While waiting for some dramatic theme to come out of the new papacy, many commentators have missed the soft, gentle, but sure voice of Benedict XVI developing a common thread through his presentations in which he proclaims a new vision-a vision that is not really new, but so old it looks like new (cf. Peter… continue reading
House of Representatives Immigration Bill H.R. 4437 Would Destroy People, Families, and the Economy: Write To Your Congress People
February 1, 2006 by
If the new bill passed by the House of Representatives, H. R. 4437, the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, becomes law, it would do violence to immigrants and their families, making them criminals for living in the United States. It would also make criminals out of anyone who helps immigrants…. continue reading
Helping the Poor, the Immigrant, the Injured May Be Considered Treason (According to House Bill H. R. 4437)
February 1, 2006 by
We had just returned from visiting our sick men’s houses, where many of our guests live who are greatly disabled and rejected by our society, to read in the Houston Chronicle 12/17/05 that the House of Representatives (not the Senate) had passed a bill that would declare all of these men common criminals and subject… continue reading
Benedict XVI, The Peace Pope
January 1, 2006 by
When, upon his election as Pope in April 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger took the name Benedict XVI, it was hard to ignore the cheering of many influential conservative Catholics. The name, obviously, honored St. Benedict of Nursia—the man who founded European monasticism and sparked Europe’s recovery from barbarism after the collapse of the Roman Empire…. continue reading
A Theory of Personalism (New York: Lexington Books, 2005, by Thomas and Rosita Rourke
December 1, 2005 by
It is refreshing to read a text that engages the political, socio-economic world from the standpoint of Catholic spiritual-ity yet does not focus exclusively on the issues of abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, and homosexuality, nor strives to wed faith with free market economics. Like a brisk wind, Thomas and Rosita Chazarreta Rourke’s A Theory of Personalism… continue reading
The Magi Changed Ideas of Power: Kneeling Before the Child of Poor People, They Discovered God
December 1, 2005 by
In our pilgrimage with the mysterious Magi from the East, we have arrived at the moment which Saint Matthew describes in his Gospel with these words: “Going into the house (over which the star had halted), they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him” (Mt 2:11). Outwardly, their… continue reading
Devastating Effects of CAFTA: Killing Protestors is Not Democracy
December 1, 2005 by
Monseñor Álvaro Ramazzini is the bishop of San Marcos, Guatemala, and President of the Bishops’ Secretariat of Central America and Panama. He collaborated with Mark and Louise Zwick in founding centers for displaced immigrants and refugees in Guatemala. The recent passage of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by the U.S. Congress is a… continue reading
A Question for Catholics: Is “St.” Dorothy Day a Uniter or Divider? Review of the Zwicks’ The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins
October 27, 2005 by
Thirty years ago, if I were asked if Dorothy Day, a co-founder of the Catholic Worker newspaper and hospitality houses, was a saint, I would have responded, most likely, “she’s a communist and a traitor.” Twenty years ago, if I were asked the same question, I would have answered, hopefully, a little more humbly, “I… continue reading
The Drawbacks of Pure Secular Reason, especially in the midst of Hurricane Katrina
October 1, 2005 by
As we were trying to write this article about putting flesh on the Gospel in the world, we were constantly interrupted by telephone calls from desperate people, a weeping, battered woman with a battered upbringing, Spanish-speaking immigrants arriving from New Orleans and Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina seeking shelter, and one person after another with serious… continue reading
The MinuteMen are Coming to Houston – Another Violence for Immigrants to Face
October 1, 2005 by
They’re coming with guns. The Minute Men are coming to the corners of Casa Juan Diego armed to the teeth to confront the immigrants who come to earn money to support their children-something we never knew was treasonous. Violence, however, is not new to immigrants. The moment they hopped on a train to come North,… continue reading
