Throughout his life, William Stringfellow was the modern incarnation of an Old Testament prophet, calling out lies and hypocrisy and demanding fidelity to the commandments of God.
James T. Keane
James T. Keane is a Senior Editor at America.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Al Smith and the first Catholic run at the White House
A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn’t know what an encyclical was.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
Genesis and… Jurassic Park?
A Reflection for Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, by James T. Keane
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
R.I.P. John Coleman, S.J., distinguished sociologist (and parish priest)
One of the nation’s most distinguished sociologists for many years and an expert on the relationship between religion and public life, the Rev. John A. Coleman died on Jan. 17, 2025 in Los Gatos, Calif., at the age of 87.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Octavia Butler: A Black science fiction writer who predicted today’s dire headlines
Octavia Butler, the Black science fiction writer who died in 2006, did not just create imaginary worlds with parallels to ours. Sometimes she created worlds that are eerily a little too much like our own.
Posted inLast Take, Politics & Society
Remembering Fay Vincent: MLB commissioner, baseball purist and friend of the Jesuits
It was with heavy hearts that we at ‘America’ learned of the death of Fay Vincent Jr. in Vero Beach, Fla., on Saturday at the age of 86.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Michael Longley’s poetry perfectly blends Irish political and pastoral themes
Michael Longley, the Irish poet whose long career included more than 40 books, died last week. He was lauded by literary, social and political figures alike for his many contributions to Irish literature and to the cause of social reconciliation.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
St. Paul’s reminders of humility
A Reflection for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, by James T. Keane
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Josephine Ward was one of British Catholicism’s leading lights—and a prolific novelist.
Josephine Ward was a strong critic of Catholic modernism, and many of her novels featured protagonists struggling to reconcile au courant political and religious ideas with the strictures of the Catholic Church.
Posted inFaith, Features
England’s ‘Catholic Moment’: What can the history of British converts tell us about American Catholics?
As our own cultural moment in the United States has included some prominent conversions to Catholicism, what might we learn from some of the more prominent converts in British Catholic history?