A few years ago the Episcopal bishop of Newark John Shelby Spong penned a book entitled Why Christianity Must Change or Die Spong argued that Christianity would inevitably decline unless it abandoned much of its traditional belief system A few decades hence we may regard Spong rsquo s prediction

Growing List of Church Leaders, Groups Oppose War in IraqAs the threat of war in Iraq loomed larger, Christian leaders and associations across the world urged restraint on the use of force and warned of a humanitarian disaster if the country is attacked. From Catholic bishops to interchurch coalitio

Pope John Paul II's World Day of Peace message for 2003 marked the 40th anniversary of 'Pacem in Terris.'

March for Life Speakers Enthused About Congress, PresidentSpeakers at the kickoff rally on Jan. 22 for the 30th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., expressed optimism that the current Republican-dominated Congress and White House could change abortion laws in this country. “For eight ye

In his book The Next Christendom (2002) and his recent article “The Next Christianity” (Atlantic Monthly, October 2002), Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University, argues that the current crisis in the Catholic Church, broug

Each year the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences announces the incorporation of new members. This year’s list of honorary fellows includes the world-renowned Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., who is best known for his book A Theology of Liberation (Span. 1971,

The Common Good and Christian Ethics by David Hollenbach S J deserves to be the most read work of American Catholic public philosophy since the late John Courtney Murray rsquo s We Hold These Truths published in 1960 Both Murray and Hollenbach point to pluralism as a given The problem each i

Pope John Paul II’s message for this year’s World Day of Peace, Jan. 1, 2003, anticipates the 40th anniversary of Blessed Pope John XXIII’s landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris in April. At a time when the world seems more troubled than at any time since the collapse of Communism in

For a lifelong member of a large institution, at what point does a stance of healthy dissent toward that institution become a full-fledged breach? For a dozen years or so I’ve lived in a state of tension with the two most elemental institutions in my upbringing, the church and the state. My ex