Magazine

September 2021

v.148 n.8

Article

Visionary Gradualist Pressure

To Michael Harrington, socialism was the idea of a society in which certain fundamental limitations of human existence are transcended.

September 8, 2021

Article

Theology’s Invisible Hand

A new book offers a refreshing look at the influence of religion on the economic theories of Adam Smith.

September 7, 2021

Article

When you are slipping into the abyss, purpose is a life raft, one that I clutched.

The Why & the How

By Gordon Marino

September 5, 2021

Death and Dying

The Last Word

Article

The Same Anew

The poet Donald Revell believes that seeing—true seeing, ecstatic seeing—is the poet’s real task.

By Anthony Domestico

September 2, 2021

Poetry

Interview

Article

Too Big to Not Fail

Neither a polemic nor a manifesto, Samuel Goldman’s ‘After Nationalism’ is instead a compelling reflection on the meaning of our country’s existence.

By John Ganz

September 2, 2021

History

Nonfiction

Immigration

Article

Much Obliged

Too often during the pandemic, the Church encouraged us to resent the inconveniences of social distancing instead of supporting us in bearing this cross together.

By Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

August 31, 2021

Coronavirus

U.S. Catholicism

Article

Eliminating Emissions

The latest report on climate change confirms that things will get worse. But we still have some control over just how much.

By Isabella Simon

August 23, 2021

Climate Change

Article

The Fourth Surge

In a time of renewed uncertainty about the pandemic, U.S. health and government officials need a coherent and coordinated response.

By Katie Daniels

August 20, 2021

Coronavirus

Domestic Affairs

Article

An Unwinnable War

Biden is right to pull us out of Afghanistan. But he’s wrong to absolve us of blame in the country’s ongoing struggle.

By The Editors

August 19, 2021

Feature

The Art of Survival

An HBO docuseries and a new memoir reimagine popular accounts of abusive artists from the perspective of survivors.

By Hannah Gold

August 12, 2021

Nonfiction

Movies

Arts

Article

Your Lebanon & Mine

In Lebanon, hyperinflation, an influx of refugees, and complete political collapse have created a dangerous crisis.

By Joseph Amar

August 10, 2021

Middle East

War and Peace

Foreign Affairs

Article

A Sanctioned Crisis

The U.S. sanctions on Cuba are devastating, indiscriminate, and nearly comprehensive, affecting the daily lives of millions of citizens.

By Joy Gordon

August 3, 2021

Foreign Affairs

Latin America

Article

‘When Black Was Born’

A new documentary explores the power of Black music at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969.

August 1, 2021

Article

Give It an ‘F’

Journalistic values are moral values, and on this measure The Pillar fails.

By Paul Moses

July 28, 2021

Bishops

LGBTQ issues

Article

Seen and Not Seen

Helen Oyeyemi’s latest novel, ‘Peaces,’ is a work of imaginative exuberance, at once absurd and moving.

By Phil Christman

July 25, 2021

Fiction

Literature

Article

“We still sing in chorus,” he wrote in his letter. “A caged bird can still sing.”

The Dalit Theologian

By Jo McGowan

July 20, 2021

India

Social Justice

Foreign Affairs

Article

Maxima Culpa

The Church should respond to the horror of unmarked graves in Canadian residential schools with apologies, not evasions.

By Matt Dinan

July 15, 2021

Article

Centenary of an Assassination

There was an assassination in Ireland a hundred years ago. My father was the assassin.

By Patrick J. Ryan

June 17, 2021

History

Foreign Affairs

Feature

The Bishops, the Eucharist, and Abortion

The challenges of Eucharistic coherence and abortion require distinct responses from American bishops. Trying to address them together will only harm them both.

September 2, 2021

Feature

Diverted Waters

The U.S.-built border wall separates Mexicali and the Imperial Valley agricultural region.

August 24, 2021

Article

There is no way to loose the “Gordian knot” of abortion politics all at once. It will require patience, careful distinctions, and a willingness to engage with the unpersuaded.