A surprising number of recent books and studies have suggested that young American Catholics are more likely than their immediate elders to gravitate toward traditional devotions. The reasons seem varied. Some surmise that younger Catholics, having grown up without being forced to participate in dev
I have never felt the attachment I should to the daily prayers of the church. Their depth and meaning have rubbed off with repetition, to the point where I am stirred by them only when I say them in a foreign language. Words are tricky that way. It is very different with my favorite ritual, which is
Almost 18 years ago I sat on the terrace of a Berkeley coffee bar waiting to meet John Howard Yoder, the well-known Mennonite theologian and ethicist. I was about to leave Berkeley to join the faculty at the University of Notre Dame, where since Vietnam War days Yoder had taught a course on military
The rosary is the oldest and most popular of all private Catholic devotions, and one that has been strongly promoted by the church since the 15th century. The origin of bead circlets used to aid in prayerful meditation is lost in ancient Eastern customs—the Chinese Kwan Yin statue in my living
The Catholic Medical Association has urged U.S. bishops to screen out undesirable candidates for the priesthood, among whom they include homosexuals. According to the C.M.A., if a boy could not play sports because he was overweight or lacked hand-eye coordination, he may be in trouble. The letter su
Fresh flowers, lighted candles, live music—can this be the soup kitchen that just hours earlier had fed 400? Yes, a humble church social hall in Lower Manhattan had been transformed to a scene of celebration. The celebration in early December marked the 20th anniversary of a group named the Un
Accurate
The Rev. Andrew M. Greeley’s conclusion that The New York Times’s coverage of the sexual abuse scandal in the church constitutes virulent anti-Catholicism is irresponsible (The Times and Sexual Abuse by Priests 2/10). The Times, like most major newspapers that