Young American

A U.S.-born pope offers continuity, and a fresh direction

By Massimo Faggioli

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‘We Need to Talk About People’

The World’s Pope

Resistance Reexamined

The Eyes of Faith

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Article

Root and Branch

Paula Fredriksen’s 'Ancient Christianities' looks to explore the tangled root system underlying Christianity—not a story of a series of individual men, but of broad social movements.

By Sarah F. Porter

May 16, 2025

History

Books

Religion

Article

Bishop of Rome, Fisher of Men

The papal inauguration of Leo XIV is set to be a global affair that remains in touch with medieval roots.

By Vanessa R. Corcoran

May 15, 2025

Feature

The Entry into Darkness

A visit to the Simonopetra Monastery reveals the challenging work of monastic living: What does it mean to "empty" ourselves?

By Benedict Coleridge

May 14, 2025

Europe

Religious Life

Religion

Current Issue

May 2025

Contents

Remembering Francis

On this episode, three theologians reflect with Commonweal editors on the pope’s legacy.

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U.S. Catholicism

Article

A Family Connection

John Rodden writes on a relative entrusted with a momentous task: organizing the burial of Pope Francis.

By John Rodden

May 12, 2025

Religion

Pope Francis

Article

Interregnum Report

Commonweal editors curate a twice-daily roundup of updates about the conclave.

By The Editors

May 12, 2025

Article

Dancing Free

A mesmerizing new production of Richard Strauss’s Salome at the Met Opera offers viewers a violent, mind-bending staging of the biblical texts.

By Michael Peppard

May 11, 2025

Culture

Feature

More than a Theologian

Theologian David Tracy was absorbed by the sheer ineffability of God—and by the absolute need to speak of God nonetheless.

By Kenneth L. Woodward

May 10, 2025

Theology

Religion

Article

‘Reverse Course’

“Reversing course” on the AfD would mean undoing the struggle of generations against the legacy of Nazism.

By John Connelly

May 10, 2025

Europe

Politics

Donald Trump

Article

Holy Chaos

"In this holy chaos, my first feeling was joy. I didn’t know what this new pope portended for the life of the Church, and it didn’t matter."

By Randy Boyagoda

May 9, 2025

Bishops

Religion

Pope Leo XIV

Commonweal Magazine | Religion, Politics, Culture

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Politics

More, or Else

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson offer a vision of a progressive future in which Democrats stop getting in their own way.

Bernard Prusak

March 24, 2025

Religion

Francis’s Church?

From an emphasis on the global church to synodality, Pope Francis brought an outsider's perspective to his twelve-year papacy.

Massimo Faggioli

April 21, 2025

Culture

‘The Church Is What We Do Next’

The final twist in 'Conclave' is hardly sensationalistic: it raises real questions about how the Church accommodates people outside binaries of sex and gender.

Mollie Wilson …

March 27, 2025