The Message of Mercy: What does mercy mean for the life and mission of the church?
The precept of mercy applies not only to individual Christians but to the church as a whole. Many ask: If God is always merciful, why is the church not the same? Or, why does the church not seem to be as merciful as God? The question expresses the uneasiness of many Christians.They are right: The…
American Exodus: Encountering Christ in the child martyrs of migration
On the Feast Day of Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, a call to make room for today’s migrants and refugees.
Deporting the Heart: Unaccompanied child migrants and the globalization of indifference
There is a story, often quoted in church circles, about a man who lived near a river. One morning he went to get some water and saw a body floating downstream. He dove in, rescued the body, pulled it to shore and gave it a proper burial. Two days later, he went for water again…
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Without mercy the world will fail to realize the true peace for which every heart longs.
Letters
Reply All
Racism in AmericaI am an African-American woman and life-long member of the Catholic Christian faith. Thank you so much for the dedicated issue, “Black and Catholic” (7/7).“Civil Rights Aftermath” (Vantage Point, 1964) ends with the statement “Let us get on” with
Editorials
Following Ferguson
Conversations about racism must continue long after #ferguson fades from Twitter feeds.
Books
Saints Among Us
Robert Bartlett’s book will also be welcome to those who have experienced something of the power of the cult of the saints in their own time and place.
Back to Burke?
‘Edmund Burke in America: The Contested Career of the Father of Modern Conservatism,’ by Drew Maciag
Genius in Silence
‘Beethoven: The Man Revealed,’ by John Suchet
Television
Enraptured?: The sad, strange comfort of HBO’s ‘The Leftovers’
When HBO first announced that it had greenlit a television series about the Rapture, one would have been forgiven for assuming we were in for yet another twist on Hollywood’s seemingly endless obsession with the post-apocalyptic. Given the popularity of recent “scripturally inspired&rdqu
Poetry
Gather the Clouds
and all floating implementsstar studded saintsand gemstone dreamsmoon smoke incensesquandered speechhearts that have wanderedstrangers squinting at the skythe cello notes risinglight escaping through a crack in the walldandelion fluff on a newborn’s headowl windthe old woma
The Word
The Ways of God
What are the ways of God There are twin dangers for us when we consider this question On the one hand some people consider God rsquo s ways so inscrutable that they no longer trust we can know how God acts or what God demands of us This draws some people to the point of…
Columns
Make Room at the Debate
There’s still no consensus about whether child care is a worthy expenditure of women’s time.
Current Comment
Current Comment
This fall, Latino, African-American and Asian students will outnumber white K-12 peers.
Generation Faith
Holy Spirits: Encounters with a drinking culture in college
I first began to deepen my relationship with God in high school. I attended a small, Catholic, all-boys school sponsored by the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier. As a result, I was always presented with opportunities that encouraged me to explore my faith and reflect on what presen
Of Other Things
Robert Silvers and the minds behind the New York Review of Books
The nature of reading is private, but part of the thrill of reading a magazine is the knowledge that others are reading the same material at roughly the same time.
Signs Of the Times
Shifting Attitudes Challenge Church: Floridians increasingly see gay marriage as a question of civil rights.
Floridians increasingly see gay marriage as a weightier question of civil rights.
News Briefs
Vatican Radio reports that so far this year nearly 1,900 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe—far surpassing the 700 dead recorded in 2013 and 500 in 2012. • Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, a former Vatican official and one-time head of the Archdiocese of Detroit
Ebola Provokes Panic, Hunger in West Africa
Hunger and panic are spreading among people unable to work because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of Ebola, say church workers in West Africa. In Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, church groups “are trying to get food and distribute it to families…but movement is heavily res
Catholic and Orthodox Patriarchs Seek International Response to ISIS
Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs of the Middle East denounced attacks on Christians and called upon the international community to work to eradicate terrorist groups. The patriarchs met on Aug. 27 at the Maronite Catholic patriarchate at Bkerke, north of Beirut, for a special summit to address the c
Room for Everybody
The Catholic Church should make “unconventional couples” feel at home instead of making them targets of “de facto discrimination,” the leader of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and an ally of Pope Francis said. “Couples in irregular matrimonial situations are also
Hope for Latest Gaza Cease-fire
Catholic aid organizations are hopeful that the most recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas will hold as they begin to assess the needs in Gaza after 50 days of war. “This is a window of opportunity,” said Sami El-Yousef, Catholic Near East Welfare Association’s regional direct
Former Nuncio Defrocked, Loses Diplomatic Immunity
The Vatican has clarified the current legal standing of its former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, and has denied allegations that it acted in a manner meant to shield him from judicial proceedings in that Latin American state or in his native Poland. Wesolowski is accused of the
Vatican Dispatch
Francis Wins Korean Hearts
‘The Catholic Church in Korea has hit the jackpot with Pope Francis!” That’s what Thomas Hong-Soon Han told me in Seoul as the pontiff’s amazingly successful visit ended. He believes many Koreans will now want to join the church because of Francis, but he’s not sure it&
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