| Cover
story -- Presidential Election -- Analysis |
By
Tom Roberts
A year in advance of the presidential election, as the bishops
gathered in Baltimore to hammer out their every-four-year statement on
political responsibility, the accepted political wisdom of recent years
appeared as fleeting as autumn’s colors.
Full story
| Cover
story -- Presidential Election |
Catholics urge civility in run-up to 2008 elections
By
Religion News Service
A year to the day before the 2008 presidential elections,
a group of Catholics urged civility in American politics, asking Catholic
voters and politicians to avoid dragging the church into divisive
partisanship.
Full story
Liberal theologians sway Latin America
By
John L. Allen Jr.
When President Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay arrived at the Vatican Oct. 29
for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, he planned to present the pontiff with a
multicolored poncho as a symbol of Latin America -- home to almost half the
world’s 1.1 billion Catholics and a region dubbed by Pope John Paul II as
“the continent of hope.”
Full story
Vatican studies challenges of care for the aged
By
Catholic News Service
The world’s rapidly aging population poses a whole
new set of challenges, in particular the pastoral care of elderly sick people,
Vatican officials said.
Full story
By
John L. Allen Jr.
Efforts to grapple with two defining traumas of recent American Catholic
experience, the sexual abuse crisis and political tensions between pro-lifers
and peace-and-justice advocates, took center stage at the Nov. 12-15 fall
meeting of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore.
Full story
Labor of love can be financially draining
By
Viji Sundaram
and Michael Siv
An AARP study showed serious economic consequences for caregivers in the
workforce. The most frequent fallouts caregivers experience are having to take
leaves of absence, going from full time to part time to adjust for their
responsibilities, and putting their own health at risk. According to AARP, the
productivity losses to U.S. businesses associated with caregiving are up to $33
billion a year.
Full story
By
Tom Carney
Eighteen antiwar protesters were arrested for trespassing at the
campaign offices of two presidential candidates in Des Moines on Nov. 8. Eleven
were released the same day, but seven of them spent the night in jail before
being released.
Full story
New prayer book for Reform Judaism
By
Religion News Service
Worshippers at Reform synagogues across the United States
are beginning to hold a new prayer book, or siddur, in their hands
during services. Along with a dramatically new design, worshippers will find
the words of Pete Seeger, Helen Keller and Langston Hughes.
Full story
Democrats seek funds for abortion reduction measures
By
Religion News Service
Congressional Democrats and religious leaders are touting
a new initiative to allocate more than $600 million to reduce abortion in the
United States, but critics say they’re just putting a new name on old
programs.
Full story
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Grateful for our 'big tent'
It is hard to imagine someone who is grateful also being mean-spirited,
bitter or cranky. In fact, most virtues, real and social, go well with
gratitude, because it is one of those deep, foundational dispositions that
shapes up the whole character. Cicero, the gold standard for eloquence, called
gratitude not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the
others.
Full editorial
Intelligence agency lessons
For months the Bush administration has shown continuing interest in
establishing the location of potential military strikes within Iran. As
outlandish as the possibility of another military action might seem to some,
given the tragic war in Iraq and the ongoing military presence in Afghanistan,
reasonableness and logic seem not to be hallmarks of the current powers in
Washington.
Full editorial
“I propose to make this meeting of Peter among us for the church
in America a new usefulness, a new spring and a new Pentecost.”
-- Vatican ambassador Archbishop Pietro Sambi announcing that Pope
Benedict XVI will visit the U.S. April 15-20. The trip will “revive the
urgency” of the Catholic mission in America, Sambi said.
More quotes
An inspiring tale of friendship and of peace
Full story
Young cooks make a mean 'Spider Web Soup'
Full story
By
Matthew J. Gaudet
In the minds of many Kosovars, there are worse things
than war. Today, after eight years of rebuilding, Kosovo anxiously awaits its
independence as an autonomous nation.
Full story
By
Pamela Schaeffer
On a recent trip to Florence -- our first -- my husband and I noticed a
small, intently curious crowd gathered in front of the doors on the building
behind the Duomo, the city’s major cathedral sporting Filippo
Bruneschelli’s majestic dome. So commanding is the cathedral that the much
smaller octagonal building behind it, which I later learned is called the
Baptistery, could easily be dismissed. It was the crowd that caught my eye.
Full story
Contemporary tales of New York
By
Joseph Cunneen
and Kevin Doherty
Money haunts 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead'; 'Bee Movie' hums
with jokes and gags.
Full story
|
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
The obligation to vote
Our cover story this week addresses the
upcoming presidential elections and the shifting landscape in the political
arena. Unlike the last election, where lead candidates were on opposite sides of
such issues as abortion and the gay lifestyle, today’s lead candidates are quite
similar. Last election, some Catholic bishops made those distinctions the basis
for deciding how to vote. What now as the lines get blurred?
Full story
By
Thomas C. Fox
Gratefulness.org sends its spiritual message around the Web
world.
Full story
By
Thomas C. Fox
Gratitude runs counter to the perpetual
dissatisfaction drilled into us by our consumer culture.
Full story
An interview with Br. David Steindl-Rast.
Full story
A wise and witty guide to prayer
Reviewed by
Erin Ryan
Full story
Poetry November 23, 2007
Letters for November 23, 2007
Classifieds for November 23, 2007
News Briefs for November 23, 2007
People for November 23, 2007
Last Words
A memorable quote from this
week's issue.
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