In the language of the Western just war tradition, the attacks of Sept. 11 were indiscriminatethey (at least, those on the World Trade Center) involved a direct and intentional attack against civilians. But Osama bin Laden appeals to the tradition of Islam; he holds that such attacks are not only pe

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, the United States was stunned by terrorist acts that exhibited the audacity and cunning of the terrorists and dealt a grievous symbolic blow to the power of the United States of America. The reaction in this country and almost everywhere else has been abhorrence and condemnatio

To write about Sept. 11, 2001, is to know the paucity of one’s vocabulary and literary skill. The words are so disproportionate to the tragedy that the temptation is to stop trying to describe it. John Paul II condemned it as an unspeakable horror and a dark day in the history of humanity, a t

My friend Mohammed rises every morning at 1:30 after five or six hours of sleep. He prays, showers, gets dressed and leaves his apartment near Crown Heights in Brooklyn by 2:30 or so. He walks the safe but never entirely secure streets of central Brooklyn until he finds his car, an old midsized seda

The United States is going to wage a war against terrorists, says President George W. Bush. Is this a just war according to the principles of the Catholic just war theory? For this issue we asked experts in the just war theory to examine this question and present their views.Before looking at the U.

Well Covered IssueI commend America and the artist Michael Altman for the wonderful cover for your religious education issue (9/24). As an artist—and especially a collage artist—I am aware of the ingenuity of Mr. Altman as he created this composition. He succeeded in bringing together ph

We want to thank all our readers and friends who expressed their sympathy and concern in numerous letters and e-mails. In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, it was good to know that we had friends praying for us all over the world.Our residence-office building is about

R my Rougeau has written a fresh and surprising narrative about the monastic life It is a novel or perhaps a series of linked short stories But form is not what counts here The odd angle of vision is what makes this book worthwhile Rougeau rsquo s story deals with young Paul Seneschal a Canad

The bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Canada hangs in the twilight, a connection to some different sense of time and space. It is the summer of 2000 and my last day in Montreal. I’ve been invited by a French Canadian friend to travel with him across the river. My plan is to visit Kahnawake