"Never get married or start a journey on Tuesday the 13th, goes a popular Latin American saying. Ignoring this superstition, I returned to the United States after celebrating the 2004 New Year’s festivities in my beloved native land of El Salvador. I was a little anxious about the recentl
The wrenching story of Terri Schiavo is by now well known. She is 39 years old and has been in a persistent vegetative state (P.V.S.) for 13 years because of brain damage brought on by a heart attack. There has been fierce conflict among her husband, her parents, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and man
Bishops across the country have spoken publicly about the movie The Passion of the Christ, warning that whatever one thinks of the movie, Catholics should not leave the film believing that all Jews, then or now, are guilty of the death of Jesus. Catholics, say the bishops, also need to bear in mind
If we think of Sunday Mass as a sacred drama with two or three acts, several scenes, numerous props and a cast composed of presider, deacon, assembly, servers, lectors, eucharistic ministers, hospitality ministers and a choir, it is easy to see the reason for the rise and spread of parish liturgy co
Despite extensive media coverage, one question about Mel Gibson’s latest movie, The Passion of the Christ, that has received little attention in the secular media is how well the film coheres with Catholic teaching on biblical interpretation and on the presentation of Jews and Judaism. In rend
In anticipation of moving to Argentina, I asked people about access to the Internet. The response was the same: Computers are everywhere. Every city block in Buenos Aires has at least one locutorio, a place with public telephones and computers, and many of these have close to 100 computers. I live i
Institutional cultures are notoriously hard to change, whether the institution is a corporation, a university or a not-for-profit organization. Those who are comfortable with unquestioned assumptions and accustomed ways of doing things are not likely to recognize the need for change, even when the i