The Realism of the Incarnation, and Our Present Circumstances
The Gospel reading for the vigil Mass of Christmas Eve is the genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew: a terror to priests and deacons with poor Hebrew pronunciation and a
Giving Thanks for America
The vagaries of scheduling put me in Europe for the week before the November 4 election. In conversations in both Rome and Cracow, I was struck by the frequency with
The Two Americas
By the dawn’s early light on Nov. 5, two distinct Americas hove into view. The two Americas are not defined by conventional economic, ethnic or religious categories; it’s not rich
Praying for Those to Be Elected
There will be much to ponder, once this interminable electoral cycle comes to an end. Why has so much of the campaign seemed like a prolonged episode of “American Idol,”
CAMPAIGN 2008: Electing Our King
During the debate over ratification of the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton and his Federalists argued for “energy in the executive” — a strong president who would set the national agenda and
CAMPAIGN 2008: Life in These United States
According to the conventional wisdom, American elections are usually determined by pocketbook economic issues. This may give too little credit to the American people’s concern for how a superpower exercises
Flawed Thinking
I want to offer a response to Nicholas Cafardi, M. Cathleen Kaveny, and Douglas Kmiec’s “A Catholic Brief for Obama“–which was itself a response to my essay on the subject.
Pro-Life Catholics For Obama
In an election cycle filled with its share of quirks, oddities, and surprises, the emergence of Roman Catholic pro-lifers as leading supporters of Sen. Barack Obama–himself a favorite of the
Sectarian’ issues? Not quite.
Catholics feel so at home in the United States that they can joke about the times when their faith was a severe impediment to high national office. After Al Smith’s
CAMPAIGN 2008: Iraq and the War Against Jihadism
No matter who is elected president, American forces will remain in Iraq for a considerable period of time. The serious points at issue have to do with troop numbers, deployments,
Dangling Conversations
Between “gotcha” questions and the ubiquitous gaffe-watch, there hasn’t been much serious moral debate in the endgame of this presidential campaign. In fact, there hasn’t been a serious exploration of
CAMPAIGN 2008: Marriage, Civility, Persecution
In Spain, today, Juan can walk into a civil registry office, present a letter from his physician stating that a change of gender is required for his mental health, and,
