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story -- China & India |
By
John L. Allen Jr.
A butterfly in China beats its wings, in the classic illustration of how
small events can trigger big ones, and rain falls around the world. In Asia
today, however, forces far more powerful than the wings of a butterfly are
pounding out the future, and it doesn’t require the intricacies of chaos
theory to predict choppy weather for global Catholicism as a result.
Full story
Catholicism: stagnant in China, troubled in India
By
John L. Allen Jr.
Spirituality is flourishing in today’s China, despite strong
controls from an officially atheistic state. Pentecostal Christianity, Islam
and even revamped forms of Taoist thought are growing like gangbusters. For
example, a slim volume called Notes on Reading the Analects -- a sort of
Confucian Chicken Soup for the Soul -- sold between 3 and 4 million
copies in 2007, making it one of the biggest best-sellers in China since
Mao’s “Little Red Book.”
Full story
By
Andrés Tapia
The stoplight turns red, and Osvaldo springs into action. With two
mallets in each hand, he positions himself in front of the morning commuters in
cars, buses and motorbikes and begins to juggle. The intersection is his stage,
the Andes mountains his backdrop.
Full story
Fisherwomen question tourism's 'magic'
By
Inter Press Service
Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney described
his 2002 tour of Kerala, a state in southern India, in one word --
“magical.” For thousands who throng the state’s green villages,
picturesque backwaters and beaches, the experience is no less than a
“Magical Mystery Tour.” But local fisherwomen say it means new and
harsh realities for them.
Full story
Australian bishops warn against joining U.S. in preemptive strike
By
Catholic News Service
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference
said it did not believe the war in Iraq is justified and warned against
participating in another preemptive strike with the United States.
Full story
By
Claire Schaeffer-Duffy
Nobel laureate's comments on Israeli occupation are at heart of St.
Thomas brouhaha.
Full story
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Peace takes hard work and risk
Peacemaking, as a word and an activity, suffers a fate similar to love.
It has been dulled by overuse and drained of power by sentimentality and low
expectations. We pray for peace, we sing about it, we may even occasionally march in
protest for the cause of it, but we rarely really expect it to happen.
Full editorial
Tutu, Israel and open debate
We take the word of Fr. Dennis Dease, president of the University of St.
Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., that he had good intentions -- sparing the Jewish
community unnecessary pain -- when he decided to ban Nobel Peace Prize winner
and untiring champion of nonviolence, Episcopal Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from
speaking on campus.
Full editorial
“There is a significantly reduced number of monks on the
streets. Where are the monks? What has happened to them?”
-- Shari Villarosa, acting U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar, formerly known as
Burma, where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Buddhist monks have been arrested
to quell antigovernment protests
More quotes
The sisters, the workers and the union
Full story
Proposed Mideast arms package a dangerous deal
Full story
By
Susan C. Thomson
Call him Charlie. Everyone else does. With cropped gray hair and an
intense gaze, Dominican Fr. Charles E. Bouchard, 56, arrives for an interview
looking corporate-casual in a pressed blue plaid sports shirt. Only for a photo
later does he express a preference for donning the habit that marks him as a
member of the Order of Preachers.
Full story
By
Jeff Biggers
Highlander Folk School celebrates 75th anniversary.
Full story
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Revered elders owed respect
You will read in this issue of NCR a story about the
controversial decision by the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., to
keep Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu from speaking on its campus.
That decision was reconsidered, and kudos must go to the leadership of the
university for having the courage to listen to the collective wisdom of the
community and acknowledge the unfortunate mistake. I speak as a former college
president and I know from experience the balancing act educational leaders face
in guarding the ideals and public face of their institutions. It’s not
easy.
Full story
Starting Point
By
Carolyn Lawrence
We were told that the leaves were past their peak. We went to see them
anyway. We figured there would still be enough color to make it worthwhile. We
piled into the car and headed for New England.
Full story
Some of our readers wrote to tell us what “sentimentality”
means to them.
Full story
By
Dick Staub
On the Road and 'Into the Wild' depict two adventurers seeking to set
their souls free.
Full story
A Guatemalan whodunit
Reviewed by
Paul Jeffrey
Full review
Poetry October 19, 2007
Letters for October 19, 2007
Classifieds for October 19, 2007
News Briefs for October 19, 2007
People for October 19, 2007
Last Words
A memorable quote from this
week's issue.
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