The Rev. Thomas J. Shelley, who died on Monday, taught generations of priests, men and women religious and lay scholars the ins and outs of Catholic history.
James T. Keane
James T. Keane is a Senior Editor at America.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
When Jesus shows his human side
A Reflection for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, by James T. Keane
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Christopher Lasch: the critic of American life beloved by traditionalist Catholics and Marxists alike
Christopher Lasch’s writings are cited by everyone from the most fervent cultural conservatives to dyed-in-the-wool Marxists—and he had much to say about modern American culture.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
When the (books about) saints go marching in
All Saints Day is a day to venerate holy men and women—and also to recognize the saints in our midst, complicated though they might be.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
A Catholic guide to Halloween reading
From Edgar Allan Poe to Dean Koontz to Flannery O’Connor, America’s editors and contributors are not (always) afraid of some horror.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The spiritual depths of Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison’s fiction conveyed much of the pain, sacrifice and trauma that exemplifies so much of the African-American experience—which is why it makes some white readers uncomfortable.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
The danger of building monuments to saints and heroes—without teaching their message
A Reflection for Thursday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time, by James T. Keane
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
30 years ago, Sinéad O’Connor ripped up a photo of JPII on stage. What should Catholics make of her protest today?
Sinéad O’Connor’s provocative appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live’ 30 years ago drew cries of outrage. But was some of her anger justified?
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Yes, J. F. Powers wrote about priests. But his real subject was America.
Powers’s chosen subjects—in cassocks or nay—are inevitably All-American, and his stories are careful studies of American mid-century life and ambition.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
God’s grump: The irascible Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh’s reputation has endured for almost a century as other novelists have fallen out of fashion. It wasn’t because everyone thought him a jolly fellow.