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U.S. Catholic ∙ Vol. 76, No. 11 ∙ November 2011

COVER STORY

Has hell frozen over?
Are fire and brimstone passé? J. Peter Nixon digs into the apparent disappearance of damnation from the Catholic imagination.

Sidebar:

Visions of hell
Depictions of hell in art

INTERVIEW

Work hard, pray hard
How did a world-famous Trappist monk and the co-founder of the Catholic Worker become pen pals? In Expert Witness Jim Forest tells the inside story of the friendship between Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day.

Web only: More on Dorothy Day

SOUNDING BOARD

Think outside the box
Sounding Board author Joe Sehee argues that Catholics should reclaim the literal meaning of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” by making their funerals eco-friendly.

FEATURE

House work
More than 30 years after the death of Dorothy Day, reports Karen Kirkwood, the Catholic Worker movement she helped found still labors to bring about her vision of local hospitality and global peace.

ESSAYS

Charley is dying
When “one of the guys” takes a turn toward death, the specter of mortality takes friendship to a new and deeper level, writes Father Richard G. Malloy, S.J.

Family album
Sharing mementos of departed loved ones is a picture-perfect way for a parish to mark the month of All Souls, writes Sue Stanton in Practicing Catholic.

DEPARTMENTS

Editors' Note
You May Be Right Letters
Signs of the Times News
Catholic Tastes
Culture in Context: Reviews
Glad You Asked: Why do we anoint the sick?
At Home with Our Faith  
Eye of the Beholder 
Jerry Bleem, O.F.M.

COLUMNS

The Examined Life - Bryan Cones
Put faith in your vote

Margin Notes - Kevin Clarke
Killer toothache

Culture in Context - Patrick McCormick
Space invaders

Testaments - Alice Camille
Over the hill

POEM

One for sorrow by Frederick Zydek

Guide to the Gifts that Matter