Priest-author tells story of Catholicism in the American heartland

The story of the day that Pope John Paul II would honor the people of Iowa and the American heartland with a visit Oct. 4, 1979 — and all the planning that preceded it — is told with verve and clarity in the closing chapter of a new book that will be of interest to Catholics across the country.

Poet and pope — or laureate and saint

Bob Dylan has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Some folks would have much preferred someone else had won. To others, it’s a welcome recognition of his lyric gifts.