The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.
Robert David Sullivan
Robert David Sullivan is the production editor at America magazine. From 2013 to 2016 he wrote a political column called (Un)Conventional Wisdom.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
List: Taking the pulse of Catholic voters
Recent polls put U.S. Catholics squarely in the middle of the political spectrum (with a majority saying they will not support President Trump in 2020), but there are major differences between white and Hispanic Catholics.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
List: Catholic presidential candidates since J.F.K.
Joe Biden is joining the dozens of Catholics who have run for president since John F. Kennedy was in the White House, but only one so far has come close to winning.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Two U.S. churches: One is closing down parishes, the other is standing-room only
While the church continues to shut down parishes in the Rust Belt, a new wave of immigrants is contributing to an urgent demand for more pews in the South and West.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The big money behind March Madness
Watching the N.C.A.A. annual college basketball tournament has become a tradition for many Catholics. March Madness is also a huge moneymaker for everyone except the players.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
Jesuit effort brings food and health care to the margins in East Timor
Jesuit effort brings food and health care to the margins in East Timor At the top of a hillside in East Timor, Christina Da Cruz and her colleague Leonora Mendonsa slowly maneuver an aging four-wheel-drive stacked with plates, spoons and a massive pot of soupy stew to a halt by a small, whitewashed church atop […]
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Top 6 Catholic takeaways from President Trump’s State of the Union address
In his 82-minute address, President Trump devoted much of his time to attacks on illegal immigration, but he also called for a ban on late-term abortion and for family leave legislation.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
A Catholic travel itinerary
Americans are journeying abroad in record numbers. Here are some of the sites across the world of particular interest to Catholic travelers.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The most-viewed stories of 2018: Politics, the church in crisis and some much-needed comic relief
Brett Kavanaugh, Stephen Colbert and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were some of the names that attracted America readers and viewers in 2018, along with reporting from the Vatican and an essay about proper behavior in the pews.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Former President George H.W. Bush dies at age 94
Family spokesman Jim McGrath says Mr. Bush died shortly after 10 p.m., about eight months after the death of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who died on April 17, 2018, at the age of 92. They were the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history.