The National Catholic Review

Opinion

  • October 20, 2014

    Last month a blue wall sprang up in Berlin.

  • October 20, 2014

    The house arrest of the former nuncio, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, on Sept. 23, sent tremors through the ecclesiastical establishment in the Vatican and worldwide.

    Never before in the history of the Vatican City State had a senior archbishop been arrested for the sexual abuse of minors and possession of a considerable quantity of pornographic material involving minors. The Vatican could arrest him because he was a Holy See...

  • October 20, 2014

    Father Arrupe’s Return

    “The ship of the Society has been tossed around by the waves, and there is nothing surprising in this,” said Pope Francis during a Vespers service in Rome on Sept. 27 that marked the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus in 1814, after its suppression by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. The pope urged his brother Jesuits: “Row then! Row, be strong, even against a headwind!...

  • October 20, 2014

    You may not know that in addition to our entanglements in the Middle East and elsewhere, the United States is currently prosecuting a land war in Britain. For more than five decades now, Britain’s native red squirrel has been locked in mortal combat with his cousin from across the pond, the American grey squirrel. Every autumn, the British press files reports from the various theaters of operation.

  • October 20, 2014

    As many as 300,000 people marched in New York on Sept. 21 to call for the United Nations to take action on climate change—four times the number that organizers predicted. In the interfaith bloc, behind a wooden ark on wheels and a giant inflatable mosque, I marched and sang with nuns and seminarians, friends and strangers, sharing our love for the planet we all have in common.

  • October 20, 2014

    Earlier this year the Minnesota Catholic Conference entered into an unusual partnership. As the state legislature considered two bills that would have legalized commercial surrogacy, Catholic leaders worked together with Kathleen Sloan, an executive board member of the National Organization of Women, to lobby against the measures. The proposed laws, which would have granted judges the authority to adjudicate surrogacy contracts, were ultimately defeated...

  • October 13, 2014

    Pope Francis has a highly original approach to problems in the diplomatic field. This has emerged clearly in public on at least two separate occasions over the past six months; first in relation to Israel and Palestine and, more recently, in relation to China.

    In this week’s Vatican Dispatch I want to take a first look at Francis’ originality, as I think it may help us understand a little better how he operates in other fields...

  • October 13, 2014

    Last month, after a long and meticulously planned journey from a shrine in Padua, Italy, to Springfield, Mass., a relic of St. Anthony arrived at the aptly named St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church there. My mother proclaimed this news to me with excitement, knowing that Anthony is my favorite saint and the inspiration for my confirmation name. I shared her excitement, but a part of me also was skeptical. How many others felt the same? Would people really...

  • October 13, 2014

    On the morning of May 25, 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz left his Manhattan apartment to catch the school bus and was never seen again. The case was cold for decades, until a suspect came forward last year and confessed to the crime. A trial is set to begin this January, though the authorities are still evaluating the credibility of the suspect’s confession, as well as his mental capacity.

  • October 13, 2014

    In confronting the quandary of Iraq and Syria, President Obama is tasked with choosing the least worst among a number of awful policy options. The “new” strategy President Obama described in a speech on Sept. 10 and put into action a few weeks later appears painfully similar to the failed policies of the recent past. For over three decades, four presidents have tried to bomb this complex and troubled region into submission.