Somehow, incredibly, this celibate, elderly man often doled out some of the best and most valuable parenting advice I’ve received along the way.
Faith in Focus
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How Pope Francis brought me back to the Catholic Church
I discovered that Catholicism could speak meaningfully to contemporary issues, that it could challenge power rather than embody it. I began to pay attention again.
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What a Spanish-speaking pope meant to my Spanish-speaking family
The language of our faith was Spanish. So you can imagine the fervor that erupted in our home when Papa Francisco was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013. I was only 10 years old at the time, but I already understood why this meant so much to us.
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What Pope Francis meant to me and the Muslim world
I never met Pope Francis, but I was one of millions who admired his work.
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What Pope Francis meant to kids like me
I know adults tell children not to take candy from strangers. But I decided to amend the rule: Never take candy from strangers unless that “stranger” is the pope!
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I’m a Gen-Z Catholic. Pope Francis changed my despair about the world into hope
For many Catholics older than me, Francis represented a cultural shift from previous pontificates. As a Gen-Z Catholic, Francis is the only pope I’ve known.
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Pope Francis changed my life—and the lives of countless L.G.B.T.Q. people
All of Pope Francis’ gestures, meetings and desires for encounter were themselves a form of “teaching.” And L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics and their families have told me repeatedly what a difference this change in approach has meant.
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I’m Catholic, and my wife is Protestant. Here’s what I’ve learned from my ecumenical marriage.
My Catholic identity and my wife’s Protestant identity continue to endure, and our faith has developed together in greater harmony, knowing that our love for each other was ultimately grounded in our love for God.
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What performing in a silent Stations of the Cross play taught me about slowing down
Lent, as a season of penance and preparation, served as the perfect time to push myself out of my spiritual and physical comfort zone––both for my own sake and for those coming to the performance.
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I went to the Met to look at Caspar David Friedrich’s landscapes. I didn’t expect to find my old Jesuit friend.
It was Drew Christiansen, S.J., even more than Thoreau or Aquinas, whom I was surprised to encounter amid the German landscapes on the Upper East Side.