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The WordTwenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), September 15, 2002
Staying Out of Prison

He pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills (Ps. 103:3)

News
Signs of the Times
Catholic-Jewish Statement on Conversion Draws ControversyA Catholic-Jewish statement published on Aug. 12 repudiating campaigns that target Jews for conversion to Christianity has drawn controversy, including sharp criticism in some Catholic quarters and a charge of Catholic anti-Semitism by a top S
Faith in Focus
God Present in This Valley of Tears
I remember reciting the phrase about mourning and weeping in this valley of tears in the Hail, Holy Queen, a prayer I said often when I was growing up, and being aware at the time of the immense suffering in the world. Perhaps it was because I was a child during World War II or because the church ta
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
As of last Sept. 11 the word hero has assumed a life of its own. Although our political and social history is replete with heroes and heroic deeds, whether in wartime or peacetime, a new way of looking at heroism, of defining courage and sacrifice, was born on that fateful day in 2001. In his addres
Faith in Focus
One Year Later
Awailing ululation echoes across the night as I trudge up the sandy hill, the Muslim call to prayer that signals the end of the day. As I crest the hill, I pause to catch my breath. The thin air at this altitude makes any form of physical exertion a daunting task. The wind blows, and a whisper of sa
One Year Ago
Sunday, September 23, 2001. This morning I am here with Joe and Chris, two young Jesuits from Fordham University. Part of Jesuit training includes philosophy studies, and there is a large community of Jesuit scholastics studying at Fordham, for whom working at Ground Zero has become a kind of t
Letters
Letters

Wise Investments

The call for an end to the Cuban embargo by John W. Donohue S.J. (Of Many Things, 7/15) is well intended, but should not be considered uncritically. Indeed, there are two considerations, both legal and moral, that should give us pause: collaboration and ideological apartheid. Is it moral for American tourists to stay at hotels where Cubans are not allowed, even if invited by foreign friends or relatives? Is it right for a baseball team to play in Cuba when tickets are doled out to government supporters, and Cuban players are barred from baseball because of suspicions that they are politically disloyal or potential defectors? Is it right for an intellectual to speak at a university, when dissidents have been expelled from the faculty and are not allowed to attend? Should American investors be allowed to build a factory where the politically incorrect are denied jobs or higher paying positions? Ideological apartheid is as objectionable as racial apartheid. Though we do not make the owners of a sweatshop in Asia responsible for poverty in the countries where they invest, we should make them responsible for conditions and wages in their factories. So too we should simply require that American companies and travelers not collaborate with political apartheid through their commercial or investment activities. And this rule should not single out Cuba, but should be applied to all foreign investments, while keeping an eye on those countries where violations are most likely to occur. That way the United States would not be imposing its values on other countries, but on its own citizens and companies.

Pedro J. Saavedra

Should We Attack Iraq?
Down the street from your house is an unpretentious bungalow. You don’t often see the owner, but when he does appear, he wears a dark suit and dark glasses on even the cloudiest and hottest days. You sometimes notice bulges in his clothing. He rarely speaks or shows much interest in the neighb
Propagandizing War
Finally some questions are being asked about the plans to invade Iraq. Strangely enough, the biggest stir has been caused not by the churches or the Democratic Party, but by the likes of Henry Kissinger and Richard Armey. Imagine, Kissinger and Armey, the voices of moderation—although their mo
Editorials
The First Anniversary of 9/11
Anniversaries of great disasters are commemorated mainly for the sake of the living. If the event was recent, an observance of its anniversary may somewhat console those who are still mourning, and that is a great benefit. The sting of death, as the historian Arnold Toynbee once said, is often enoug