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Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
Out of This World
Mary E. Giles
This book blends several stories into a rich tapestry The governing story is that of the Carmelite community in Indianapolis from its beginnings in 1922 when three sisters made of a small house in New Albany their temporary quarters for a new foundation to the permanent monastery in Indianapolis
Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
Half a Look at Our Cultural Predicament
Edward Curtin
Deviance by definition presupposes a society rsquo s way of life bounded by norms and values that justify institutions and induce people to enact institutional and private roles This makes any study of deviance controversial both politically and morally When that study is sociological the cont
Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
She Said, She Said
John W. OMalley
If you are interested in the Vatican and its workings you will find this a good read Paul Hofmann Austrian by birth was for 35 years a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and for some of those years chief of its Rome bureau He currently lives in Rome and has been an acute observer of t
Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
Moving Ahead in Unity
Paul Wilkes
When The Changing Face of the Priesthood was published two years ago it created a virtual firestorm in the church The Rev Donald Cozzens was praised for his honesty and vilified for his unsportsmanlike conduct He had the nerve to say not only that a substantial number of priests and seminarians
Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
Rock-Solid American
Timothy Dugan

The following expropriation of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself appears in The Partly Cloudy Patriot, a collection of 19 reflective, often witty essays by Sara Vowell, author, radio artist, editor, literary critic, presidential essayist and self-admitted Clinton apologist: “The best description of you [President Clinton] I’ve ever read was published in 1855:

Do I contradict myself?

News
Signs of the Times
Vatican May O.K. Experimental Application of U.S. NormsThe Vatican is leaning toward approval of an experimental application of the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse by clergy, perhaps after some clarifying language is added, a senior Vatican official said. “This would not be a rejection b
Letters
Letters

Needs at This Time

The proposed national plenary council for U.S. bishops (Signs of the Times, 8/26) sounds like a desperate exercise in self-validation. The time would be better spent in a critical self-examination of bishops’ needs at this time in church history.

For example, what should be the job description of a bishop/cardinal in the 21st century? What should be the job description for a priest? What are the educational needs that will bring bishops/cardinals up to speed to become competent managers? This is a serious issue. What programs need to be devised for the continuing education of bishops/cardinals?

The teaching office of the bishops is a relic of a church that no longer exists. We are no longer a congregation of ignorant peasants. Many faithful Catholics are better educated than their bishops. Additionally, it is time to re-examine the truths that the Catholic Church teaches in the light of history, scientific discoveries and biblical scholarship. Bishops need to learn to listen again to theologians who have pondered these revelations of God’s presence in our midst.

There are even more frightening issues to be faced. Do these men dare stand up to the Vatican and assert that they, English-speaking ecclesial authorities, have the competency to decide what should be the English-language translations of biblical and liturgical texts? Do they dare stand up to the Vatican and say that there is a crisis in the number of priests, and say that they will ordain whomever they please to assure that the faithful will have access to the sacraments? Probably not. But some time soon, dynamic leadership will have to emerge to save the church.

Jim Harvey

Goodbye, Democrats
Why do media moguls think we are interested in Ashleigh Banfield? Why do they believe that we couldn’t wait to be afflicted with Phil Donahue again? Why do they imagine that we are concerned about Rosie’s magazine? Why do they think that Ann Coulter would be a media fixture if she were a
Editorials
Hope, Not Optimism
It takes great courage to speak candidly in the midst of a crisis. To speak serenely when surrounded by mayhem requires wisdom and tact. To speak at all these days to the members of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors requires fortitude. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, the coadjutor bis
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Oct. 16 is World Food Day—the founding date over half a century ago of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. But in view of the starvation that is claiming many lives in the poorest countries, Oct. 16 might more appropriately be called World Hunger Day. During a late-sum