About eight years ago, when my five children were between the ages of 9 and 18, I had my first opportunity to go with my husband to the Dominican Republic on a medical mission. It was a little scary to leave the children, because we would be incommunicado for a while. We also knew there was some per

I’m writing this column smack in the middle of Catholic Schools Week, a bittersweet occasion this year. In parishes like my own, Catholic Schools Week is a cause for celebration and even a little self-congratulation. In other places, however, the week must seem terribly sad indeed. Another rou

The four-decades-old controversy over Pius XII and the Holocaust has always been more political than historical, but never more so than now. The International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission appointed to review the Vatican-published documents on the wartime pontiff has foundered on politics. B

quot The past is a foreign country they do things differently there quot L H Hartley once famously said Few lives exemplify this better than Paul Robeson rsquo s Today one can go to movies or sports arenas or turn on the television and see black actors singers and athletes followed even

The central issues of Argentina’s national life revolve around political power, charismatic leadership, economic development and effective democracy. These four elements have determined the course of events in Argentina’s struggle for social justice and economic stability since the begin

In Assisi, Religious Leaders Call Violence, Religions IncompatibleViolence and terrorism are incompatible with the faith and belief of all the world’s religions, more than 200 spiritual leaders said during a meeting with Pope John Paul II in Assisi on Jan. 24. Since the terrorist attacks in Ne

One of the more bloody coup d’etats of modern times took place in Chile on Sept. 11, 1973. Twenty-eighth anniversaries are not usually much commemorated, but any time is a good time to reflect on one of the positive developments that resulted from that chaotic era: the growth of the modern hum

As the number of women religious declines, the public’s fascination with them only increases. One of the most highly praised books published in 2000, for example, was Mark Salzman’s novel Lying Awake, an exquisitely written tale about the religious experiences of a cloistered nun. Also p

Imagine a 12-year-old boy who has committed a brutal, senseless homicide. Now imagine a 47-year-old legislator who claims this child should be treated as if he were a mature adult. Which of these is behaving like a grown-up? Last year prosecutors in Florida put two 14-year-olds on trial as adults fo

If ever the sum is greater than the parts, it is in combining the power of God, religion and spirituality with the power of science and professional medicine to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction. That’s the good news from So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality