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Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Everyone recognizes that the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church was not caused only by the sinful failures of individual priests; it was also caused by the failure of a number of bishops to deal appropriately with these priests. There were not just personal failures; there were also personne
News
Signs of the Times
Bishop to Investigate Austrian SeminaryPope John Paul II appointed a special investigator to gather information on a pornography and sex scandal in an Austrian seminary. In a one-line statement, the Vatican announced on July 20 that the pope will send Bishop Klaus Küng of Feldkirch, Austria, a memb
Columns
Redrafting America
As the Roman world began to disintegrate and the emperor was far from home fighting wars on the Rhine, a group known as the Alemanni advanced from Germany to the very outskirts of the great global city. In this emergency, wrote Edward Gibbon in his masterful tale of Rome’s decline and fall, th
An Uncertain Path
Sad? Unbelievable? Outrageous? Whatever one thinks about the recent bankruptcy filing by the Archiocese of Portland, Ore., it is certainly unprecedented. And it is taking the Catholic Church down an uncertain and uncharted legal path. Portland’s Archbishop John Vlazny has sought the protection
FaithFaith in Focus
Father James Martin’s Lourdes diary
Something you don’t hear every day from a Jesuit: I’m here to pick up a cassock for my trip to Lourdes.
Film
Burning Bush: Fahrenheit 9/11
The worm turns. Last spring the religious right made such a fuss about the polychrome piosities of Mel Gibson that even card-carrying atheists had to line up to see what all the buzz was about. Every action has its reaction, so now the sanctimonious left has created an even greater fuss about Michae
Letters
Letters

Thoughtful Advice

I’m glad that Cardinal Avery Dulles stood up for the rights of priests to receive due process when they are accused of wrongdoing (6/21). As he points out, the definition of sexual abuse has been expanded to include even verbal offenses, while at the same time the public embarrassment and losses from even being accused innocently have increased greatly. It is no service to one group (those alleging abuses) to take away the legitimate rights of another (those accused of abuses).

In the meantime, as Cardinal Dulles’s thoughtful article is published, the Vatican has promoted Cardinal Law to a major church in Rome, has dragged its feet on dealing with priest discipline actions and as yet has not punished or removed one American bishop for wrongdoing in the entire sexual abuse scandal. Maybe Cardinal Dulles can offer his colleagues in Rome some thoughtful advice next!

Frank O’Hara

American Catholics and the State
In December 1960, shortly after a Catholic Democrat had been elected president of the United States, Time magazine devoted a lengthy cover story to the topic “U.S. Catholics and the State.” The story focused on the work of John Courtney Murray, S.J., and his then-recently published book,
News
Signs of the Times
Ratzinger Advises U.S. Bishops on Principles for Denying Communion and VotingIn a recent memorandum, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger laid out the principles under which bishops or other ministers may deny Communion to Catholic politicians who consistently promote legal abortion. At the same time, he said
Catholic Consciences
I have never before encountered, either in correspondence, after Sunday liturgies or just in casual conversations, such intense concern and confusion over faith and politics as I do nowadays. The issue is abortion. Unlike most of the moral imperatives that Jesus articulates in the Gospel, unlike the