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Sisters Today
Several journalists have recently weighed in on the status of women’s religious life in recent years: Ann Carey’s Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women’s Religious Life (1997); John Fialka’s Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America (2003); Cheryl L. Reed&r
Realistic Politics
The more thoroughly you lay waste a nationlevel its cities, slaughter its people, its noncombatant peoplethe more conclusive your victory will be.... If you want to turn a psychotic aggressor nation into a well-mannered commercial oneif you want to beat swords into plowshares, and infantry training manuals into business cardsyour best bet is to go for high levels of national destruction.

John Derbyshire, They the People

News
Signs of the Times
Capuchins Elect Mountain Climber to Head OrderRepresentatives of the Capuchins overwhelmingly elected the Swiss provincial superior, Mauro Johri, to head the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin for the next six years. The 59-year-old friar replaces John Corriveau, O.F.M.Cap., a Canadian, who is leaving a
Editorials
Politics and Terror
As the nation prepares to observe the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, national security is poised to become once again the central issue in the electoral season. The question is hardly academic, given the revelation in August of a foiled terrorist plot to blow up Americ
Film
Films That Move and Provoke
March of the Penguins quietly took mainstream America by storm last year with its surprisingly dramatic story of emperor penguins in Antarctica. The documentary film was both a critical and a box-office success, winning an Academy Award and grossing $122.6 million worldwide. Several other documentar
News
Signs of the Times
Knights’ Relief Quick and Generous The $10 million raised by the Knights of Columbus for hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast represents the largest disaster relief effort in the organization’s 124-year history, reported Patrick Korten, vice president for communications. Almost before the
Editorials
Truth From Surprising Places
The recent letter from Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President George W. Bush raises an important question: Does an interlocutor have to have clean hands in order for his or her words to be worthy of consideration? The actions of Iran’s leader certainly give the world much caus
Letters
Letters

Take to Heart

In The Moment, the Message, the Messenger (4/24), Tom Fox has issued a timely and eloquent plea for our collective commitment to convey the treasure of Catholic social teaching to our country. I share his conviction that our teaching can effect profound social change. At Catholic Relief Services, our re-examination and reflection on the church’s social teaching over the last decade has fueled an institutional transformation. We moved from being an agency that primarily engages in relief and development to one that also promotes justice, human dignity and global solidarity through all of our programs.

In that spirit, and at the risk of ruining a good Catholic construct of seven points, I would like humbly to propose an addition to Mr. Fox’s list of suggestions not only for better communicating the church’s social teaching but also for helping Catholics to live it. We must foster a sense of solidaritywith God, with all of humanity and with creation.

Solidaritythe conviction that we are responsible for and connected to one another, especially those who are poor and marginalizedcalls us to cherish and uphold the sacredness and dignity of every person, commit to and practice peace, justice and reconciliation, and celebrate and protect the integrity of all creation. At C.R.S. we believe that global solidaritystanding with our brothers and sisters overseaswill transform the world.

There are many ways for Catholics to practice global solidarity, such as making just economic choices by buying fair trade products, participating in a partnership with a parish or diocese overseas, advocating for just and transparent government policies or supporting missionary or relief efforts overseas. Catholic Relief Services provides these opportunities and more, to help Catholics put their faith into action on an international scale.

Both the Gospel and Catholic social teaching compel us to live as one human family by respecting the dignity of every human person, loving our neighbors as ourselves and promoting more just and peaceful societies. In other words, we are called to live in global solidarity. It is a message we all must hear and take to heart.

Joan Neal

Film
Falling Down, Falling Down: United 93
Plastic chairs and paper cups, laptops and cell phones: the depersonalizing symbols of air travel. Baseball hats and tee-shirts. Boarding passes spit out of machines at the beckoning of a credit card. The herding into lines by airport and airline personnel clearly bored with their jobs and annoyed b
News
Signs of the Times
Chicago Reports Criticize Handling of AbuseThe Archdiocese of Chicago released on March 20 two reports highly critical of its handling of sexual abuse by clerics. One report focuses on the handling of the cases of priests who were monitored but not immediately removed from ministry after abuse alleg