Except for the severest of unbelievers, it is rare to find a person who does not relish a tale of spiritual transformation, an account of the soul’s progress from winter to spring. A favorite of mine from this genre involves Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, who is now doing Read more
They grew up in the Siberian gulag, travelled thousands of miles in harrowing drudgery across Russia to Persia, then sailed half way around the world to be greeted by thousands of smiling Kiwis. Today their odyssey was remembered on Wellington’s waterfront as surviving Polish refugee children gathered for a wreath-laying with Polish foreign affairs minister Read more
When Grace L. Fabian forgave the man who murdered her husband, she was simply following her faith. She and her husband arrived in Papua New Guinea on the Fourth of July 1969 to work with Wycliff Bible Translators, producing literacy materials and translating the New Testament. They had four children, all born in Papua New Read more
German historian Götz Aly is an expert on euthanasia during the Nazi era. In a SPIEGEL interview, he discusses why many accepted the murder of the handicapped and mentally ill, and how his own daughter has shaped his views on how the disabled should be treated today. Some 200,000 people who were mentally ill or Read more
In Honiara, where much of the fighting occurred during the “Tensions” which brought the Solomon Islands to political and economic collapse a decade ago, people now go about their daily lives with freedom and security. As the country enters a new phase with the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) withdrawing military personnel Read more
“This brings me great joy,” said Chris Montesano, a long-time California farmer, with tears in his eyes. He beamed as he looked upon a room full of Catholic Worker farmers who had traveled from across the country for a recent gathering in Dubuque, Iowa. “We are at a historic moment in our movement’s history,” Montesano Read more
Allen Ottaro, 28, lives in Nairobi, Kenya. A parishioner at St. Paul’s Catholic University Chapel in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, he studied Environmental Planning and Management at Kenyatta University. Mr. Ottaro is the national coordinator of MAGiS Kenya, an Ignatian young adult ministry, and has worked with the African Jesuit AIDS Network. He is also a cofounder Read more
In one of the last acts of his pontificate, Benedict XVI gave an address to the clergy of the Diocese of Rome on the Second Vatican Council. In the address he drew a distinction between what he termed the Virtual Council, or Council of the Media, and the Real Council or Council of those who actually produced Read more
Available today on bookshelves everywhere, of both the physical and virtual sort, is Image Books’ English translation of On Heaven and Earth, a dialogue between Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Pope Francis, published while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. In a word, it’s well worth the read. The book first appeared in Read more
Fifty years ago this week, the great American preacher, Martin Luther King Jr, published a letter explaining his stand on civil disobedience. He was in jail at the time after being arrested for breaking Alabama’s law against mass public demonstrations. Some white clergymen had criticised him for leading illegal marches against segregation – a charge Read more