And to judge from the rare passion at Compass 's editorial board meeting about this issue, I am not alone. As we were looking for ways to approach this theme, aspects of the decade poked, slid and jostled their way into my conscious memory. Early on, the 1960s generated an enormous and pervasive optimism. This risky, tradition-defying and brave papal action was of a pattern with the resistance to blindly held traditions that marked the decade.
Political events are as vivid a memory as the religious ones.
In the eyes of many, politics became for a time an attractive and honourable profession when the youthful John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president of the United States in 1961. The tragedy of his murder in 1963 underlined the pain of the struggle for justice and, until cynicism reasserted itself, inspired some to risk heroism. For some others, political and religious motivations were combined. Hunted and frequently jailed, American Jesuit Dan Berrigan and his brother were among the ultimately successful leaders in the nonviolent struggle to end their country's tragic involvement in the Vietnam War. In this issue we get a glimpse of Canada's role in that conflict, as well as a picture of the tumultuous Africa of the 1960s through the eyes of a remarkable Polish journalist.