Religion

Priesthood

Article

The Other Side of Silence

Clarice Lispector's 'The Apple in the Dark' wrestles with the limits of language, seeking language to crack the glass between us and reality.

By Jared Marcel Pollen

May 17, 2024

Article

Liberal Catholicism, Beyond the Caricatures

Liberal Catholicism, which Ross Douthat tends to present as a monolith, comes in various shapes and sizes.

By Paul Baumann

May 17, 2024

Article

Nursery Tales

"The week before I gave birth to my son, I went to the library and checked out some novels."

By Kate Lucky

May 16, 2024

The Last Word

Article

Consecrating Error?

Steven D. Smith asks: How can we judge anyone's actions if the individual is just following their own conscience?

By Bernard G. Prusak

May 13, 2024

Supreme Court

Nonfiction

U.S. Catholicism

Article

… Jesus thus bear directly on the question of abortion. It is my contention that, even if … had no other resources for thinking about abortion, the doctrine of the Theotokos would be more than enough. Abortion raises theological, moral, and legal …

By Brad East

May 12, 2024

Abortion

Theology

Women

Article

The ‘Anti-Catholic Memo’ That Wasn’t

How should we understand the "anti-Catholic" memo—and the reaction to it?

By Paul Moses

May 7, 2024

Article

Distorting the Gospel

The subordination of women is intimately intertwined with the colonial mindset of the Church. How can we address both together?

By Teresa Delgado

May 4, 2024

Article

Moving the Center

The Church's antiquated views on gender is hindering its ministry.

By Mary E. Hunt

April 24, 2024

Article

Why Not Women?

The all-male priesthood of the Catholic Church has become an outward sign of inner corruption.

By Alice McDermott

April 23, 2024

Priesthood

Article

Women and the Priesthood

A symposium on women's ordination asks: In what ways are women excluded from and undervalued in the life of the Church?

By The Editors

April 22, 2024

Women

Gender

Article

Will Trumpism Spare Catholicism?

"Just over six months out from the 2024 presidential election, it could be said that a 'Trump-Strickland' axis may be coming into existence."

By Massimo Faggioli

April 22, 2024

Donald Trump

Bishops

Article

Why Do We Celebrate Earth Day?

Are we ready to pronounce Earth Day an occasion for mourning rather than celebration?

By Edward Tverdek

April 21, 2024

Climate Change

Article

A Divine Seed

Judith A. Merkle's book asks: What is the role of religious life is in an increasingly secular, disaffiliated world?

By Jack Nuelle

April 19, 2024

Religious Life

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Dignity and Gender

The Vatican’s failure to carefully distinguish between “gender theory” and the varied experiences of actual transgender people risks further alienating those that already feel rejected by the Church.

By The Editors

April 18, 2024

Article

Local Adaptations

In his deeply researched account of Japanese war-crimes trials, Gary Bass suggests that the liberal international order in Asia was stillborn.

By John T. McGreevy

April 15, 2024

Article

Divorce, Annulment & the Petrine Privilege

“My divorce was final fifteen years ago. But the Catholic Church, to which I’m a recent convert, considers me still married.”

By Beverly Willett

April 10, 2024

U.S. Catholicism

Article

God or Trump?

It is a mistake to see Trump only as a political leader. In 2024, he is also a cult for Evangelicals who no longer want to be Christians.

By Thomas Geoghegan

April 8, 2024

Donald Trump

Feature

The Theology of Social Democracy

Neoliberalism is doomed. Could a new model of social democracy replace it?

By Anthony Annett

April 5, 2024

Article

A New Era in Poland?

Poland shows how Catholicism and liberal democracy are not at odds.

By Lauren Kane

April 2, 2024

Foreign Affairs

Europe

Feature

Christianity in the Middle East

Christians in the Middle East see themselves not just as abandoned, but as betrayed. How did we get here?

By Joseph Phillip Amar

April 1, 2024

Middle East

Muslim-Christian Relations

Article

A Paschal Mystery

The Paschal Mystery is at the center of our Christian life. So why are the U.S. bishops ignoring it?

By Rita Ferrone

March 30, 2024

Article

Rather than Void

“I sat there watching people go in and out of the diner while my father dozed. The clock ticked past midnight into Good Friday.”

By Dominic Preziosi

March 28, 2024

Article

Hijacking St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Defenders and critics of a funeral disruption at St. Patrick's Cathedral share a sense of entitled victimhood.

By Peter Steinfels

March 27, 2024

Article

Suicide as Protest

The contradiction inherent in Aaron Bushnell's suicide muddled his message: he tried to defend the dignity of Palestinians while violating his own.

By Santiago Ramos

March 26, 2024

Article

Bent Like the Palm Trees

We don’t know for certain what kind of branches were used to welcome Jesus in Jerusalem. What matters most is that Jesus came home, and his return was a victory.

By Claudia Avila Cosnahan

March 22, 2024

Article

Seeing the Sistine Chapel

There are two difficulties with writing about Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. One is saying anything fresh about them. The other is seeing them at all.

By Jeff Reimer

March 20, 2024

Arts

Article

Conjuntos: Conversing & Conversion

"May we spend the remaining days of this Lenten journey focusing on turning together—away from doubt, blame, shame, and guilt, and toward delight."

By Neomi De Anda

March 17, 2024

Article

The Synod as Starting Point

The invitational aspect of synodality can be transformational—resuscitating what may seem like a dying Church, especially for young people.

By Kayla August

March 15, 2024

Bishops

Synodality

Article

What ‘Fiducia supplicans’ Has Changed

In terms of doctrine, 'Fiducia supplicans' is an awkward step forward and a sudden one.

By Xavier M. Montecel

March 14, 2024

LGBTQ issues

Bishops

Article

Ireland Joins the World—and Leaves the Church

In 'We Don’t Know Ourselves,' Fintan O’Toole examines the fitful way in which Ireland eventually embraced a secular liberal modernity.

By Paul Baumann

March 12, 2024

Europe

Article

When the FBI Feared the Catholic Left

Did the Berrigan brothers try to kidnap Henry Kissinger?

By Arvin Alaigh

March 11, 2024

Article

The German Synod & Francis’s Legacy

When the next Pope is chosen, the main issue is likely to be the continuation of the Synod—or its reversal.

By Massimo Faggioli

March 11, 2024

Synodality

Article

Celebrating Pink Vestments

“The near-universal urge to make an anxious joke about wearing pink vestments makes me wonder if our priests are really that hung up on gender.”

By Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

March 10, 2024

Liturgy

Article

Let Me Struggle

"This Laetare Sunday, then, I do want to focus on God’s love and my sins in light of God’s love, but not to the point of apathy, and instead to the point of further struggle."

By Amirah Orozco

March 8, 2024

Middle East

Article

A Lesson from My Father

"Once, when Dad was still on the streets, I heard from someone that he showed up at the Easter Vigil. How did he even know when it was?"

By Timothy P. Schilling

March 8, 2024

Article

Grace & Chaos

A new staging of ‘La forza del destino’ offers audiences the chance to ponder the paradoxes at the heart of what is often considered Verdi's most “Catholic” opera.

By Harry Rose

March 7, 2024

Arts

Article

A Culture-War Conversion

There is no better way to squander Christianity than by using it as a cudgel in a self-destructive clash of civilizations.

By Erik VanBezooijen

March 6, 2024

Article

A Saint We Need

The time is right for the new biopic of Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants and the first American citizen to be canonized.

By Paul Moses

March 6, 2024

Movies

Article

Gaza and Jewish Memory

The National Library of Israel curates a “national memory database” of the October 7 massacre.

By Tzvi Novick

March 5, 2024

Middle East

Article

Reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent

"Though Christ may have experienced human anger, his ministry was not about scaring people into submission."

By Claudia Avila Cosnahan

March 1, 2024

Article

Inundated

We must resist the urge to think of human immigrants as natural disasters.

By Brett C. Hoover

February 28, 2024

Immigration

Article

Low Moral Seriousness

"Prayers too can be agitprop, and the remedy for that is always the same: lament for the damage that our answered prayers will do."

By Paul J. Griffiths

February 28, 2024

Abortion

Article

Forgiveness in Genesis

In Genesis, every instance of forgiveness is rewarded by consequences that could not have been foreseen or imagined.

By Marilynne Robinson

February 27, 2024

Theology

Article

Reflection for the Second Sunday in Lent

To be beloved, in scripture, is really to be cursed.

By Ellen B. Koneck

February 23, 2024

Jewish-Christian Relations

Death and Dying

Article

How to Read Paul

Christians cannot do without St. Paul. But for that very reason, we need to get him right—and Matthew Thiessen's new book can help.

By Brad East

February 22, 2024

Theology

Article

Ernie O’Malley, Irish Revolutionary

In the Irish War for Independence, it was never certain who was your enemy and who were your allies.

By Paul Baumann

February 22, 2024

Article

More Than a Sequel

'Laudate Deum' does not merely restate Pope Francis's commitment to the environment. It calls us with greater urgency to change the systems feeding climate change.

By Edward Tverdek

February 21, 2024

Climate Change