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Fiction Trumps Fact
First a confession: I did not want to write this article. Working as an editor at a Catholic magazine, I have grown tired of reading articles about The Da Vinci Code. Every week brings another book or essay detailing the errors of Dan Brown’s bestseller, which now boasts 40 million copies sold
Letters
Letters

Take to Heart

In The Moment, the Message, the Messenger (4/24), Tom Fox has issued a timely and eloquent plea for our collective commitment to convey the treasure of Catholic social teaching to our country. I share his conviction that our teaching can effect profound social change. At Catholic Relief Services, our re-examination and reflection on the church’s social teaching over the last decade has fueled an institutional transformation. We moved from being an agency that primarily engages in relief and development to one that also promotes justice, human dignity and global solidarity through all of our programs.

In that spirit, and at the risk of ruining a good Catholic construct of seven points, I would like humbly to propose an addition to Mr. Fox’s list of suggestions not only for better communicating the church’s social teaching but also for helping Catholics to live it. We must foster a sense of solidaritywith God, with all of humanity and with creation.

Solidaritythe conviction that we are responsible for and connected to one another, especially those who are poor and marginalizedcalls us to cherish and uphold the sacredness and dignity of every person, commit to and practice peace, justice and reconciliation, and celebrate and protect the integrity of all creation. At C.R.S. we believe that global solidaritystanding with our brothers and sisters overseaswill transform the world.

There are many ways for Catholics to practice global solidarity, such as making just economic choices by buying fair trade products, participating in a partnership with a parish or diocese overseas, advocating for just and transparent government policies or supporting missionary or relief efforts overseas. Catholic Relief Services provides these opportunities and more, to help Catholics put their faith into action on an international scale.

Both the Gospel and Catholic social teaching compel us to live as one human family by respecting the dignity of every human person, loving our neighbors as ourselves and promoting more just and peaceful societies. In other words, we are called to live in global solidarity. It is a message we all must hear and take to heart.

Joan Neal

Current Comment
Current Comment
Down on IslamSome years ago Cardinal Francis Arinze, then the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, complained that the dialogue with Islam consisted largely of Catholic initiatives, and it was time for the church’s Muslim partners to bear responsibility too for th
News
Signs of the Times
U.S. Bishops Urge Immigration ReformPresident George W. Bush’s address on May 15 about immigration reform received mixed reviews from advocates for immigrants, who expressed gratitude for his support of legalization for illegal immigrants but had concerns about his plan to deploy National Guar
Arts & Culture
Books
May 22, 2006 issue
A Radiance Fills Them'
Robert E. Hosmer Jr.
It may well be a curse rather than a blessing to be described as a religious or spiritual poet todaynot simply because in a secular or post-secular age such labels are anathema but because such designations may raise expectations of simple-minded pious jingles that are a far cry from the real thi
Current Comment
Current Comment
Prayers for ChinaWhile the situation of the Catholic Church in China has not been normal for many decades, in very recent times it appeared that the lot of Chinese Catholics was improving. It became known that many bishops of the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association were, in fact, also in
Editorials
Save Darfur Now
Mother Nature’s fury, as we have experienced in our own nation in the aftermath of hurricanes and tornadoes, devastates communities. But Mother Nature’s worst pales when compared to the disasters created by man’s furyand folly. A hurricane of hatred has created in Darfur a human-ma
Pope and Abbot
When Joseph Ratzinger chose Benedict XVI as his papal name, commentators quickly and correctly pointed out its significance. And in the year since his election, the new pope’s actions have borne out many of those expectations. His warm meeting and dinner last September with Hans Küng—th
The Ordinary Way of Benedict
It does not take parents very long to realize that they teach their children not so much by what they say as by who they are. Their presence, their choices, their lives, their being speak to their children in the deepest way. The same can be said of true educators, whose teaching reaches beyond tech
Faith
Believe Me if You Like
I knew almost nothing about the town, except that it had some vague connection with Joan of Arc.