In his recent article in America (2/24), Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., very helpfully called our attention to six norms for interpreting the Second Vatican Council that were issued as part of the final report of the Synod of Bishops in 1985, the 20th anniversary of the conclusion of the council. Card

If history is bunk any history of the Oscars is full of it We all know designation as Best Picture hardly means a film was the best movie of the year As Emanuel Levy readily concedes in All About Oscar Hollywood rsquo s decision making has always been flawed and as he details in some excellent

At a time when the news is saturated with stories about corporate malfeasance it is salutary to recall that the corporate quest for profits can sometimes lead to injury and death In Five Past Midnight in Bhopal Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro resurrect the story of Bhopal India where in 1984

Will military force work to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction? The Bush administration’s National Security Strategy issued last fall states that the United States will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to destroy threats abroad before they reach U.S. borders. In the docu

Good news from Africa may seem a rarity, but some did come our way when two visitors from Tanzania visited New York in September. One was the vice chancellor of St. Augustine University near Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria—the Rev. Deogratias Rweyongeza, who handles the day-to-day runni

There are not many memoirs available from people who work beneath the surface of the executive branch of the federal government Usually presidents vice presidents cabinet secretaries and White House staffers publish such accounts Daniel Ellsberg rsquo s reflections however illuminate the tasks

Reactions to my Ethics Notebook column on leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent reminded me how volatile discussions can become when they meld the world of politics with the moral life. I’ve received some strong comments from both wings of the spectrum. How could you ever have

In the Philippines, we have a Muslim minority living together with a Christian majority. One Indonesian bishop explained his country’s situation to me in this way: “The manner in which you majority Christians deal with the minority Muslims in the Philippines will be the way the majority

In the first century, Peter had a dream in Joppa, a strange dream that encouraged him to eat prohibited food that was common and unclean. This was not kosher. Then he heard a knock at the door. A group of gentiles, sent by Cornelius, asked him to come with them to Caesarea. He agreed, mystified by t

Why and how did the celibate state became a requirement for ordination?