Magazine

Henry James named one of his novels Washington Square, after a formerly fashionable area in Lower Manhattan known for its handsome row of mid-19th century houses on the square’s north side. Most of the houses are now owned by New York University, but one belongs to the Sisters of Charity. It i

My dad was a gambler. One of my earliest memories is seeing him checking the racing results in the newspaper and circling likely prospects for the next day’s betting. My father’s habit wouldn’t have been a problem had we been a rich family, but we weren’t. When he and my mom

Just War

I want to thank you for the very insightful article by John Langan, S.J., about whether or not we should invade Iraq (9/9). But I wish to offer some points for you to consider. First, the use of the term vigilante justice seems to be an oxymoron, based on the question

It was all very different a year ago. Holy Cross Roman Catholic Girls primary school in north Belfast made headlines in all the newspapers and on television and radio stations throughout the world. Day after day, crying small childrensome as young as four years of ageaccompanied by their parents, ha

One major fallout of the current crisis of leadership in the Catholic Church is the scapegoating of homosexual priests and seminarians. One bishop was quoted as saying that his “unscientific conclusion is that most sexual abuse by priests is against adolescent boys and therefore is rooted in s

Debbie Lannaman and her 8-year-old daughter, Chelsea, live in Harlem, a legendary New York City neighborhood with 10 public elementary schools. To each of these schools Ms. Lannaman gives an F. The failures in these cases are not the fault of the teachers, who are front-line troops doing the best th

Every bishop possesses the sacred duty of discerning the suitability of candidates for holy orders. St. Paul’s advice to Timothy is fitting for all bishops, especially today: “Do not lay hands too readily on anyone” (1 Tim. 5: 22). The church’s life and the way it manifests i