Articles by Richard Higgins

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Focus on ministry

Harvard revamps its M.Div. program
Feb 26, 2008 by Richard Higgins
The first class to start and finish Harvard Divinity School’s revised M.Div. program won’t graduate until June, but HDS’s move to tighten degree requirements and bolster ministry studies has already begun to reinvigorate the divinity school, officials say.
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Breaking ranks

Glenn Loury's change of heart—and mind
Dec 18, 2002 by Richard Higgins
Glenn C. Loury had a lot going for him in the 1980s. The first black to be tenured in economics at Harvard, Loury was a famed black neoconservative and opponent of affirmative action. He dined at the White House and joined the Reagan administration. Conservative journals vied for his work. He was on the “A” list for events hosted by people like William F. Buckley Jr. and William Bennett.
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Tied in knots

Vermont churches divided by civil union law
Aug 28, 2002 by Richard Higgins
The political furor over Vermont’s two-year-old civil union law has begun to subside, but controversy is still roiling the state’s churches. Some disputes have set pastor against congregation.
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Catholics find a voice

A call for democratic reform
Jun 19, 2002 by Richard Higgins
Six months ago Voice of the Faithful didn’t exist. Now it is one of the most turbo-charged Christian movements in the country. About 14,000 Catholics from 40 states and 21 countries have registered their support for this centrist, lay-led effort to democratize the Catholic Church.
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Adam and Eve’s journey

An original look at original sin

Mar 27, 2002 by Richard Higgins

In a new book on Genesis, Gary A. Anderson focuses not on the textual origin of the story—the customary focus of historical-critical study—but on how the story has been received and retold, imaginatively and liturgically, in Jewish and Christian traditions.

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New assignment

From Harvard to Catholic Charities

Dec 19, 2001 by Richard Higgins

He always said that he was a priest first and a dean second. J. Bryan Hehir made that clear when he accepted the helm of Harvard Divinity School in 1998, declining to take the title (he is officially chair of the school’s executive body) or to live in Jewett House, the school’s stately deanery on Francis Avenue (he lives at a Catholic parish in Harvard Square).

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Mindful suffering

Buddhists practice forgiveness

Oct 24, 2001 by Richard Higgins

This is,” Chi Nguyen said, raising one hand and then the other, “because that is.” The retired surgeon, a native of Vietnam who lives in Boston, was explaining how Buddhism helped him and other members of a local Buddhist temple forgive those who viciously attacked the temple last year.