To the extent of their knowledge, competence or authority the laity are entitled, and indeed sometimes duty-bound, to express their opinions on matters concerning the good of the church.” It might surprise many Catholics that this bold statement on the responsibilities of laypersons in the chu

Whether they exercised it in the fall elections or not, most citizens of the United States took it for granted that they had the right to cast a vote on Nov. 5. But for close to four million people with felony convictions, no such right existed, because almost all states have disenfranchisement laws

The eight million Haitians who share the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic have the unwelcome distinction of populating the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It is also a country that has endured for two centuries a series of governments inept and oppressive in vary

The Republican Party and President Bush must be congratulated for a stunning victory in the Congressional midterm election. Not only did they overcome the normal historical pattern, whereby the party in the White House loses Congressional seats in a midterm election; they did it in the middle of a r

When the bishops gather in Washington, D.C., for their annual November meeting, their agenda will include voting on a revised version of their 1992 pastoral letter, “When I Called for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women.” Although the updated version makes use of

In the wake of the sexual abuse scandals and numerous reports of priests abusing boys and adolescent males, some Catholics have expressed grave concerns over the ordination to the priesthood of gay men. The question arises: should the church continue ordaining gay priests, that is, homosexual men co