Titles can be deceiving but The Prophetic Spirit of Catechesis does indeed capture both the argument and spirit of this book It is only in the Afterword that Mongoven formally explains the title but the attentive reader will experience its meaning on every page The book is divided into two parts

At a chapel I occasionally attend some worshipers face the tabernacle during the Liturgy of the Word even though the lectern is at the opposite end of the central aisle Elsewhere at a Sunday liturgy I heard the presiding priest begin by invoking the Creator the Redeemer and the Life-giving Spi

Kenan Osborne O F M professor emeritus at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley brings impressive credentials and an enviable reputation to the task he sets himself in this volume The task is worthy of the man a complete reworking of sacramental theology so as to open it up to new line

How about the following planks for a political party platform this November:1. Health care is a fundamental human right to which every American is entitled.2. The lack of safe affordable housing is a national crisis and such housing should be available to all on a non-discriminatory basis.3. The min

Who could have predicted 25 years ago, when three Trappist monks from a monastery in Massachusetts introduced contemplative prayer to a group of non-contemplatives, that its popularity would grow so dramatically? Today, thousands of believers from a variety of Christian denominations in every state

Summer is a time of celebration and transition in most religious communities. It is no different for those who live and work at America House, situated midway between Radio City Music Hall and the West-Nile virus hot zone in Central Park. Though none of us has been stricken with any exotic tropical malady, we have suffered from the vagaries of ordinary life. In June, Vincent Duminuco, S.J., director of the International Jesuit Leadership Project, went to Belen College in Miami to give the commencement address. While there, he tripped on a banyan root and broke his shoulder in three places.

A few days later, walking back from visiting Father Duminuco in the nearby hospital, our superior, Vincent T. O’Keefe, S.J., former vicar general of the Jesuits, had an asthma attack. Or so we thought. It turned out to be more serious. He needed surgery on a heart valve plus a double bypass, which was done on June 21. His recovery at the New York Province infirmary progressed well enough for him to enjoy the celebration of his 50th anniversary as a priest on Aug. 24. Our senior editor, John W. Donohue, S.J., had celebrated the same anniversary in June, along with our Father Minister, James Stehr, S.J., who has been a priest for 25 years. Not to be outdone, John Gallen, S.J., our peripatetic liturgist, also celebrated 50 years as a Jesuit in August.

Although Father O’Keefe will be returning to America House as soon as his recovery has progressed sufficiently, his term as superior ends this year. In the meantime, Father Duminuco, who had to cancel his teaching schedule in Italy and Poland while he mends and undergoes physical therapy, was tapped to act as superior. He will hold the reins until January, when we will welcome back to the community as superior Robert A. Mitchell, S.J., whose career has included service as provincial of the New York Province of the Jesuits, president of the U.S. Jesuit Conference and president of the University of Detroit-Mercy. Most recently he was president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., where as a young priest he had been a teacher and dean after his return from studies in Louvain and later in Strasbourg.

Another transition hit us with the sad departure from America of James E. Brogan, who has been a wonderful colleague and an efficient and knowledgeable assistant editor. Jamey came to us after a stint teaching at St. Aloysius in Harlem as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. As a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Georgetown and a graduate of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, he enjoyed a thorough Jesuit education. He is now moving to Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., where he was awarded the J.V.C. scholarship. He will be joining other laypersons who are studying for the master of divinity degree, which he will use in teaching or pastoral ministry after he graduates. We wish him well and will miss him.

In the staff listing to the right of this column, longtime readers will

Won’t it be fun when we can take gondola rides through downtown Miami and Los Angeles? And will not Eskimos smile when the Yukon River Valley grows cantaloupe for the European Union? And won’t we rejoice when, instead of taking the same old cruise to the palmy Caribbean, we can do someth

Mother Church Not a Sister Church, Says RatzingerAddressing what it called common misuses of the phrase sister churches in ecumenical dialogue, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation issued a document stressing the Catholic Church’s unique identity as mother of all local churches. The docu

An unusual amount of hot air suffused the American atmosphere this past August. I’m not referring to the wildfires in the West, but to the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Though less noteworthy, the conventions garnered more media attention, because when all was said (and said