The tale of a medieval woman’s decision to join the convent, Marj Charlier’s historical novel, ‘The Rebel Nun,’ resonates with many of the issues faced by the church in modern times.
Books
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Thomas Merton, unfiltered
Patrick Collins gives a close read of Thomas Merton’s correspondence in “A Focus on Truth: Thomas Merton’s Uncensored Mind.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Suffering, faith and perseverance: Ross Douthat chronicles his struggle with Lyme disease
In “The Deep Places,” Ross Douthat relates how an experience of illness and suffering can lead to a search for answers to more transcendent questions, including the meaning of suffering and the gift of perseverance.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Marshall McLuhan, the Catholic thinker who predicted the internet, spent his last days praying with a Jesuit
Marshall McLuhan, the pop culture sage of the electronic world, spent the final days of his life with Frank Stroud, S.J.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: These six Ugandan leaders have enacted the ideals of Catholic social teaching
In “For God and My Country: Catholic Leadership in Modern Uganda,” J. J. Carney profiles a strategy for being both Catholic and catholic—both uniquely ourselves and totally for the world.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Father Greg Boyle’s newest must-read asks Catholics to trade moral outrage for a moral compass
In his new book about the power of God’s radical love, Greg Boyle introduces readers to new experiences in his ministry to former gang members and teaches valuable lessons about inclusivity.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: How the Catholic Church did—and didn’t—respond to the AIDS crisis
In his book “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear,” Michael O’Loughlin has named some of the hidden glories of the Catholic Church’s responses to H.I.V./AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: In a dystopian future, a family navigates grief in the midst of political and environmental upheaval
The latest novel by Richard Powers, “Bewilderment,” is a meditation on love for our planet as well as our individual love for one another.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Andrew Sullivan’s writing on faith, sexuality and culture wars
Reading Andrew Sullivan’s collection, ‘Out on a Limb: Selected Writing, 1989-2021,’ made me realize I’d never heard Sullivan mentioned in conversations about Catholic writers. Why wasn’t he there? And why wasn’t I surprised?
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Sixty years later, ‘Black Like Me’ is still relevant for the Catholic Church
Sixty years after the publication of ‘Black Like Me,’ John Howard Griffin’s book can still be part of much-needed discussions of race for many white Americans who remain unaware of racism’s ongoing effects.