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In his apostolic exhortation on evangelization, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote about the centrality of dialogue with the world for evangelization. We must dialogue, he insisted, even with those who hold erroneous views, because they possess insights that are gifts for us as

After much free and honest talk—what Pope Francis in his final address to the Synod on the Family last October praised as “a spirit of collegiality and synodality”—and the revelation of significant divisions among the world’s bishops, we now await the ongoing discussion

The words had a vaguely alien sound: postcolonial, mujerista, queer, eco-theological. But as I sat on our theology department’s hiring committee and read applicants’ dossiers, it was clear that the thinking behind these labels is shaping the work of many who are finishing doctoral studie

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, is head of the German bishops’ conference, a member of the Council of Cardinals that advises Pope Francis on church governance, coordinator of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy and author of Das Kapital: A Plea for Man (

Read America's full coverage of Pope Francis' trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, led by America correspondent Gerard O'Connell.   [View the story “Pope Francis visits Sri Lanka, Philippines next” on Storify]

On January 14, Pope Francis will go to Madhu. Madhu is Sri Lanka’s holiest Catholic shrine, home to Our Lady of Madhu, a statue of the Virgin Mary that was brought for safekeeping from the Dutch in the 17th century. Madhu is sacred to both Sinhalese and Tamil Catholics still trying to reconcile after more […]

Pope Francis will make his second trip to Asia, with stops in Sri Lanka and the Philippines, from Jan.12 to 19. Gerard O'Connell, America's Rome correspondent, is accompanying the pope and will provide ongoing coverage and analysis. O'Connell writes that "mercy and compass

Catholic social teaching on the rights of workers to organize is clear and consistent. “The repeated calls issued within the church’s social doctrine, beginning with ‘Rerum Novarum,’ for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights,” writes

Reflection on U.S. ‘racial divide’ is personal for Belleville’s bishop