Avery Dulles rsquo s first article for America appeared in the issue of May 5 1951 It was already five years since he had published his first book A Testimonial to Grace a narrative of his conversion to Catholicism while an undergraduate at Harvard For half a century Dulles has continued to tur

Although the major theme of the document Dominus Iesus, which was issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Sept. 5, concerns the role of Christ and his church in the salvation of people who do not share Christian faith, the strongest reactions to it have come from spokespersons of

The jubilee year 2000 may well go down in church history as a record year for beatifications and Vatican documents. Despite the frail health of the pope, aides stand actively at attention to help the Holy Father extol holy men, to ban liturgical oddities such as wandering from the sanctuary to besto

Dominus Iesus, published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is prefect, is an instruction about the identity of Christ, the integral interconnection of Christ, revelation and the church, and consequently (in the sections to which I restrict my comme

The year 2000 elections increasingly look like another turning point in American politics. The old issues that formerly ignited our passionscrime, defense, civil rights, balanced budget and abortionhave all but burned out. Neither party is clear about which new concerns will catch fire, even this la

The words spoken by the young Appalachian girl evoked in me a response I had not expected. My mouth became suddenly dry as I tried to swallow and fend off the rising lump in my throat. This sweet girl had not threatened me with violence, nor had she intentionally attempted to embarrass me. But her w

I was a substitute teacher, and he was a 13-year-old boy. His face, still chubby with childhood, was framed by greased black hair that formed two spit curls at his temples. First he came and told me that he could not participate in physical education class that day because he would get his shoes mud

Bush Opposes Abortion, Supports Death Penalty Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush reiterated his opposition to abortion and support for school choice but disagreed with Catholic stands on the death penalty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in a wide-ranging interview with Catholic

There was a time not long ago when neither religion nor politics was discussed in polite company These emotionally charged topics were taboo Today when people actually have time to take dinner together and linger long enough for real conversation talk of politics and religion may often be over