This has been a hard winter for New York City’s homeless population. In addition to low temperatures, a blizzard over New Year’s weekend was followed by three lesser but nonetheless harsh snow storms. As a commuter, I see homeless men and women early every morning, sometimes huddled asle

Pope Presides Over Biggest Consistory in HistoryOn Feb. 21 John Paul II created 44 new cardinals, bringing to 166 the number of cardinals he has appointed—more than any other pope in history. Of the 184 living cardinals, 160 were appointed by John Paul. Forty of the new cardinals are under the

Widely regarded as the dean of American Catholic theologians, Avery Dulles, S.J., was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II at a consistory in Rome on Feb. 21. He is the first U.S. theologian to be named to the College of Cardinals, as well as the first American Jesuit to receive this honor. The s

President George W. Bush came to office promising to keep his distance from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which his predecessor, Bill Clinton, was so visibly engaged. So far, the administration has kept this promise and focused on the region as a whole. Its main concern has been securing Middl

At this writing I have read five reviews of Carroll rsquo s book and participated in a daylong conference at Brandeis occasioned by its publication One review by Rabbi James Rudin for Religious News Service is generally laudatory another by Andrew Sullivan in The New York Times more cautiousl

Two Dioceses Object to Program for April N.C.E.A. ConventionCiting objections to programming at the upcoming National Catholic Educational Association convention, officials of the dioceses of Peoria, Ill., and Pittsburgh said they will not allocate diocesan funds to pay for teachers to attend the co

In mid-November, I took the bus down to Washington to sit in on the fall meeting of the U.S. bishops - partly because they were to vote on their pastoral statement regarding the need to re-vamp our draconian criminal justice system, an issue I follow for America. The meeting spanned four days, and o

I spotted the woman the moment I walked into the hospital lobby. Shaking and sobbing uncontrollably, she was talking to someone on the phone. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, yet I felt a strong urge to comfort her. But something stopped me. She’s a stranger, I reminded myself, and i

A number of articles and books over the last few years have asked: What will the church look like in 20 years? Underlying this basic concern is an awareness that today’s young Catholic adults have not, it seems, employed the models of earlier generations to appropriate the faith and lack the c