we,
Political Vocations: Partisanship, conscience and the common good
Catholic teaching views the vocation of politics as a vital element in building up the kingdom of God on earth. Democracy is not merely a set of empty procedures, but instead a way to promote the dignity of the human person, respect for human rights and commitment to the common good. For this reason
‘Allowed to Hope’?: Stark choices confront the Central African Republic
Green doors and green porch trim mark the small shops that are—or were—owned by Muslims in the Point Kilometer 5 quarter of Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic. Many of them are open this morning in early May—more as you cruise closer to the city’s centra
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Catholic social teaching and the unapologetically nonideological pragmatism of F.D.R.
Letters
Reply All
Christ at CenterI very much appreciated “Redefining Success,” by Brian B. Pinter (5/12). After 27 years teaching at the college level, I am more and more convinced of the crucial importance of the formation in faith that students receive in high school. It is often determinative for thei
Editorials
Administrative Overload
The most over-rewarded players in American health care push paper, not pills.
Faith and Reason
Explainer: What happens when a Catholic teacher violates church teaching?
It does not necessarily follow that because a teacher has violated church teaching, and his or her contract, that he or she should be terminated.
Faith in Focus
All in One: Understanding the Holy Trinity and The Monsignor
Understanding the third person, the Holy Trinity and The Monsignor
Books
The Grasp of the Past
‘Hippocratic, Religious, and Secular Medical Ethics,’ by Robert M. Veatch
Supreme Dedication
Justice Sonya Sotomayor’s autobiography, ‘My Beloved World’
Film
Out of the Convent: ‘Ida’ takes a journey through postwar Poland
The film “Ida” is “less concerned with recounting the Holocaust than in absorbing its echoes.”
Poetry
Rhythms of Belief: This year’s Foley poetry contest
After the murder of Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s play, Brutus appeals to the charged, fearful crowd in a speech written in prose. He ends up getting his point across. People can see his side and why Caesar’s ambition was a threat to their freedom. But Mark Antony immediately follows hi
Paul on the Adriatic
There stood by me this night the angel of God Acts 27:23 I have no fear of storms since I heard His voice—my Accuser crying out of the sun.While I am chained in the shivering hold,the others cower and bleat to Baal.But no fury can last. Light finds a way—it
The Word
Share in the Body
Bodies need nourishing whether it is an individual body a corporate body or a spiritual body We need to be fed with the food that sustains that is most appropriate to each body Historically we see the corporate body of Israel fed by God in the wilderness with the material stuff of manna necess
Trinitarian Life
The apostle Paul would not have been able to define the Trinity yet he was able with ease to describe the activity and presence of the three persons of the Trinity While propositions about God are significant it is the experience of God that led to the nascent formulations of Trinitarian thought
Columns
Familiarity Breeds Content
It is good for Catholics to cheer on one another’s varied works of charity.
Current Comment
Current Comment
Can Modi be a leader for all of India—rich and poor, Hindu, Muslim and Christian?
Faith
Explainer: What happens when a Catholic teacher violates church teaching?
It does not necessarily follow that because a teacher has violated church teaching, and his or her contract, that he or she should be terminated.
Philosopher's Notebook
Unexpected Ecumenism
Faculty members of many faiths bring a religious ardor to their pro-life commitment.
Signs Of the Times
Help for Victims Of Climate Change
Many cannot afford protections to shield them from extreme forces of nature.
Few Surprises, But Intimations Of Change in Election Results
On May 7, 10 days after the celebration of the anniversary of their nation’s first democratic elections in April 1994, South Africans went to the polls in the first vote since the death of Nelson Mandela last December. The African National Congress gained a 62 percent majority to retain p
Add Pakistan, Syria to List of Worst Offenders?
Nations singled out for deteriorating records on religious liberty.
Dialogue Wanted
Anytime there are misunderstandings, errors or problems concerning religious orders, dialogue is the best way to deal with the situation, said the head of the Vatican office that oversees the world’s religious orders. “At times there are things that either may not have been understood or
Sudan: ‘Too Much Blood Has Been Shed’
South Sudan’s religious congregations urged the country’s political leaders to ensure that the latest peace agreement holds, and they condemned the atrocities and violence carried out by both government forces and rebel groups over the past five months. “Too much blood has been she
News Briefs
Thousands around the world have appealed for the freedom of Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, a pregnant Sudanese woman sentenced to death for “apostasy” because she converted to Christianity when she married a Christan. • “No investigation of a criminal nature is being conducted…i
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