Journalism can be a difficult and tricky trade for those whose heads are on straight and whose hearts are in the right places It is hard to get past the people those looking for decent housing the immigrants who seem to hold so much of the rest of this country up on their brave and persevering sho

A former Algerian army officer named Mohamed Moulessehoul writing under the pseudonym Yasmina Khadra paints a graphic picture of Afghanistan and Kabul under Taliban rule that is as troubling as it is unforgettable His evocative prose describes a once proud city brought to its knees by Islamic fund

A few years ago when Paul Wilkes wrote Excellent Catholic Parishes The Guide to Best Places and Practices and later when he penned Excellent Protestant Congregations he was not primarily interested in theory trends or statistics Rather he observed the approaches and programs in several hundr

American Catholics and Civic Engagement is the first of two volumes published by American Catholics in the Public Square a three-year project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts Peter Steinfels rsquo introduction sketches the historical background behind the ongoing struggle of Roman Catholics to

It is difficult to imagine two books about the same subject more dissimilar than these Randall Sullivan rsquo s The Miracle Detective is a drawn-out tour de force rivaling The Da Vinci Code in length digressions and clues that ultimately don rsquo t go anywhere Lisa Schwebel rsquo s Apparitions

It is no great secret that the Catholic liturgy in the United States underwent significant changes in the 1960 rsquo s and 1970 rsquo s First came the switch to the vernacular and the repositioning of the priest at the altar Other changes soon followed Traditional Catholic hymns were dismissed in