Walmart reported on Feb. 19 that it would increase wages and establish more predictable work schedules for employees. New employees will receive a minimum wage of $9 an hour beginning in April 2015 and $10 starting in 2016.In a letter to Walmart “associates,” Walmart’s chief execut

Congress should reaffirm the principle that government “should not force anyone to stop offering or covering much-needed legitimate health care” because of a conscientious objection to abortion or other procedures, said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., of Boston and Archbish

No monk should ever defend another in the monastery. Nor should he take sides in an argument…. We decree that no one should be permitted to ostracize or to strike any one of his brothers; and if any monk should break this rule, let him be publicly reprimanded, that the others may learn from h

An invitation to white Catholics to use their imagination to enter into a role-reversal narrative.

For him the truth is a flavor,a pulse made of nutriment,a living mountain of breath.Even pinched betweenthe fingers and released, he springsto perfect absence, beyond punishment,a celebrant of undetectable freedom.Cinder-speck, a vibrant fiend of punctuation,no bigger than a typesetter’ss

In a letter on Feb. 19 to state legislators, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco wrote that he respects the legislators’ right “to employ or not employ whomever you wish to advance your mission” and expects the same courtesy after several had urged him to remove sexual

The leader of the Catholic Church in Libya called for dialogue and understanding in his violence-torn country on Feb. 16, even as prayers and calls for action followed the horror of the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians. The men, who had come to Libya from Egypt in search of work, had been kidnapped

On Feb. 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India announced the release of Alexis Prem Kumar, S.J., in a comment on his Twitter feed. The Indian Jesuit had been seized in June 2014 in western Afghanistan after a visit to a Jesuit-supported school for the children of returning refugees he supervised a

What should disqualify someone from being a saint?That might seem a funny question. How about sin? But over the course of the last month, people in California and elsewhere have been asking it a lot. In January, Pope Francis announced that in September he will canonize Junípero Serra, the 18th-cent

‘Hamilton’ tells a true American story

Each cruelty cloaked in religion reduces all religious traditions.

Local ProcessRe: “The Annulment Dilemma,” by Msgr. Paul V. Garrity (2/16): Finally, a seasoned pastor who is able to put a human face on the trials, tribulations and trauma faced by faithful Catholics seeking an annulment in our overly complicated and overly legalistic process. While I a

The outbreak of measles has many concerned about the resurgence of a deadly disease. But what if it is actually the symptom of something much larger?The outbreak in January, which originated in Disneyland and has spread to over a dozen states, has brought the vaccine debate back to the national spot

I opened the letter to find a Post-it note stuck to a magazine article: “You could do this.” And that is why I am writing this. Let me explain.There are few things one can count on in life. For the lucky ones these things include family, friends and the chance to spend time working towar

It’s spring break time; do you know where your college age children are? If they attend a Catholic college, there’s a decent chance they’re among the thousands of students who are spending it on an immersion trip to any number of communities in need around the globe.Over the next f

Rather conveniently, the phrase “off with his head” contains fewer than 140 characters.

The Washington-based Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment called the Obama administration’s efforts to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement “undemocratic” in a statement on Feb.17. The trade pact between the United States and about a dozen Asian coun

It's not every day a government official quotes a Broadway show tune in a public address.

You kind of had to be there. And thanks to Netflix, you still can be.

Culture critic on American feminism, post-structuralism and Pope Francis