A generation has elapsed since the close of the Second Vatican Council, and the church has underscored the council’s extraordinary ecclesial and historical significance by beatifying, this Sept. 3, Pope John XXIII. At the same time, however, the beatification of Pope Pius IX highlighted the ti

American bishops discussed research describing changing parish staffing patterns at their national convocation in Milwaukee on June 15-17. The three-hour deliberation considered data showing that the number of priests continues to decline, while parishes are hiring more and more lay ministers. Archb

Kosovo is a land in need of a voice. And the only one I can hear, or even imagine, is Sylvia Poggioli of National Public Radio. As I ride along on the bus I hear her describing the shattered houses and ruined streets. I wait for her to tell me about the tragedies peppered all over the sometimes-beau

Laity May Fill Communion Cups; Indult ProposedClearing up some of the confusion surrounding the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the U.S. bishops have received a Vatican ruling permitting extraordinary eucharistic ministers to pour consecrated wine into chalices for Communion. The bi

Avery Dulles rsquo s first article for America appeared in the issue of May 5 1951 It was already five years since he had published his first book A Testimonial to Grace a narrative of his conversion to Catholicism while an undergraduate at Harvard For half a century Dulles has continued to tur

Although the major theme of the document Dominus Iesus, which was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Sept. 5, concerns the role of Christ and his church in the salvation of people who do not share Christian faith, the strongest reactions to it have come from spokespersons of

The jubilee year 2000 may well go down in church history as a record year for beatifications and Vatican documents. Despite the frail health of the pope, aides stand actively at attention to help the Holy Father extol holy men, to ban liturgical oddities such as wandering from the sanctuary to besto

Dominus Iesus, published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is prefect, is an instruction about the identity of Christ, the integral interconnection of Christ, revelation and the church, and consequently (in the sections to which I restrict my comme

The year 2000 elections increasingly look like another turning point in American politics. The old issues that formerly ignited our passionscrime, defense, civil rights, balanced budget and abortionhave all but burned out. Neither party is clear about which new concerns will catch fire, even this la

Predecessors in Faith My sincere and heartfelt congratulations on the article about Mother Katharine Drexel by Dennis M. Linehan, S.J., in your religious education issue (9/16). I appreciated your evident pleasure with the material we furnished.Our prayerful best wishes to each of you in your d