JAMES FREDERICK DEROUIN
A little man with a big heart. In his high school class of 100 (50 being boys) eleven of them were named James. To lessen confusion they decided to call each other by their middle names. That is how Jim/Fred got to be known as Jim to some people while others only knew him as Fred.
Jim/Fred was the original owner of the Only Shoe Repair on North Broadway, known for its excellent workmanship and the tree out front with brightly painted shoes hanging from the branches. He took pride in his work and won several national shoe repair competitions.
New Film Explores Life Of Key Figure In Catholic-Jewish Relations May 12, 2021
Abraham Joshua Heschel, far right, marches with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and others in Selma, Ala., in 1965, which is featured in Martin Doblmeier’s 2021 documentary “Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story.” Heschel was a moral theologian and expert on the prophets who also played a key role in Jewish-Catholic relations and the Vatican II document on that topic. (Photo: CNS/courtesy Journey Films)
NEW YORK When filmmaker Martin Doblmeier considers the interfaith growth between Catholics and Jews, Pope Francis’ October 2018 Angelus prayer for the 11 victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh comes to mind.
Walking with Fr. Daniel Berrigan, S.J., A Criminal for Peace
Today is a day to celebrate the prophetic voice and witness of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, the non-violent anti-war activist and poet, whose life and witness has touched so many lives. He was born on May 9, 1921 and would have been 100 years old today. He died five years ago, but his spirit continues to animate and inspire so many others. The following essay is from my recent book,
Seeking Truth in a Country of Lies.
Radical dissidents and prophets have never had an easy time of it. When alive, that is. Once safely dead, however, honors and respect are often heaped on their heads. The dead can’t talk back, or so it is assumed. Nor can they cause trouble.
This is the cover of the book Good Things Out of Nazareth: The Uncollected Letters of Flannery O Connor & Friends, edited by Benjamin B. Alexander. The book is reviewed by Rachelle Linner. (CNS)
Help us expand our reach! Please share this article Good Things Out of Nazareth: The Uncollected Letters of Flannery O Connor & Friends, edited by Benjamin B. Alexander. Convergent Books (New York, 2019). 400 pp., $26.
This new book of Flannery O Connor s letters will, inevitably, beg comparison with The Habit of Being, the 1979 collection edited by Sally Fitzgerald. One of the pleasures of that book was its length and the leisurely pace that allowed a reader to watch O Connor s development as a writer, a Catholic and a woman living with illness to watch, in other words, her unique vocation taking shape and being lived out. It was informed by Fitzgerald s impeccable scholarship and editorial modesty, her long friendship with O Connor and her knowledge of the literary circles she m