Perhaps as Garry Wills states in his opening sentence Catholics have fallen out of the healthy habit of reminding one another how sinful popes can be Yet many Catholics I know have watched enough television to know that Julius II armor-clad led his troops into battle and that Paul III made his

Two opposing tides are at work in the world of immigration in the United States. On the one hand, the harsh provisions of the 1996 immigration lawthe Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Acthave made the lives of both documented and undocumented immigrants more difficult. On the

As the House was preparing to debate the China trade bill on May 24, Representative Bill Archer, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, warned his colleagues: "This vote will be the most important vote that we cast in our congressional careers."That overstate

In Cardinal Medina’s letter replying to the article by Bishop Donald Trautman, "Rome and ICEL" (3/4), there are some things that are new and some that are true; but not everything that is new is true and not everything that is true is new. It is new, for example, when a Roman dicaste

Effective CompositionAs a retired art teacher, artist and curator, I find the America covers creative and thought-provoking. I especially liked the collage that graced the March 25 issue, on Anti-Catholicism in the United States.Each cover is a work of artcommunicating a message as well as being an

If you pay close attention, you will come upon the word (or concept) model in some form or other on many pages of this week’s issue. Although it is a familiar concept, in my opinion we don’t hear about it nearly as much as we ought. Writers have lamented in these pages and elsewhere: Whe

Russian President Meets Pope, Does Not Extend InvitationOn his first official visit to Western Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on June 5 about the ongoing need to bring Western and Eastern Europe closer together. However, during the meeting Putin

Two provocative offerings in this week’s issue deserve particular attention, not only in light of their authorship, but also because of the importance of their message for the universal church. The first is this year’s John Courtney Murray lecture, delivered by Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.

Dust coated my throat and stung my eyes. Carbon monoxide fumes mixed with the reek of deep-fried buffalo wings and cheese-soaked sausages made me nauseous. The noise was deafening—a nonstop cacophony of roaring engines, heavy metal music and over-amplified voices distorted through a second-rat

Perhaps the N.R.A. has met its match. All the money in the world cannot contend with the rage of a mother torn from her child.