At the helm of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia since 1936, already called "the Old Man" (Start) by the Partisans during World War II, the undisputed head of Yugoslavia's government since 1945, President Tito is now the world's oldesf ruling statesman. Gone are Adenauer, De Gaulle, Haile Selassie, Ben Gurion, Franco, and Mao. Gone are other founders of the nonaligned movement, Nehru, Nasser, Nkruma, Ben-Bella, and Sukarno.

Sponsored by the Catholic bishops of the United States and attended by Ca'tholics from around the country, the Detroit "Call to Action" conference provides an excellent opportunity to take the pulse of American Catholicism, to see what it thinks of itself and where it thinks it is going.

The last thing the peace movement needs at this moment of diminished strength and influence is dissension in its dwindling ranks. The long-awaited end of the Indochina hostilities has left most of the most active opponents of that war in a state of nearly total exhaustion. Many have turned to the more routine pursuits necessarily neglected in those years of personal trial and disruption.

Whether religion significantly influenced the results of the 1976 Presidential election, and specifically whether Jimmy Carter had a "Catholic problem" stemming from the abortion issue or other less tangible considerations, will no doubt be debated for some time to come. The recent election did, however, raise other kinds of questions regarding the relationship between religion and politics that have scarcely been recognized but that may have serious meanings for the future of religion in America.

In the spring semester of 19761 taught the first truly good course I can recall teaching in a number of years. I would feel much more hopeful about the future if I could take as much credit for the success of the course as I would like to. Twenty students and I sat about trying to decide which of the philosophers we read—Aristotle, Hegel, or Nietzsche—provided the best insights into4he literary tragedies we read. At semester's end a student wandered by the office. "It was really a good course... I mean, really worthwhile." "I'm glad." He hesitated: "It wasn't really an English course, you know. I mean...well...I think we learned a lot about life."