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Books
Oct 14, 2002 issue
Rock-Solid American
Timothy Dugan

The following expropriation of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself appears in The Partly Cloudy Patriot, a collection of 19 reflective, often witty essays by Sara Vowell, author, radio artist, editor, literary critic, presidential essayist and self-admitted Clinton apologist: “The best description of you [President Clinton] I’ve ever read was published in 1855:

Do I contradict myself?

The WordTwenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), October 13, 2002
What Shall I Wear?

The Lord God will wipe away tears from every face (Is. 25:3)

Anniversary Thoughts
When he was elected in 1958, the 78-year-old Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli appeared to be a “transitional pope.” He did in fact become transitional—in unexpected ways. As Pope John XXIII, he inaugurated a new era for the Roman Catholic Church when he prayed for a “new Pentecost.&r
News
Signs of the Times
Vatican May O.K. Experimental Application of U.S. NormsThe Vatican is leaning toward approval of an experimental application of the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse by clergy, perhaps after some clarifying language is added, a senior Vatican official said. “This would not be a rejection b
Letters
Letters

Needs at This Time

The proposed national plenary council for U.S. bishops (Signs of the Times, 8/26) sounds like a desperate exercise in self-validation. The time would be better spent in a critical self-examination of bishops’ needs at this time in church history.

For example, what should be the job description of a bishop/cardinal in the 21st century? What should be the job description for a priest? What are the educational needs that will bring bishops/cardinals up to speed to become competent managers? This is a serious issue. What programs need to be devised for the continuing education of bishops/cardinals?

The teaching office of the bishops is a relic of a church that no longer exists. We are no longer a congregation of ignorant peasants. Many faithful Catholics are better educated than their bishops. Additionally, it is time to re-examine the truths that the Catholic Church teaches in the light of history, scientific discoveries and biblical scholarship. Bishops need to learn to listen again to theologians who have pondered these revelations of God’s presence in our midst.

There are even more frightening issues to be faced. Do these men dare stand up to the Vatican and assert that they, English-speaking ecclesial authorities, have the competency to decide what should be the English-language translations of biblical and liturgical texts? Do they dare stand up to the Vatican and say that there is a crisis in the number of priests, and say that they will ordain whomever they please to assure that the faithful will have access to the sacraments? Probably not. But some time soon, dynamic leadership will have to emerge to save the church.

Jim Harvey

Goodbye, Democrats
Why do media moguls think we are interested in Ashleigh Banfield? Why do they believe that we couldn’t wait to be afflicted with Phil Donahue again? Why do they imagine that we are concerned about Rosie’s magazine? Why do they think that Ann Coulter would be a media fixture if she were a
When to Forgive
In his contribution to a recent volume on forgiveness, edited by Everett L. Worthington Jr., Martin Marty hazards the opinion that if there were a single word that expressed the very heart of the Christian message, it might well be “forgiveness.” Christians, he says, are called to exper
Hiding in the Thickets of the Law'
In the heat of a Dallas summer and the even more intense heat of national and international media scrutiny, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met on June 14 to address what they described as a crisis without precedent in our times, namely the crisis within the Catholic Church sparked by the se
Books
Oct 07, 2002 issue
Keep the Faith
William A. Barry
This is an important book Christopher Ringwald makes strikingly clear that spirituality is the ldquo soul of recovery rdquo from addiction Through interviews and research he shows that addicts have for over a century found the way to sobriety and to a positive contribution to society through so
Books
Oct 07, 2002 issue
Monks' Missives
Richard J. Hauser
Survival or Prophecy is the right book for Merton devotees seeking greater insight into Merton rsquo s thoughts about monastic renewal In his letters to his friend Jean LeClercq Merton candidly bares his own soul revealing frustration with his monastic situation at Gethsemani and a yearning to li