Paul Baumann

Article

Sex & ‘the Human Focus’

The late Terrence McNally’s work included one play that stirred considerable controversy among American Catholics. It’s worth revisiting that debate today.

By Paul Baumann

April 7, 2020

Sexuality

U.S. Catholicism

Stage

Article

Afghanistan Forever?

If American men and women were being drafted to fight in Afghanistan, there is not the slightest possibility the war would have dragged on for eighteen years.

December 18, 2019

Article

Fallen Priests

The essayist Richard Rodriguez challenges us to imagine the lives of abusive priests. Failing to do so protects nobody but ourselves.

December 3, 2019

Article

The Welter of Memory

Born into rural and humble circumstances in the west of Ireland, Edna O’Brien rose to literary fame in 1970s London. She’s still active today.

By Paul Baumann

October 18, 2019

Fiction

Article

Liberator & Tyrant

Educated by Irish Catholic missionaries, Robert Mugabe helped Zimbabwe create a new middle class. But in his refusal to relinquish power, he committed atrocities.

September 19, 2019

Article

The Vocation of Citizenship

Following the news can be exhausting. But that doesn’t absolve us of the duties and responsibilities of participatory democracy.

September 7, 2019

Must Reads

Politics

In the Time of Pandemic

The coronavirus crisis will likely demand the kind of collective sacrifice not seen since World War II. It will also challenge how we live together in society.

By The Editors

March 19, 2020

Religion

Living in Isolation

Even if we cannot get to the Eucharist, we can still enact symbols of communion to fight the destructive effects of isolation.

By Timothy Radcliffe

March 27, 2020

Culture

An Act of Service

Quarantine during a pandemic is not demonic. Few Christians would ask for this cup, but we must drink it—to serve God by serving our neighbors.

By Jared Lucky

March 25, 2020

Books

God of the Continental Philosophers

The fit between phenomenology and Catholic philosophy was never perfect. Thus it could appeal to both Catholic and secular philosophers.

By Sarah Shortall

February 28, 2020

Books

Nothing Left Worth Saving

Set in a miserable dystopia, Houellebecq’s latest novel is both thought-provoking and wearying, fronted by a hypercynical yet dangerously nostalgic narrator.

By Phil Klay

February 27, 2020

Collections

The American Parish Today

The U.S. church is not so much in decline as undergoing a profound transition, a reality we can and should joyfully embrace.

By The Editors

March 27, 2020