The death and election of a pope are naturally global events, of interest far beyond the Catholic Church itself. But the death of Pope John Paul II was a global event also in the sense that the whole world was able to watch it unfold as it happened. Not only was the pope's death historic because of the stature of the man himself, but also because this first “media pope” was the first to die in our new 24/7 media environment of cable news and the Internet.

The sheer demand for news dominated the Roman skyline and streetscape for all of April, as makeshift studios were created to accommodate the thousands of journalists in town. And as one would expect in the marketplace of commentary, an equally vast supply of pundits appeared...

Where did Pope John Paul II stand on economic issues? The same place he stood on all other issues involving the well-being of the human person. He favored the rights and dignity of all people, freedom to work and to create, an environment of security that permits the flourishing of faith. He had faith in freedom and no love for the grand secular state. Thus did this pope understand that human dignity implies non-socialist political and economic structures, which are commonly known as the business economy.

He was a fierce critic of socialism and worked to bring about its end in Eastern Europe. He saw the merit of the institutional arrangements commonly called capitalistic: protection of private property, the freedom of trade, the enforcement of contract, the right of economic initiative, and the social merit of a growing economy essential to...

Frederick Douglass was born in February 1818, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. When he was eight-years-old, Douglass was sent to Baltimore to live as a houseboy with some relatives of his master. Shortly after his arrival his new mistress taught him the alphabet. Her husband forbade her to continue this instruction, but Douglass was undeterred. He gave away his food in exchange for lessons in reading and writing from the neighborhood boys. At about the age of twelve or thirteen, Douglass purchased a copy of a popular schoolbook and gained an understanding of the power of the spoken and the written word. He saw their potential to bring about permanent...

Tom and James are long-time friends who are in their late 20's. They went to college together and settled in the same city after graduation. They have both been working in the same part of the city for the past few years. Their wives are good friends and they get together as couples periodically. Tom works for one of the major international accounting firms, in their consulting division, helping companies set up and maintain internal financial control systems. He is on a partnership track and his work has been well received by the office's partners. He enjoys his work generally, finds it challenging and stimulating, though the long hours do get to him sometimes. He often wonders how he will handle the hours now that he and his wife have a young family. He sometimes thinks about starting his own business, thinking that might give him more flexibility with his hours....

There has been a revival in interest in the role that private charity can play in the revitalization of civil society. This renewed interest is partly driven by an overwhelming sense that most of us have, regardless of political and ideological interests, that the modern welfare state has produced less-than-impressive results. But if we are really entering the post-statist age in which the welfare state is going to continue to disintegrate bit by bit, where do we go from here? A good start would be to build on and extend the sense of responsibility that individuals and families still have to create a viable civic culture.

This is obviously easier said than done. Some concrete steps that could take us very far in the right direction, though, relate directly to the mission of churches in the practice of authentic social work. I am not suggesting...

Os Guinness, speaker of international renown, was born in China, educated in England, graduated from Oxford University, and authored several books, one of the most recent being a brief but lucid and powerful meditation on the crisis of truth in our contemporary Western world. The book is entitled Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype, & Spin (Baker Books, 2000). Guinness' central thesis is that “truth matters supremely because in the end, without truth there is no freedom . . . not only for individuals who would live a good life but for free societies that would remain free.” Indeed, “truth . . . is freedom,” Guinness adds, “and the only way to a free life lies in becoming a person of truth and learning to live in truth.” Nowadays the belief in objective truth is dead, argues Guinness. Truth is historically, culturally, or individually...

Recently, I asked the following on a quiz in introductory American History: “What did Winthrop mean when he said that the Puritans would build a ”city on a hill“ in New England?” One student replied: “They would build a better city up away from floods and problems.” This remarkably literal answer demonstrates the continuing cultural and spiritual decline so many have eloquently cri-tiqued in the United States. The supposedly “value-free” education offered by the state is anything but morally neutral;² it excludes values, faith, even figures of speech. The following argues for a counterattack at a point that may surprise many conservatives: the standardized tests increasingly pushed by both state and federal government as measurements (and guarantors) of “accountability” for both teachers and students.

The mess we are in has been...