Religion

Article

An Alternative Narrative?

Many young Americans no longer seem to want the things religion once promised. Has this rendered religion "obsolete"?

By Peter Steinfels

June 14, 2025

U.S. Catholicism

Secularism and Modernity

Nonfiction

Article

Angels & Eunuchs

Must Christian celibacy be reduced to misogyny or hatred of the body?

By Michael Hollerich

June 14, 2025

Religion

Sexuality

Theology

Article

The Hideous Deaths Obscured by Ideology

John Connelly’s essay, if taken seriously, is a charter for limitless violence. To support Ukraine, we must embrace a different script.

By Paul J. Griffiths

June 11, 2025

War and Peace

Ukraine

Continuing the Conversation

Article

Offending the Faith

William F. Buckley's critique of Pope John XXIII was one of the most daring episodes in the conservative eminence's career. He later wished it never had happened.

By Sam Tanenhaus

June 10, 2025

History

Politics

Religion

Article

MAGA Antisemitism Comes for the Catholic Church

… with Vice President J. D. Vance at the Vatican on Easter Sunday. On one side, the … idea. In order to ensure that the Vatican would be more in line with the Trump … global, anti-American Jewish menace onto the Vatican. MAGA antisemitism had come for the …

By Ethan Schwartz

June 8, 2025

Article

The Fire Hasn't Gone Out

For the Church to welcome and nourish its people, God needs to run the show.

By Timothy P. Schilling

June 6, 2025

Religion

Spirituality

The Last Word

Article

‘If One Part Suffers’

Close to one in five American Catholics is vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” regime. Paul Moses reports on how this monstrous policy will wound the U.S. Church.

By Paul Moses

June 5, 2025

Religion

Politics

Immigration

Article

‘Nice Boy Up from the Parishes’

Chicago Catholicism is distinctive and one of its own is now the pope. What might Robert Prevost's South Side upbringing teach us about the man who would become Leo XIV?

By Margaret O’Brien Steinfels

June 4, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

Religion

U.S. Catholicism

Article

Ask Better Questions

People have never stopped seeking God, transcendence, spirit, or community. They’re just not finding any of those things in church.

By Kaya Oakes

June 2, 2025

Religion

Culture

U.S. Catholicism

Article

‘The Living Vein of Compassion’

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso reflects on the Church's prophetic role during an era of anti-immigrant scapegoating.

By Bishop Mark J. Seitz

June 1, 2025

Immigration

Politics

U.S. Catholicism

Article

Catholic Guilt and Gaza

Insofar as Catholic neglect of the plight of the Palestinians stems from guilt about the Holocaust, it’s long past time to rethink how this guilt is addressed.

By Julie Schumacher Cohen

May 28, 2025

Article

Fatuity & Fanaticism

Katherine Stewart's 'Money, Lies, and God' shows how Christian nationalism functions as an arm of the Republican Party.

By George Scialabba

May 27, 2025

Article

Overlooked Treasure

Obsolescence may be the source of Millennial religious rejection. But it is also the key to understanding Millennial religious embrace.

By Susan Bigelow Reynolds

May 27, 2025

Religion

U.S. Catholicism

Nonfiction

Article

Retreat & Resurgence

Even if religious institutions are vulnerable to becoming “obsolete,” can faith still transform itself to stay relevant?

By Gerardo Martí

May 27, 2025

U.S. Catholicism

Theology

Nonfiction

Article

Living Vatican II

The signature achievement of Pope Francis was to reignite the spirit of Vatican II. Pope Leo's signature achievement may be to lead the Church into a ‘post-post-conciliar’ era.

By Daniel Rober

May 27, 2025

Religion

Vatican II

Pope Leo XIV

Article

Hovering on the Edge

Can a Catholic be a Hindu? Jesuit Francis X. Clooney has sought to learn from both traditions with real devotion.

By Thomas Albert Howard

May 27, 2025

Theology

Asia

Nonfiction

Article

The Papacy and the Hinterlands

Our increased access to papal personality does not give us increased insight into the papal future.

By Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt

May 27, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

Religion

Article

Francis’s Liturgical Legacy

Through his papacy, Pope Francis fostered creative development in the liturgy while remaining faithful to tradition.

By Rita Ferrone

May 26, 2025

Pope Francis

Religion

Liturgy

Article

Bridge Builder

In the final years of Francis's papacy, Robert Prevost became one of the pontiff's closest collaborators. What clues does their bond hold about Leo's pontificate?

By Austen Ivereigh

May 25, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

Religion

Article

Pope Leo, OSA

To be Augustinian is to be shaped by a deep sense of both interiority and community. That sense will likely be at the heart of Leo XIV's papacy.

By Terence Sweeney

May 20, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

Religion

Article

A Sequel to ‘Rerum Novarum’?

Pope Leo XIV’s choice of papal name is profoundly significant. What might the new pontiff have to say about the social and technological challenges facing us in the 2020s?

By Anthony Annett

May 19, 2025

Social Justice

Pope Leo XIV

Religion

Article

Leo, in Context

Pope Leo met the global Church at Catholic Theological Union.

By Steven P. Millies

May 19, 2025

Article

Young American

… state of exception that was created by the former prefect of the Congregation for the … Roman Curia when he was elected. He likely comes across as much more energetic than the … independent schools and universities, magazines, think tanks, foundations, and …

By Massimo Faggioli

May 16, 2025

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

Article

‘We Need to Talk About People’

Bishop Mark Seitz discusses what the Church can do to reverse a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.

By Dominic Preziosi, Kenneth L. Woodward

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

Article

A Leo for These Times

As Leo XIV's papacy begins, conservative and progressive Catholics alike are bound to experience vindication—and disappointment.

By The Editors

May 14, 2025

Editorial

Pope Leo XIV

Article

Resistance Reexamined

The complex, sometimes romanticized, but ultimately prophetic Catholic peace movement has critical lessons to teach today's America amid a genocidal war in Gaza.

By Arvin Alaigh

May 13, 2025

Middle East

War and Peace

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

The Eyes of Faith

"From where I was standing, the pope was a tiny white speck. That was okay. Having been granted eyes that could really see, I was finally using them in Rome."

By Randy Boyagoda

May 12, 2025

Religion

Pope Leo XIV

Article

Interregnum Report

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

By The Editors

May 12, 2025

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

Pope Leo XIV

Commonweal covers the early days of the pope from Chicago.

By The Editors

May 9, 2025

Religion

Bishops

Pope Leo XIV

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

Article

‘God’s Love Is Always Spoken in Dialect’

Francis was “of the people” in his understanding of theology: he drew on popular rituals and the stuff of daily life as theological sources.

By Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández

May 8, 2025

Pope Francis

Theology

Article

Fumata Nera

… had been dreaming about, for weeks?” he asks, expecting a room with a view of the dome of …

By Randy Boyagoda

May 7, 2025

Pope Francis

Bishops

Religion

Article

Unlocking the Conclave

The process of selecting the next Vicar of Christ has evolved considerably since the founding of the Church. Here is a guide to the mysteries of the conclave.

By Vanessa R. Corcoran

May 7, 2025

Article

Francis & His Critics

Francis's critics are wrong to fear a return to the upheavals of the postconciliar period. In the Church, arguments are a sign of life.

By Paul Baumann

May 6, 2025

Pope Francis

Theology

Article

‘A Beacon of Strength’

Filipino Catholics hope the next pope—whether or not he comes from the Philippines—will protect Pope Francis's legacy.

By Michael Beltran

May 6, 2025

Pope Francis

Bishops

Asia

Article

Only Connect

Whatever his institutional goals, the next pope will succeed if he heeds the voice of the voiceless. Like Francis, he need only connect.

By Kenneth L. Woodward

May 5, 2025

Religion

Pope Francis

Article

Francis the Teacher

Francis's papal teaching was dominated by a master contrast-image: between rigid spiritual elitism and Gospel humility.

By David Cloutier

May 1, 2025

Theology

Pope Francis

Article

Listening to the Land

It's time for Catholics to embrace parish-level commitments to environmental justice by getting our hands dirty—literally.

By John-Paul Heil

April 30, 2025

Environment

Religion

U.S. Catholicism

Article

‘Rejoice and Be Glad’

Pope Francis’s whole life can be described as striving to live in accord with the beatitudes.

By Stephen J. Pope

April 28, 2025

Pope Francis

Religion

Theology

Article

'What Love Demands'

When Francis said, “A concrete act of mercy is always an act of justice,” he helped me make sense of the world.

By Isabella Simon

April 27, 2025

Pope Francis

Poverty

Climate Change

Article

Returning to His Mother’s Home

Pope Francis's longstanding devotion to and trust in Mary led him to choose the Basilica of Mary Major as his final resting place.

By Vanessa R. Corcoran

April 26, 2025

Pope Francis

Theology

Death and Dying

Article

Good Teacher

Pope Francis didn’t just change the course of Church history and politics—he also helped me find my way back to an institution I had sworn off.

By César J. Baldelomar

April 25, 2025

Pope Francis

Death and Dying

Theology

Article

Many Faces

Pope Francis thought of the Church as a polyhedron, comprising many faces that meet each other along sharp lines yet always maintain their individuality.

By Griffin Oleynick

April 24, 2025

Pope Francis

Theology

Article

Sister Earth

Pope Francis was among the most famous and the most outspoken advocates for climate justice and integral ecology on the planet. Here, 'Commonweal' authors explore Francis's environmental legacy.

By The Editors

April 23, 2025

Pope Francis

Environment

Climate Change