| Cover
story -- Spirituality |
By
John L. Allen Jr.
History always cuts deeper than headlines, a point that clearly
applies to recent Vatican moves to dust off the old Latin Mass and to declare
Catholicism the one true church. Beneath the upheaval triggered by those
decisions lies a profound shift in the church’s geological plates, and
perhaps the best way of describing the resulting earthquake is as the triumph
of evangelical Catholicism.
Full story
Liberal Catholicism endures in pastoral church
By
John L. Allen Jr.
Evangelical Catholicism may be running the table in terms of official
policy, but most experts say that rumors of the death of liberal Catholicism
have been greatly exaggerated.
Full story
By
Trevor Snapp
Inside the concrete community center in Blue Hills, Haiti, mothers line
up in the sweltering tropical heat, cradling infants dressed in their Sunday
best. Older children yell and play in the doors of the building, while the
sounds of a soccer game echo from the community’s only television set. The
children range in age from a few months to 2 years and share the same telltale
sign of malnutrition -- wiry orange hair that sticks out of their dry
scalps.
Full story
By
Dennis Coday
Something is astir in the American Catholic church that has the potential to be
significant. Lay Catholics are getting together to plan how to make the church
more engaging and to live up to its potential. They are not meeting in protest,
but in conversation. They call their gatherings “lay synods.”
Full story
The rights and duties of the laity
By
Dennis Coday
Canon law never explicitly addressed the laity until it was revised in
1983, which is why Sr. Kate Kuenstler, a canon lawyer, calls the revised code
“the final document of Vatican Council II.”
Full story
By
Jason Berry
and Erin Ryan
New Orleanians' stories show what was lost, what they fight to
save.
Full story
Small groups said to personalize a church too large for relationships
By
Emilie Lemmons
Believing that small, intentional communities have
the power to revitalize the life of the larger church, about 275 people from 25
states and 13 countries spent four days here exploring ways to promote small
Christian communities within the church and help them have a broader
impact.
Full story
|
Holy conversation
Divisions among laity, and between laity and clergy, have seemingly
become indelible characteristics of the post-Vatican II era. Perhaps this is
understandable as people accept change differently, with varied speeds and
emotional reactions. This is especially the case when it comes to matters as
personal as spirit, faith and church.
Full editorial
“Martin loved jokes. He said, ‘If a preacher can’t tell a
joke, don’t fool with him ’cause he can’t preach either.’
”
-- The Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles, pastor of Monumental Baptist Church in
Memphis, Tenn., who spent the last hour of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.’s life with the civil rights leader
More quotes
Barry Bonds is just like the rest of us
Full story
The grim eloquence of charred corpses
Full story
By
Jerry Lembcke
U.S. troops today are older -- and more responsible -- than Americans
like to think.
Full story
By
Clarence Thomson
Truth lies not in what we say but how we see.
Full story
By
Melissa McNally
Through the work Catholic Charities’ refugee resettlement and human
trafficking programs in the Newark archdiocese, a former trafficking victim was
reunited with her 9-year-old son July 26 at Newark Liberty International
Airport after more than four years of forced separation.
Full story
Most unaware of bishops' responses to clergy sex abuse
By
NCR Staff
Only 17 percent of adult Catholics say they are aware of actions their
local diocese has taken to prevent the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic
clergy, according to a report in the latest issue of the newsletter of the
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
Full story
|
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Imagining what might be
Heuristics, the art of problem solving, is a field that has captivated
my imagination for many years as a means for addressing complex issues. For
instance, if you can find a situation analogous to your own, then understanding
one may provide clarification for the other. Heuristics is full of such
methodologies for making sense of the world around us.
Full story
Starting Point
By
Christina Zaker
We have a new puppy and new puppies bring chaos. To stem the chaos a
little, we added a baby gate to confine her to the back porch. While this is
temporary -- just until she is housebroken and abandons her taste for shoes --
it is still a hurdle for some in the family. My 3-year-old was on the back
porch when she had to go to the bathroom.
Full story
Beat the summer doldrums
By
Joseph Cunneen
and Kevin Doherty
'The Simpsons Movie' and 'My Best Friend' provide plenty of
laughs.
Full story
Early on the U.S. religious scene
Reviewed by
Darrell Turner
The most prolific correspondent for Catholic News Service in the late
20th century -- and perhaps the only full-time freelance religion writer in New
York at the time -- was a Texas-born Southern Baptist minister.
Full review
Poetry August 31, 2007
Letters for August 31, 2007
Classifieds for August 31, 2007
News Briefs for August 31, 2007
People for August 31, 2007
Last Words
A memorable quote from this
week's issue.
|
