'Amoris Laetitia'

April 25, 2016

Article

On the Mark

Francis offers a practical approach to the challenges of married love that gives us a surprisingly moving exhortation to a courageous and sanctifying way of life.

By Paige E. Hochschild

May 6, 2016

U.S. Catholicism

Synod on the Family

Theology

Article

Some Exceptions May Apply

Some conservatives tend to confuse fidelity with a one-size-fits-all legalism. If there's one thing you can say about Pope Francis, it's that he's no legalist.

April 19, 2016

U.S. Catholicism

Editorial

Synod on the Family

Theology

Article

Forgiving & Listening

To understand Francis and support the direction he has been setting for the Church, we need to think more deeply about the ways and means of “forgiveness.”

By Dennis O'Brien

April 18, 2016

U.S. Catholicism

Article

In the Company of the Brokenhearted

Francis regards the sacrament's indissolubility as a “gift” rather than a “yoke,” and chides those whose efforts to defend marriage reduce the gift to a “duty.”

April 14, 2016

Article

Unity, Growth & Love in the Church

The exhortation is a valiant and powerful exercise in the Petrine ministry of upholding church unity. Is it another starting point in Francis's pontificate?

April 13, 2016

Article

A Church with Authority that Serves? The Path of 'Amoris Laetitia'

By David Cloutier

April 8, 2016

Article

What Is Francis Saying with 'Amoris Laetitia'?

April 8, 2016

Article

The Poet Pope's Pastoral Discernment

If John Paul II was the philosopher and Benedict XVI the theologian, Pope Francis is the poet pope, giving voice to the dreams and wisdom of migrants and the poor.

By William L. Portier

April 12, 2016

Must Reads

Politics

Cross the Bridge

The border crisis could provide an occasion for the bishops to show that they are more than just company men—if only they would seize the opportunity.

August 7, 2019

Religion

Body Parts

The veneration of relics is a hard thing for many Catholics of this time and culture to wrap their minds around. But the practice is humanizing, not superstitious.

By Paul Baumann

August 8, 2019

Culture

Where We Could Go

The best part of the 2019 Whitney Biennial? The growing number of artists who have withdrawn their works in protest of a controversial board member.

By Nicole-Ann Lobo

July 24, 2019

Culture

Mountains, not Screens

Nature provides what technology can’t give. We must remember our responsibility to heal the planet, but we shouldn’t forget its ability to heal us.

By Isabella Simon

July 20, 2019

Books

Danses Macabres

A pair of German novels explore the ways societies rationalize their butchery, revisiting the entire history of twentieth-century Europe.

By John Cotter

August 1, 2019

Books

Throne & Altar

The idea of religious liberty was not simply the product of the Enlightenment. It has ancient origins, going back to early Christians suffering persecution in Rome.

By Francis Oakley

July 31, 2019

Collections

Fiction in Commonweal

To celebrate the publication our summer fiction issue, a new collection of short stories from our archives.