The Vatican’s gardens are lush. Palm trees create a canopy unique to that part of the world, marble buildings punctuate the landscape, often at unexpected turns, and it is not unusual to see members of the papal staff or cardinals scurrying about, either hurrying off to a meeting or pacing in
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing near the time of Jesus, described how the Pax Romana was experienced by people, like the Celts and Jews, who had been conquered by the Romans: “They make a desolation and call it ‘peace,’” he wrote, quoting Calgacus, a besieged Caledonian
Statements that refer to “the bishops” often belie a diverse and complex reality.
Troubled StarsRe “Mother and Sister Earth” (Editorial, 7/6): A Sufi teaching instructs: “To pluck a flower is to trouble a star.” Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” presents a very comprehensive view of the human impact on earth’s community
What defense can there be, then, against the awful forces that have now been unleashed with the utter terror of the atomic bomb?
'Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism,' by Larry Siedentop