If almost a decade of watching “Game of Thrones” has taught me anything, it’s that fairy tale endings are for children.
Jim McDermott
Jim McDermott writes about pop culture at jimmcdermott.substack.
Posted inFaith, Features
Men are struggling with their spirituality. Can the Catholic Church help?
The last year has witnessed the rise of an extraordinary international conversation around gender and power. In this watershed moment, where is the church? And how can it help?
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
How the University of San Francisco became the first Jesuit university to go carbon neutral
The Jesuit university has achieved carbon neutrality through energy efficiency and also through the financial support of reforestation projects and other green initiatives around the world.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
On ‘Game of Thrones,’ Jesus Christ is a girl on a dragon
Daenerys Targaryen embodies the element that makes the show so deeply compelling, namely, the quest to throw off the debilitating chains of social convention.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
L.A. County Jail begins a mental health renovation
County supervisors approved $2.2 billion in June 2018 to build a replacement with the notable amendment that the new facility would be designed with a focus on mental health and rehabilitation.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
‘Catastrophe’ looks at humanity in all its messiness
The hit Amazon show asks: Can we really just be unapologetically ourselves?
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Why HBO’s “Leaving Neverland” is difficult—and necessary—to watch
Anyone watching “Leaving Neverland” should come away with one fundamental question, and for Catholics, it is a familiar one: How did we not see this coming?
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Cardinal Mahony pressured to withdraw from L.A. Congress over handling of sex abuse crisis
“We respect him and his office,” she told America. “But right now the issue of clergy sexual abuse is so much in the news, and the issue of covering up.” Cardinal Mahony, she said, is a “symbol of this.”
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Explainer: The context and history of the Cardinal Pell verdict
There are elements in the trial of Cardinal Pell that do not easily translate to a U.S. context, including a media blackout and the cardinal’s long history with the issues of sexual abuse and cover-up.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
The unfortunate similarities between ‘Russian Doll’ and today’s Catholic Church
Like a new Netflix series, the church today seems caught in an endless loop of accusations and revelations.