A religious sister friend has recently returned from a pilgrimage to sacred sites in eastern Europe. Among her most vivid impressions is the memory of a church in Gdansk, Poland. While the outside of the building had been fully restored and the church offered a full schedule of Masses and devotional

While not every high school teacher regularly dons a purple stole, most of us have heard our share of confessions. In none of these remorse-filled conversations is there more poignancy than when the student realizes that his or her sexual choices are leading to one dead end after another. The popula

Several years ago, while I sat at my desk one morning at Continuum, an AIDS agency in San Francisco where I served as executive director, the phone rang. The caller identified herself as a secretary to the First Lady and asked if I would come to the White House for a community leaders’ forum l

Pilgrimage of ReconciliationOn a pilgrimage highlighted by bold ecumenical and interreligious gestures, Pope John Paul II reached across centuries of division to Orthodox Christians in Greece and Muslims in Syria. In Greece on May 4-5, the pope issued a dramatic apology for past treatment of the Ort

In late March, New York City's Catholic Workers hosted a Sunday afternoon presentation by two human rights workers from Colombia. After celebrating the noon Mass at Nativity Church, I walked over to nearby St Joseph House to hear them speak of the negative impact there of U.S. military aid. Regu

Who speaks for America Today for Tony Smith the answer clearly is American ethnic groups because they play a larger role in the shaping of the foreign policy of the United States than most recognize That impact he fears is largely negative and in his new book Foreign Attachments The Power o

Samuel Kofi Woods II is an attorney who has been actively involved in human rights activities in Liberia since the mid-1980’s. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Benemerenti medal awarded by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and a human rights award from Reebok in 1994. He is also on

Catholic Schools Educate Well at Half the Cost, Study ShowsCatholic schools in Los Angeles give low-income and minority children a quality education at half the cost of public schools, according to a new study released on April 26 in Los Angeles. The study, by the San Francisco-based Pacific Researc

When his plane lands at Borispol international airport outside Kiev on the afternoon of June 23, Pope John Paul II will begin what will arguably be the most controversial foreign visit he has undertaken during his 23-year reign. His destination will be Ukraine, a country whose government, after 10 y