ISLAMIC REFORM Skeptics often ask whether Muslims are capable of democratic self-government. Most often the implied supposition is that they could not possibly be. But two current political struggles suggest that Muslims, like any people, are capable of standing up for democracy. Pakistan has been r

Raids by federal agents on five Swift meatpacking plants last December around the country, as well as raids in New Bedford, Mass., in March, called public attention to the fear haunting the lives of undocumented immigrants. As the raids demonstrated, fear of family breakup runs high among the undocumented, with the specter of breadwinners deported and U.S. citizen children left behind in the United States.

Nearly 30 years have passed since I very innocently asked one of my parish priests, the Rev. Maurice Burke, why Northern Ireland was a killing zone. I was a young reporter at the time, assigned to write a story about this foreign place that, frankly, meant very little to me. I knew one of my grandparents had been born in Ireland, but beyond that, I knew nothing besides the story of St. Patrick and the snakes.

A shoeless boy wearily weaves his way down the street, alone, in a limp pair of soiled shorts and a torn T-shirt. Heaps of trash pile up on vacant corners and in the grassy medians of the citys streets. Dogs of many breeds, some of them obviously sick with disease, listlessly amble around the neighb

Welcome to the new and improved Web site for America magazine! Have a look around and tell us what you think. You can email us at webeditor@americamagazine.org or post a comment below. In addition to a sharp new look, America’s site is now home to America Connects, featuring all new web-only

Foley award winner John Slater on bonsai trees, Thomas Merton and life at the Abbey of the Genesee.

Now two years into his papacy Pope Benedict XVI has published a work that is fast becoming a bestseller everywhere ldquo This book rdquo he stipulates ldquo is in no way an exercise rdquo of his official magisterium but ldquo solely rdquo a testimony to his ldquo personal search for the f

With a new president in Mexico and a more immigration-friendly majority in place in both houses of the U.S. Congress, our nation is positioned to take a fresh approach to relations with Mexico in particular and Latin America in general. Catholics on both sides of the border are particularly well sit

A number of readers have asked for access to past Word columns So every week on The Good Word we will post America s Word column for the upcoming Sunday in addition to past columns for the same cycle of readings Here are Fr Dan Harrington s reflections on Trinity Sunday Dianne Bergan

Big Deal for Big PharmaBy a vote of 49 to 40, the Senate approved an amendment that effectively excludes U.S. citizens from importing prescription drugs from abroad. The amendment requires prior F.D.A. certification of imported medicines, certification the administration says the agency is not equip