Opening Doors
One afternoon in the late 1940’s, the eighth-grade classroom in Our Lady of Lourdes elementary school in Brooklyn was disrupted by the entrance of five or six boys from the local public school. They were part of a released time program that allowed public school children to attend religion cla
Interreligious Dialogue for Peace
In the Philippines, we have a Muslim minority living together with a Christian majority. One Indonesian bishop explained his country’s situation to me in this way: “The manner in which you majority Christians deal with the minority Muslims in the Philippines will be the way the majority
A Wellstone Pro-Lifer?
Reactions to my Ethics Notebook column on leaving the Democratic Party to become an Independent reminded me how volatile discussions can become when they meld the world of politics with the moral life. I’ve received some strong comments from both wings of the spectrum. How could you ever have
It’s Not Just Priests
As a Catholic and a retired journalist, I feel shame when I read about the latest sex scandal involving my church. I am also ashamed of my former profession. I spent 40 years as a reporter and editor with wire services, a career that encompassed newspapers, radio and television. I don’t plan t
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
The name Kateri Tekakwitha may not strike chords of recognition in the minds of many readers, nor did it in mine until I made a retreat this past summer at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, N.Y. The shrine is dedicated primarily to eight French Jesuits who came to evangelize w
Letters
Letters
Protecting
I commend you on the most timely and relevant editorial on domestic violence (11/18). My experience is that one of the best-kept secrets in the Catholic Church is the bishops’ document When I Called for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women. Very few pastors talk about this issue from the pulpit. Often…
Editorials
Haitians at Dives’s Door
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
Faith in Focus
What Power? Whose Glory?
Is he your father? The woman smiled benevolently as I coaxed Father Don to take another spoonful of puréed meatloaf. With his huge bony frame randomly folded and tucked into the wheelchair and his head supported by a neck pillow, Father gave no indication he had either heard or understood the quest
Books
Democracy Meets Doctrine
Jay P Dolan professor emeritus of history at the University of Notre Dame and founding director of the Cushwa Center there sets out in his new book to examine the interaction of American culture with Roman Catholicism ldquo in the land of the free rdquo under the heading of a ldquo search for
Holy Collaborators?
I cannot identify any constructive role for this new book by Daniel Goldhagen currently an affiliate of the Minda Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University Unlike his previous book Hitler rsquo s Willing Executioners whichfor all its problemswas based on original research into a
Poetry
Night Thoughts
It is our emptiness and lowliness that God needs, and not our plenitude. –Mother Teresa
Somehow by day, no matter what,
The Word
Do You Hear Voices?
The wilderness which can seduce us with its beauty and its majesty has many faces In one part of the country its dense forests and lush vegetation fill up our senses In another its stark barrenness purges us of affectation while its grandeur takes away our breath It is a place of wonder and e
Chosen to Be Holy
The readings for the feast of the Immaculate Conception are rich in meaning but frequently misunderstood when viewed through the lens of the feast itself First contrary to some artistic depictions of the Immaculate Conception the Genesis account states that it is the woman rsquo s offspring rath
News
Signs of the Times
Vatican Official Says New Norms Give Greater ProtectionsFar from weakening the church’s ability to protect children, the revisions to the U.S. bishops’ norms on sexual abuse establish a rigorous procedure for dealing with offending priests and highlight the gravity of such crimes, the Va
Portfolio
Suffering Tenderness
Some images are so powerful that, if we take time for them, they can alter our lives. The spirit hovering over the waters, the Lord who is our shepherd, the mountain on which every tear will be wiped away are such images, given us by the Jewish people and still nourishing us centuries later. Others
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Culture
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Podcasts