Whom Do You Follow?: Christian life in the age of Facebook and Twitter
Christians today are surrounded by the trappings of commercial culture and the constant allure of digital living. These can sometimes be terribly distracting, causing us to give more attention to our cultural life than our spiritual life. Yet Jesus tells us: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry
Take These Gifts: Women should have more leadership roles in the church.
When it comes to women and men in U.S. society, there is no equality yet. But in the United States, the church is ahead of most Fortune 500 companies and even the White House. When you look at the numbers and take ordination—a doctrinal question—off the table, women do better in the chur
Communion of Saints and Sinners: Loving an imperfect church
The church is full of sinners. On this much pretty much everyone can agree. If one took the secular media’s typical presentation of the church as truth, one might even think that the church is full of nothing but sinners. Actually, that too is true. What is less apparent is that those in the c
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
The media frequently ask if the church is still relevant in the modern world. This is my response.
Letters
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Life FormationRe “The Feminist Case Against Abortion," by Serrin M. Foster (1/19): The past has so much to teach us, and its lessons are essential to the life-long formation of the conscience and the soul. I am a cradle Catholic but, like many of my age, had fallen away from the church wh
Editorials
State of the Family
Affordable child care and paid medical leave are pro-life issues.
Books
Colonial Catholics
‘Papist Devils,’ by Robert Emmett Curran
A Midwestern Journey
‘Searching for Marquette,’ by Ruth D. Nelson
Traditional Wisdom
‘War’s Ends,’ by James G. Murphy
Theater
Truth and Daring: The provocative, gripping challenge of ‘Disgraced’
The provocative, gripping challenge of ‘Disgraced’
Poetry
God Watching
I’d been thinking of the veinsOn the back of the hand: A photo I’d seen of a womanClutching her baby in Darfur;An old man, eyes closed,Palming his forehead on the metro;Ignatius in the painting claspingA crucifix to his chest—the veins blue,Raised like mole-runs In soft e
The Word
The Joy of Wholeness
In Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism Jonathan Klawans outlines the differences between ritual impurity and moral impurity Moral impurity which includes acts like adultery and murder comprises a category of impure sinful acts Ritual impurity includes natural processes like childbirth marita
(Un)Conventional Wisdom
The Downside of Devolution
Greg Abbott, the new governor of Texas, is not happy with municipal government. Shortly before taking office, he complained about city restrictions on plastic bags, tree-cutting and fracking. “We’re forming a patchwork quilt of bans and rules and regulations that is eroding the Texas mod
Columns
Are We Safer?
Much as Americans might like to, we cannot kill our way to tranquillity and peace.
Current Comment
Current Comment
What we can learn from the complicated legacy and canonization of Junípero Serra
Generation Faith
Winter’s Thaw: Warming up to a strange new city
On Jan. 3, 2014, the air temperature in Minneapolis—without wind chill—was 10 degrees below zero—“good sleeping weather,” as we hardy Minnesotans like to say. Indeed, it was. I was thoroughly enjoying each night I spent burrowed under down feathers and fleece, warmed by
Of Other Things
A Poet’s Corner
‘There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” These famous words of Thomas Merton convey the vision he experienced standing on a street corner in Louisville, Ky., on March 18, 1958. It was 10 years and nine months before his untimely death, bu
Signs Of the Times
March In Washington Draws Young, Social Media Savvy Crowd
Using a phrase long associated with the civil rights movement, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley. O.F.M.Cap., of Boston told an overflow crowd in Washington, D.C. “We shall overcome” in the fight against abortion. In his homily on Jan. 21 during the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigi
Pope Francis: Our Man in Havana?
On the weekend after President Obama’s historic announcement on Dec. 17 that he wanted to re-establish diplomatic ties with communist Cuba, I visited a park in Miami’s Little Havana section.Cuban exiles were holding a protest against normalizing relations with Havana, which were severed
News Briefs
Minneapolis on Jan. 16 became the 12th U.S. Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy protection because of the unmanageable costs of settlements and future claims resulting from sexual abuse by clergy. • The number of people falling victim to the Ebola virus in West Africa—where at least 8
The Roots of Poverty
Families who have many children do not cause poverty, Pope Francis said. The main culprit is “an economic system that has removed the human person from its focus and has placed the god of money” as its priority instead, he said on Jan. 21. On the flight back from Manila to Rome, the pope
Western Forces Needed to Stop Boko Haram?
Underlining the failure of the Nigerian government to stop the violent rampage of Boko Haram, a Catholic bishop has called for Western military intervention. The Muslim militant group’s increasingly deadly assaults and expanded recruitment from countries across North Africa mean “a conce
Immigration Reform Is Pro-life Concern
A group of Catholic leaders urged fellow Catholics in Congress to set aside “partisan bickering” and support the U.S. bishops’ efforts on behalf of a comprehensive immigration reform, calling it a sanctity of life issue and an important step in building a culture of life. “Ou
Cardinal Marx At Stanford
An increasingly influential German cardinal spoke to a packed auditorium at Stanford University on Jan. 15 about the challenge of organizing a free and open society that is linked with the common good. “It is important for the church to be in the great questions of social justice,” said
Vatican Dispatch
The Pope in the Poncho
Under heavy rain Francis spoke from the heart to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.
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