As I write these reflections during Easter Week in the year 2000, I look back over what has turned out to be an unusually dramatic Lenten season for the Catholic Church. On March 12, the first Sunday of Lent, a remarkable gesture of repentance took place in St. Peter’s Basilica, when the Church of Rome,

On February 12, 2000, Theological Studies lost one of its most valued contributors and consultants, Richard A. McCormick, S.J., who died following a paralyzing stroke. He will be profoundly missed by his many friends and colleagues. Later this year we hope to publish a tribute highlighting his rich contributions to Christian ethics. I began drafting reflections for

This fascicle of Theological Studies is the last of the 20th century and the last appearing in the second millennium. Barring Y2K mixups or Christmas mail backups, readers–at least in North America–should have their copy to study at leisure over the year-end holidays. Looking back over the last sixty years we recognize our debt to hundreds of

That theology is a useful pursuit is rarely questioned by serious minded believers. Even church agencies committed to regulating theological speculation do not question the value of theology as such, only theology perceived as too venturesome or irresponsible. Those preparing for Church ministry are expected–and rightly so–to study the science and art of theology lest

On February 27, 1999, the New York Times published a wry account regarding the sad state of academic writing in North America. Among the items reported was the fact that the journal Philosophy and Literature now holds an annual Bad Writing Contest with prizes going to the work of some top scholars. An Internet site

Editorials in quarterly journals typically are written two or three months in advance. This morning, as I sit at my computer to greet readers of the first issue from our 60th year of publication, today’s date is January 22, 1999. Pope John Paul II at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City,

The recent deaths of two outstanding theologians have caused a sense of profound loss to the Catholic community. With the entry into eternal life of Bernhard Häring and Raymond Brown, Church and academy have been notably impoverished. Their deaths have prompted in me a note of poignancy since their passing marks the end of a

Award ceremonies for achievement in the performing arts have become an annual ritual in our society. Films have Hollywood’s Academy Awards (the “Oscars”) and palmes d’or from Cannes. Stage productions, TV shows, musical recordings, have their Tonys, Emmys, and Gramophone awards. Nor is the written word neglected–from the prestigious Nobel awards, to the Pulitzer prizes, to recognitions

In preparation for the jubilee celebrations connected with the coming millennium, the Vatican has asked that in public prayers and private devotions one year be particularly devoted to each person of the Trinity. The year 1998 has been designated as the year of the Holy Spirit. In his exhortation Tertio millennio adveniente, John Paul II observed:

This semester at Marquette University a doctoral-level course is exploring “Theological Highlights of the Twentieth Century.” Professor and graduate students are surveying the last hundred years to formulate a preliminary assessment of this complex century rapidly coming to a close. These hundred years have seen harrowing wars and revolutions, human suffering on a scale beyond