From Our Archives

A disease outbreak is a story we can really get into. The invisible micro-organism lodges itself inside a human host and travels undetected among the teeming masses—until it decides to reveal itself and bring humanity to its knees. The narrative is powerful. Other people, who should be sources

Soon after the death of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in December 1972, America devoted an entire issue to his life and work. The idea for the special issue, published on March 10, 1973, came from John C. Haughey, S.J., an associate editor, who explained that anyone who knew Rabbi Heschel “sens

Winston Churchill’s childhood, at least the first “wavering lights and shadows of dawning consciousness,” as he put it, began in the most unlikely of places: Éire. “My earliest memories are Ireland,” he explained in his autobiography. “I can recall scenes and eve

Fifty years ago this fall, the Democrats won their highest percentage ever in a presidential election, and Catholics formed the party’s bedrock constituency. Still reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Catholics voted for his successor, Lyndon Johnson, by a margin of three to one

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis urged protesters to turn away from violence as a new round of protests began over the shooting death of African-American teenager Michael Brown this past summer in the small town of Ferguson.The protests were to take place not only in Ferguson, where Brown w

Poverty, in particular understanding its root causes and finding innovative ways to reduce it, was the focus of Catholic Charities USA's annual national gathering Oct. 4-7 in Charlotte.Discussions had extra urgency given the stagnating number of Americans living at or below the poverty line.&quo

Not since the Second Vatican Council has a gathering of representatives of the world’s Catholic bishops sparked such interest and controversy as the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family, which opened in the Vatican on Oct. 5. While the agenda is very wide,

Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a two-part series. We asked two prominent members of Congress, both Catholics with famous names, to respond to Pope Francis’ repeated calls to empower the poor. The first response, by Congressman Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, appeared on

These comments were delivered by James Alison for "The Ways of Love,” an international conference towards pastoral care with homosexual and trans people, held in Rome on October 3, 2014 in advance of the Synod of Bishops on the Family.I’d like to ask you to join me as we imagine our