Magazine

The Denver Post reported that a few hours before he died, Jim Sunderland, S.J., asked his family and friends to put on his shoes, because I want to walk into heaven. Just like him: a flinty realism, a bit of humor and an undying faith. A Visitation sister, his friend for over 40 years, wrote, "

I seems inevitable that the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See will eventually establish formal diplomatic relations. Whether this takes months or years, both China and the Vatican have reached an understanding of their mutual interests. China, for its part, seems intent on resolving

On July 7, 2005, The New York Times published on its Op Ed page an essay by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., the archbishop of Vienna, entitled: Finding Design in Nature. In it the cardinal stated:...ever since 1996, when Pope John Paul II said that evolution (a term he did not define) was more

"Our daily Mass was at the center of all we did,” said one of the Christian activists who set out for an 11-day pilgrimage to Cuba during the Advent of 2005. It was undertaken as a prayerful protest of the treatment of prisoners held incommunicado at the Guantánamo military base. Those w

A number of years ago, I belonged to a parish that brought Communion to a local hospital each Sunday. One Sunday, as I approached one of the rooms and looked in, all I could see were white sheets covering a mound of pillows. Coming around the bed, I discovered a small, emaciated woman in a fetal pos

Brokeback Mountain received one of the most enthusiastic receptions of any film released this past year. The pony had scarcely left the barn before reviewers filled its saddlebags with potential Oscars. They seemed almost afraid to corral their enthusiasm. Why should such a competent but really quit

Who Owns What?

Forgive me if I am confused on the current question of who owns and/or controls assets of Catholic parishes. Two items in the Signs of the Times section (2/6) seem to express contrasting viewpoints on this issue.

First, Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland,