There is no doubt that the attention that the podcast “Serial” brought to his case helped Adnan Syed, who was released from prison on Sept. 19.
Jim McDermott
Jim McDermott writes about pop culture at jimmcdermott.substack.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The Catholic Church has been banning books for centuries. Here’s what it can teach us about censorship today.
Groups calling for the removal of books from libraries and school curricula today would do well to consider the Catholic Church’s experiences with attempting to censor authors.
Posted inFaith, Ideas
Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ was fiction—but it depicted Queen Elizabeth’s very real Christian faith.
As the queen of England, Elizabeth served as the religious leader of the British Commonwealth and supreme governor of the Church of England—and she took that role very seriously.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
The cross is a reminder that God catches us when we fall
A Reflection for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, by Jim McDermott, S.J.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
So, you tuned out the news this summer. Here are 15 Catholic stories you might have missed.
Here are 15 big Catholic stories you might have missed from the last three months.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Review: ‘The Rings of Power’ will make you want to read Tolkien’s books again
The new “Lord of the Rings” prequel series is a confident, well-conceived and often gorgeous addition to the previously adapted work of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The missing piece of Shia LaBeouf’s conversation with Bishop Barron: the stories of abuse victims
There is no reason to doubt Bishop Barron’s good intentions. But his conversation with Shia LaBeouf offers another example of the kind of disregard for victims and women that is so often leveled against Catholic leaders.
Posted inArts & Culture, Theater
The strange, drama-filled trip of Broadway’s ‘Funny Girl’—and what it reveals about live theater
The revival of a 1964 musical is stumbling a bit—but then, the original had its own troubles.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
You’re not a Bad Catholic. You’re just in your ‘Sleepy Peter Era’
By calling that time or series of not great choices an “era,” you recontextualize that experience. It is something that happened at a point or during a period in time that is now, emphasis added, over.
Posted inFaith, Scripture Reflections
Mary, a different kind of queen
A Reflection for the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, by Jim McDermott, S.J.