A Necessary Dialogue
The surprise and happy outcome of the papal visit to Turkey in late November might best be summarized in the pope’s own words to Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey’s department of religious affairs: “The best way forward is via authentic dialogue between Christians and Muslims, based o
A Time to Ponder
More than 40 years have passed since Nov. 21, 1964, when the bishops assembled at the Second Vatican Counil—after much argument and amid great rejoicing—approved solemnly the “Decree on Ecumenism.” Ever since, we have paused from time time to ponder, trying to assess our prog
Building Inclusive Communities
The population of the United States reached 300 million in October 2006, tripling in size in less than 100 years (in 1915 the population was 100 million). This rapid growth has been spurred over the past 30 years by the largest wave of immigrants our country has ever seen. According to the most rece
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Books, like houses, can be remodeled. The house and garden sections of city newspapers often include articles about energetic people who have transformed a rundown farmhouse in the Catskills or a cabin in the Maine woods by knocking down walls between cramped rooms, installing new lighting and build
Letters
Letters
Gospel Imperative
In her article What Counts as Help, (11/20) Maryann Cusimano Love suggests that peace cannot be achieved where widespread poverty afflicts populations in conflict over financial and natural resources. The Catholic Relief Services experience in Rwanda graphically supports her point. I read along, agreeing that war is still very much with us, that world…
Editorials
What Price Diversity?
Fifty-three years ago, the moral issue that most preoccupied the national conscience was not posed by a misbegotten war abroad but by racial discrimination against African-American school children at home. At that time, the 16 states that made up what the U.S. Bureau of the Census called the Souther
Faith in Focus
The Poet of the Return to God
It is an irony that Victorian, Anglican England produced two poetic geniuses who were neither Victorian nor Anglican. Both were quintessentially Catholic, one so avant-garde he has been called the “father of modern poetry” and the other a tardy Romantic. These blazingly gifted men are, of course, the Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins and Francis Thompson,…
Books
Lets Face It
In the past few years we have been exposed to displays of moral evil 9 11 01 and natural catastrophes the tsunami in 2004 hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 At each point the question ldquo Why rdquo occupied many of us The ldquo religious rdquo discussion too often came down to whether
Part of the Divine Plan?
Professor Bart Ehrman chair of the religious studies department at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has written a widely used introduction to the New Testament and many books about early Christianity The Learning Company runs full-page ads in The New York Times Book Review for his l
She Plants Trees
No one 8217 s life runs a straight course There are arrows and roadblocks and turns we take that influence the subsequent journey The remarkable life of the Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize is no exception In th
Film
What If…?: Children of Men
Suppose Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib are not merely momentary aberrations, but rather preludes to even stronger responses to the threat of terrorism. After all, in a very short time, we’ve become used to teams of guards in black coveralls carrying automatic rifles as they patrol our airpor
The Word
True Happiness
What is happiness Where is it to be found Who is happy These questions arise in every generation and in every culture In our early 21st-century American situation it seems that for most of us happiness consists in having money and other possessions ensuring that our material needs and desires
Columns
Repairing Bodies, Rebuilding Lives
As Congress and the President debate the merits of sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq, a very different cohort of 20,000 troops is trying to prepare for life after the war. They are the men and women who have been wounded in action in Iraqmen and women whose bodies may never be whole again, whose…
Current Comment
Current Comment
Hispanics, Immigration and the WarAbove any other concern, it was the Iraq warspecifically, the U.S. voters’ opposition to the way it was being conductedthat gave the Democrats their Congressional majorities in the November elections. Exit polls showed critical gains among political independen
News
Signs of the Times
Abbé Pierre, Helper of Poor, Dead at 94Abbé Pierre, the founder of the Emmaus Community in France, dedicated his life to fighting poverty and serving the poor, Pope Benedict XVI said. The 94-year-old priest, repeatedly voted the most respected person in France, died Jan. 22 in Paris. Informed of t
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts