Boston Boy

by Tom Deignan December 1, 2003

The most startling fact about Edwin O’Connor’s life was its brevity The acclaimed author of such mid-century Irish and Catholic classics as ‘The Last Hurrah’ and ‘The Edge of Sadness’ seemed a fit and healthy man. Yet he died when he was just 49 in 1968.

Faith, Features

The Vanishing Eucharist

by Willard F. Jabusch May 12, 2003

By now it is clear to anyone interested in the Catholic Church that there are no longer enough priests to celebrate Mass in many parishes.

A cross outside the U.S. bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection is covered with photos and prayers for the victims of clergy sexual abuse. U.S. dioceses and religious orders received 505 new credible allegations of child sex abuse by clergy in 2010, a slight decrease from the previous year and a significant drop from the 1,092 new allegations reported in 2004, according to a report released April 11, 2011, by the U.S. bishops' conference (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

Features, Politics & Society

Five misconceptions about child sexual abuse and the Catholic Church

by Stephen J. Rossetti April 22, 2002

Child sexual abuse, in the priesthood and in society at large, is a complex issue that does not admit of simple understandings or simple solutions.

Faith, News

Reflections on Walter Kasper’s ‘On the Church’

by Charles J. Chaput July 30, 2001

Maybe the devil made me do it, but after reading Bishop (now Cardinal) Walter Kasper’s essay “On the Church” (reprinted in America, 4/23) for the second or third time, I went back through the text and conducted a little test.

Faith, Features

Facing the Crisis in the Priesthood

by Donald Cozzens November 4, 2000

A generation has elapsed since the close of the Second Vatican Council, and the church has underscored the council’s extraordinary ecclesial and historical significance by beatifying, this Sept. 3, Pope John XXIII. At the same time, however, the beatification of Pope Pius IX highlighted the ti