Generalizations about races or nations, however prejudiced, usually have some basis in fact.- Peter Mansfield, The Arabs.

It might surprise many to learn that no bishop has ministered to more persons living with AIDS than Cardinal John O’Connor, who by his own report tended to countless patients at St. Clare’s Hospital. I dare say also that no bishop has directly ministered to more priests and bishops who w

In this Jubilee year, the issue of wealth distribution, especially as it relates to the larger macroeconomic issues of international debt and globalization, has received a good deal of attention and analysis. For this we should be thankful. What has not received much attention, however, are the resp

When did your anti-sweatshop work begin?We began our labor rights activities in Latin America in the early 1990’s in El Salvador and Honduras. One of our first projects was to help a local human rights organization in Honduras, called the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, to do a surv

Health care is emerging as a major campaign issue, and rightly so, because we are in trouble. The U.S. Census Bureau has found that over 44 million people lack health insurance. It is estimated that by the year 2008, the number of uninsured will have risen to 55 millionalmost a quarter of all non-el

Poor George W. Bush. It was bad enough when, during the primary season, a Boston reporter surprised him with a snap quiz about foreign leaders, including some from nations that Rand McNally himself might have had trouble spelling. Bush’s tentative answers inspired snickers in some quarters, al

The debate over whether the United States should give permanent normal trade relations to China pits human rights concerns against economic ones. While others focus on labor, environmental or military issues, the U.S. bishops oppose special trade privileges for China because of China’s human r

Every time I see a movie (which is a lot) and a priest or a nun appears on screen (which is not a lot) I steel myself for the worst. Though directors, screenwriters and actors have of late been able to furnish moviegoers with convincing portrayals of, among other difficult subjects, middle-aged toba

New York Says Goodbye To Cardinal O’ConnorThousands filled St. Patrick’s Cathedral for one service after another as New Yorkers said their final goodbyes to Cardinal John J. O’Connor. The 80-year-old cardinal, who died on May 3 after an eight-month battle with cancer, was archbisho

Learning and FormationI write in regard to Richard R. Gaillardetz’s article, The New E-Magisterium (5/6). The plethora of sites posing as theological resources on the World Wide Web is indeed a challenge. The technology committee of the parish to which I am assigned sees two ways that the new