A Downsized Dream: Building solidarity at the margins
Exploring the concept of ‘downward mobility.’
Authors Alice McDermott and Thomas Lynch make the case for ‘the good funeral’
The stories we tell about what happens when we die have lost their certainty.
Of Many Things
Mourning the departure of politics as a noble vocation
I no longer recognize my own country.
Letters
Reply All: America’s readers weigh in
Join the conversation.
Editorials
Editors: Pope and church leaders belong in political conversation
The pope’s clever response to ‘the Trump question’ is instructive.
Faith in Focus
The Mystery of Sadness: Coping with a sudden loss
The day my niece died grammar was nearly salvific to me.
Books
Still Dreaming: Review of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s ‘Between the World and Me’
‘Between the World and Me,’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Measures of Faith
‘Inventing American Religion,’ by Robert Wuthnow
Two Families, Many Wars
‘Agents of Empire,’ by Noel Malcolm
Film
Reviewing two new ’Jesus films’: ’Risen’ and ’The Young Messiah’
A convergence of belief and fact; this is the key to two new films about Jesus.
Poetry
The Wind of God…
…moved over the face of the waters. And in reading this,the awareness that, more than once,God has turned my head in his direction,yet I haven’t seen the gesture for what it is. The world charges and is charged with a white-hot flame.I might turn away, but each morning my head is t
The Word
Gospel: Dying as He Lived
“He saved others; let him save himself”
Columns
Providing some historical context for the Pope Francis-Donald Trump conflict
This is not the first tangle between popes and politicians.
Current Comment
Millennial interest in politics should be fostered, not overlooked
This generation can be unnerving to older voters.
Breaking Up With Europe
E.U. leaders cannot dismiss nationalist sentiment as a relic of the last century.
Looking for sensitive ways to end female genital mutilation
The U.N. Children’s Fund found that female genital cutting is more widespread than once thought.
Of Other Things
If white privilege were more widely recognized, America could be great someday.
It is not enough for white people merely to acknowledge the reality of white privilege, but it is the necessary starting point.
Signs Of the Times
How Illinois is the center of three canonization efforts
The state is playing a major role in three canonizations.
News Briefs
The Italian Senate passed on Feb. 25 a controversial bill that grants legal recognition to nonmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples, after sponsors removed a clause that would have allowed a nonbiological parent in a homosexual union to adopt the biological children of his or her partner. &bul
Protecting Manila Bay
Manila area church officials said proposed land reclamation projects in the metro area may not be environmentally sound and would likely affect the livelihood of the poor. Msgr. José Clemente Ignacio, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Manila, said a 365-acre proposed tourist city on an elevated p
Pipeline Break in Peru
Five hundred indigenous middle- and high-school students will arrive in early March at a Catholic-run boarding school in Wachapea, an Awajun village in Peru, but the sisters and staff do not know where they will take baths. The Chiriaco River, where the students usually bathe, play and wash their cl
As Conflict Continues, Holy See Officials Promote Peace Under Fire
Even in the midst of bombings, Vatican ambassadors stay put, risking their lives while working to end what Pope Francis has termed a “piecemeal” World War III, said the Vatican minister of foreign affairs. “Let’s not be kidding ourselves about what the stakes are here: If we
Year of the Independents?
Ireland’s 2016 general election has produced a parliament full of feuding factions and no obvious road to a majority government, spurring lawmakers to warn on Sunday that the country could face a protracted political deadlock followed by a second election. For the first time in Irish electoral
Sioux City Faces Reorganization
A pastoral planning process—Ministry 2025—has begun in the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. According to the Rev. Brent Lingle, diocesan director of pastoral planning, the diocese recently unveiled a draft pastoral plan that strives to create parishes “where the faith is lived out, gro
Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis’ press conferences reflect a free and fresh perspective
Francis feels free to offer a fresh look at issues of prudential judgment.
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