Article Who Are These ‘People’? Synodality can demythologize clerical power, but in order to work, the people it centers must include the vulnerable, not just the elite.By Massimo FaggioliOctober 7, 2021 Vatican II Pope Francis Clericalism Laity
Article Synodality? What’s Synodality? Synodality is essential for recovering the legitimacy of ecclesial spaces. But the U.S. bishops don’t seem to want to consider it.By Massimo FaggioliJune 15, 2021 Clericalism Pope Francis Bishops U.S. Catholicism
Article An Ambrose of Our Own Our current system of choosing bishops discounts the laity and local priests in favor of patronage from above. That must change.By Nicholas P. CafardiDecember 9, 2020 Bishops Clericalism
Article The Complicated Legacy of Bishop John England Bishop John England leaves behind a complicated legacy: a useful method of thinking beyond clericalism, and a warning about the application of natural law.By Paul LakelandNovember 25, 2020 Clericalism Bishops Race
Article The Double Agent McCarrick was both a product and a manipulator of a system of clericalism that desperately needs to be overhauled.By David GibsonNovember 13, 2020 Bishops Sexual-abuse Crisis Clericalism
Article What to Make of the McCarrick Report? Lessons from an investigation years in the makingBy Peter SteinfelsNovember 11, 2020 Bishops Sexual-abuse Crisis Clericalism
PoliticsChild Labor Isn’t in the Past We can’t afford to play dumb as labor protections fail and disappear. Treating children like cheap labor costs too much.By Mollie Wilson O’ReillyAugust 6, 2023
ReligionOpus Dei’s Ordinary Secularity In a new history of Opus Dei, two senior members celebrate the group’s embrace of ordinary life.By Daniele PalmerAugust 4, 2023
CultureBarbie the Existentialist Stereotypical Barbie is everything, which is another way of saying that she is nothing.By Santiago RamosAugust 25, 2023
BooksIs Ethics Like Math? A new biography of philosopher Derek Parfit explains the eccentric philosopher's quest to find a legitimate secular moral theory. By Frank B. FarrellAugust 17, 2023
CollectionsPope Francis at Ten Years A wide-ranging collection of Commonweal’s coverage of the remarkable pontificate of Pope Francis.By The EditorsMarch 12, 2023