In what may signal a crack in the wall of support for the death penalty, a number of states have begun to question whether it can ever be fairly applied. Illinois provides the most dramatic example. Since 1977, 13 men have been released from its death row. One, Anthony Porter, came within two days o

Located 80 miles east of Havana on Cuba’s northern coast, the city of Cárdenas, from which young Elián Gonzalez comes, is a relatively poor but bustling and friendly town of some 40,000one of those places where you instantly sense that everyone knows everyone else. It’s a place of huma

Although the architecture of its cathedral is Neo-Byzantine, the affairs of the Archdiocese of Westminster have usually been conducted in a straightforward English manner, appropriate to its setting between Victoria Station and New Scotland Yard. So the 4.1 million Catholics in England and Wales wer

A recent series of articles in The Kansas City Star on Catholic priests suffering from AIDS-related illnesses has focused attention on a difficult issue. Despite the incendiary nature of its topic, the seriesthough flawedaimed for balance and proved compelling. The survey’s main weaknesses lay

President Clinton’s State of the Union address on Jan. 27 left Republicans and Democrats in agreement on at least two points: The speech was very long, and its delivery was a great performance. It was bound to be a long speech, because in pursuit of his two main purposes Mr. Clinton had a lot

The last days of January have been turbulent ones in the Middle East. Even as Palestinian and Israeli diplomats have been engaged in secret talks near Jerusalem and while behind the scenes negotiations are continuing in advance of the resumption of bilateral talks between Israel and Syria, three Isr