Washington Front

Are our leaders ready for Pope Francis’ challenge to business as usual?

The year 2014 was an awful one for Washington, with too little leadership from the president and too much obstruction from Congress. I find liturgical litanies comforting, but 2014’s litany of Washington woes was demoralizing. The year was a roll call of crises, anger and sadness: Ferguson, &l

On the day after the midterm elections, pundits who misjudged the Republican wave confidently explained what it meant, Democrats played blame games and Republicans debated whether cooperation or confrontation is the best way forward. The sweeping Republican victory was shaped by history, geography a

72% of Americans think religion is losing influence—and most see this as a bad thing.

President Obama recently said, “If you watch the nightly news, it feels like the world is falling apart…. The world’s always been messy. We’re just noticing now in part because of social media.” Excuse me, but the problem is not increased awareness. The world is broken

Democrats are decrying a war on women and conservatives are predicting a war on Christians.

Will Republicans pay a price with their Catholic allies for failure to act?

Special interests with unlimited political money are more effective at stopping things than advancing them.

If you watch television, Washington is not only dysfunctional, but also depraved.

Today President Obama and Pope Francis met for the first time. John Carr discusses what the two leaders could learn from each other.