When Secretary of State Colin Powell returned from the Middle East, the talking heads speculated that his mission had been a failure. They could make a plausible case. The rulers of the Arab world had refused to make any moves to assist him until the Israelis withdrew from the West Bank. Mr. Arafat,

Should Mentally retarded people be executed? That the question is even being posed shows how deeply entrenched capital punishment remains in the United States. But this is the question now under consideration by the Supreme Court. The court’s decision will determine whether executions of peopl

Sexual abuse by priests has done untold harm to innocent children and adolescents who were physically, psychologically and spiritually damaged by people they should have been able to trust and respect. Outrage at these crimes has been directed not only at the perpetrators but also at those church of

The mood this easter in the American church is particularly solemn. The penitential season of Lent and the six-month anniversary of the attack on our country have combined with almost daily revelations of clerical misconduct to create a most somber tone. Despite all the scandal and muckraking, the l

During the Easter triduum this year, homilists will find themselves, sadly, with a great deal of contemporary material that echoes the story of Good Friday. The events of Sept. 11, the continuing war in Afghanistan, the conflict in the Middle East, the turmoil in places like Nigeria and Pakistan, as

In this issue, America deals with a crisis that is causing enormous pain and great scandal in the churchsexual abuse by priests. These crimesthere is no other word for themhave physically, psychologically and spiritually damaged hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children and their families. They have