Magazine

September 2019

v.146 n.14

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Article

Ready for the Worst

A new book shows Christians what the Coptic martyrs can teach us about living our faith.

By Daniel Philpott

September 11, 2019

Muslim-Christian Relations

Nonfiction

Secularism and Modernity

Spirituality

Article

Books in Brief

The first installment of a brand-new feature in the print magazine: capsule reviews of recently-released books you do not want to miss.

By The Editors

September 9, 2019

Article

Last Letters from a Nazi Prison

Available for the first time in English translation, the letters of a young German couple whose love of God and each other sustained them against Nazi oppression.

By Helmuth and Freya von Moltke

September 6, 2019

Social Justice

Death and Dying

Nonfiction

Article

Reporting the Past

Robert Caro's new book is full of wisdom about the artful practice of journalism, drawn from the prolific biographer's own experience.

By Paul Moses

September 6, 2019

Nonfiction

Domestic Affairs

Economy

Article

Minority Rule

Not a single U.S. senator was elected by a majority of eligible voters. That needs to change.

By Nick Switanek

September 5, 2019

Election 2020

Domestic Affairs

Article

Why Not Think Big?

Climate change is a crisis that we have created. But in knowing that we caused it, we also have the power to address it.

By The Editors

September 3, 2019

Feature

The Video Art of Bill Viola

A new show at the Barnes in Philadelphia transports audiences into the heart of the Bill Viola’s pioneering inquiries into the phenomenon of visual perception.

September 2, 2019

Article

Command Performance

It is common to frame a cancer diagnosis in martial terms. Battling cancer; fighting cancer; the war on cancer. It is common, but wrong.

By Dan Barry

September 1, 2019

Article

Last of the Beats

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s one hundredth birthday in March was the occasion for a lot of celebration in San Francisco. His new novel, less so.

By Kaya Oakes

August 30, 2019

Article

What’s That Sound?

Two new films give audiences the pleasures of the four B’s of pop music: the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Beach Boys, and, of course, the Beatles.

By Rand Richards Cooper

August 30, 2019

Music

Movies

Article

When the News Isn’t Fake

Clarence Thomas’s attack on the media is more than obtuse; it is irresponsible and dangerous.

By Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

August 28, 2019

Supreme Court

Media

Race

Article

‘Revolution of Our Times’

Hong Kongers are fighting China for their political survival. But the rest of the world, particularly the West, seems apathetic toward their precarity.

August 14, 2019

Article

Prayers from the People

For me prayer is concrete, a form of work. Politicians, though, have a different job, and in the wake of mass shootings, they have a duty to take action.

August 12, 2019

Article

Uncommon Clarity

Daniel Callahan was one of the most influential editors in Commonweal’s history, and the preeminent creator of the field of bioethics. He passed away on July 16.

July 24, 2019

Article

A Surrogate Creed

The newly passed Bill 21 bans many state employees from wearing religious symbols on the job. It marks a serious test for religious freedom in Canada.

By Michael W. Higgins

July 9, 2019

Secularism and Modernity

Foreign Affairs

Muslim-Christian Relations

Article

Small Graces

A city is noisy, dirty, sometimes cruel, sometimes surprisingly kind, always restless, constantly building over its own past. Like all things, it needs prayer.

By B. D. McClay

July 8, 2019

Spirituality

Religious Life

Article

‘National Conservatism’

The most serious effort to update right-wing ideology for the Trump era was unveiled this July at a conference dedicated to “national conservatism.”

September 9, 2019

Article

Out of Touch

George Weigel resurrects an antiquated and narrow form of Catholicism at a historical moment when the future of the church is in crisis.

By James Chappel

September 5, 2019

Secularism and Modernity

Theology

Pope Francis

Article

Civil Conflict in the Age of Trump

How should democracies deal with irreconcilable differences? How should we weigh the value of deliberation against its costs?

By James T. Kloppenberg

September 4, 2019

Donald Trump

Election 2020

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Boot Camp for Nuns

I’m nineteen years old, the year is 1958, and I’ve already made it through the first nine months of probation. More than anything in the world I want to be a saint.

September 3, 2019

Feature

Can the Chinampas Survive?

In Mexico City there is an ancient agricultural system that consists of manmade islands, called chinampas. They risk ruin in the face of climate change.

August 29, 2019

Article

My Two Abortions

The need for abortion is evidence of our broken humanity, but our current response also shows our Church’s inability to respond fully to the female experience.

By Anonymous

August 27, 2019

Abortion

Spirituality