For over a century, Boys Town has been serving at-risk youths, inspired by the founding vision of the Rev. Edward J. Flanagan.
James T. Keane
James T. Keane is a Senior Editor at America.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Thomas Pynchon, famous novelist…and theologian?
Thomas Pynchon is best-known as the reclusive author of some of our most famous postmodern novels. But is he also a discerning judge of our spiritual health?
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
John Fante: the almost-forgotten scribe of Los Angeles
John Fante’s fiction depicted Los Angeles through a penetrating, panoramic gaze—and anticipated the rise of the Beats in American literature.
Posted inFaith, Features
Vatican II—and its media coverage—has a lesson for today’s synod: Don’t expect immediate results
A look back at the Second Vatican Council through the coverage offered by America and Commonweal offers two lessons: First, we should not expect the journey of the church after the Synod on Synodality to be smooth sailing. Second, the church is very much capable of getting through such turmoil, and emerging stronger from it.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Paul Horgan, the Catholic polymath you’ve never heard of
Paul Horgan was a favorite of critics for his fiction and non-fiction alike during his long life—but his work deserves greater appreciation today.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
Lift high the cross
A Reflection for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, by James T. Keane
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Remembering Edward Schillebeeckx: the theologian working from the shadows of Vatican II
Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P., wasn’t officially a ‘peritus’ at the Second Vatican Council, but that didn’t stop him from having a powerful influence on the council and on church theology for decades afterward.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
‘If we don’t get Jesus right, we won’t get the church right’: The life and teaching of Gerald O’Collins, S.J.
Gerald O’Collins, S.J., the Australian Jesuit theologian who died last week, was a prominent writer in Christology, ecclesiology, spirituality and more in an academic career that spanned seven decades.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Elizabeth Ann Seton did more for the U.S. church than any bishop (according to a bishop)
Elizabeth Ann Seton has only officially been a saint for 49 years, a blink of an eye in the timeline of the church. But in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, she is a towering figure.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The British Fulton Sheen: What Catholics should know about C. C. Martindale, S.J.
C. C. Martindale, S.J., played an important role in the life of the Catholic Church in Great Britain in the 20th century—and brought more than a few seekers along with him.