Of Many Things
History in the making at America Magazine
Magazines like America are not really the first draft of history. But from time to time, when the publishing planets align, we break news as well as analyze it.
Letters
The Letters
Thank you, Father Martin, for articulating so eloquently the consistent ethic of life expressed by our Catholic social teaching.
Your Take
What are you reading this Lent?
“For many years, I read only the weekly readings at Mass. As I got older, I became a lot more engaged in reading and meditating on what I read.”
Editorials
Editors: The problem is not just whom we elect, but how we vote
The health of U.S. democracy demands attention to its electoral mechanics. Both candidates and voters should prioritize improving elections.
The church needs lay Catholic leaders to heal the wounds of sexual abuse
Lay Catholics are ready to lend their expertise, leadership and prayers to heal the wounds inflicted on children and the church by abusers and the leaders who failed to stop them.
Short Take
Even at Catholic high schools, college is not for everyone
Catholic high schools should not be limited to the college-bound. In order to serve all communities, they must also serve students who wish to avoid college debt and to go straight into the workforce.
Dispatches
Survey: More than a third of U.S. Catholics question loyalty in wake of scandals
A new survey reveals that more U.S. Catholics are questioning whether they should remain in the church today than when news of the “Spotlight” child sex abuse scandal broke in the Boston Archdiocese in 2002.
Fear of the future unites Yellow Vests and climate change protesters
France’s Yellow Vest movement, sparked by a fuel tax increase, wants to be heard by the government. So do the students protesting climate change. The church says that both can find hope in “Laudato Si’.”
Asylum seekers find a temporary home in the ‘Casa Alitas’ monastery
Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona moved the Casa Alitas shelter for asylum seekers to the monastery in January. Their previous location in Tucson was not big enough to accommodate the influx of asylum seekers.
As Trudeau fights to survive, resignation of A.G. distresses Indigenous people
Ms. Wilson-Raybould resigned from her post in the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 12 over what she called pressure to go easy on bribery and fraud charges against the Quebec-based multinational engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
‘We dare not fail’: Australia’s top bishop on the church’s sex abuse crisis
After the Vatican’s historic summit on the sexual abuse of children, Archbishop Mark Coleridge says “the mission of the church” is at stake.
Features
Can better corporate organization humanize the marketplace? Kickstarter is finding out.
Kickstarter is one of a small but growing number of entities, known as “benefit corporations” or “public benefit corporations,” that are ushering in a new approach to business.
Exclusive: Inside the election of Pope Francis
For the first time, the inside story of the election of Pope Francis, excerpted from a new book by America’s Vatican correspondent.
Faith and Reason
What does Catholic Social Teaching say about the economy? It’s more complicated than you think.
Catholic social thought has much to teach us about how to balance our commitment to the common good with contemporary economic practices and structures.
Faith in Focus
I learned on Holy Thursday that in times of trouble, women know the way out
That woman is in so many parishes, right there beneath the exit sign and almost out the door, singing while the roof gets ripped off and the sky falls.
Books
Review: Luke and Paul on the road
“No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition,” wrote George Bernard Shaw in ”Androcles and the Lion,” “than Paul boldly set it on its legs again in the name of Jesus.” Shaw’s line captures the outsize and frankly uneasy influence that St. Paul had on the early church. Though the apostle’s letters comprise almost…
Review: The problematic fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce
Colm Tóibín may have you reaching for your abandoned copy of “The Importance of Being Earnest” or “Dubliners,” even if you have not touched those books since high school.
Review: Michelle Obama in her own words
Michelle Obama’s autobiography is a powerful demonstration of what a strong woman can make of a “reluctantly” public life.
Christian belief requires transformation, not facile compromise.
Our shared faith in Christ is a precious inheritance that can by no means be taken for granted but must be re-appropriated ever anew.
Film
Why Jesus movies should be strange
The oddities of Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ should not be dismissed as defects.
Television
The unfortunate similarities between ‘Russian Doll’ and today’s Catholic Church
Like a new Netflix series, the church today seems caught in an endless loop of accusations and revelations.
Theater
A new production tells the story of Father Tolton, the slave who became a priest
“His story is so triumphal in the sense of what he was eventually able to do,” responding to persecution and oppression with an outpouring of love.
Poetry
As I Lie Dying
I request a touch of the oils from a stand-in
The Word
Conversion is the true goal of biblical law.
Do you treat God’s law as a tool for conversion or for retribution?
How can we turn our divided hearts to God?
How can you emulate Jesus’ unwavering obedience to God?
Last Take
Here’s why Catholics are called to think about death—daily
The practice of remembering death may sound grim, but not so long ago, it was considered an essential part of the Christian tradition.
Faith
Conversion is the true goal of biblical law.
Do you treat God’s law as a tool for conversion or for retribution?
How can we turn our divided hearts to God?
How can you emulate Jesus’ unwavering obedience to God?
The church needs lay Catholic leaders to heal the wounds of sexual abuse
Lay Catholics are ready to lend their expertise, leadership and prayers to heal the wounds inflicted on children and the church by abusers and the leaders who failed to stop them.
What does Catholic Social Teaching say about the economy? It’s more complicated than you think.
Catholic social thought has much to teach us about how to balance our commitment to the common good with contemporary economic practices and structures.
History in the making at America Magazine
Magazines like America are not really the first draft of history. But from time to time, when the publishing planets align, we break news as well as analyze it.
I learned on Holy Thursday that in times of trouble, women know the way out
That woman is in so many parishes, right there beneath the exit sign and almost out the door, singing while the roof gets ripped off and the sky falls.
Exclusive: Inside the election of Pope Francis
For the first time, the inside story of the election of Pope Francis, excerpted from a new book by America’s Vatican correspondent.
Survey: More than a third of U.S. Catholics question loyalty in wake of scandals
A new survey reveals that more U.S. Catholics are questioning whether they should remain in the church today than when news of the “Spotlight” child sex abuse scandal broke in the Boston Archdiocese in 2002.
Here’s why Catholics are called to think about death—daily
The practice of remembering death may sound grim, but not so long ago, it was considered an essential part of the Christian tradition.
‘We dare not fail’: Australia’s top bishop on the church’s sex abuse crisis
After the Vatican’s historic summit on the sexual abuse of children, Archbishop Mark Coleridge says “the mission of the church” is at stake.
Christian belief requires transformation, not facile compromise.
Our shared faith in Christ is a precious inheritance that can by no means be taken for granted but must be re-appropriated ever anew.
Magazine
The Letters
Thank you, Father Martin, for articulating so eloquently the consistent ethic of life expressed by our Catholic social teaching.
What are you reading this Lent?
“For many years, I read only the weekly readings at Mass. As I got older, I became a lot more engaged in reading and meditating on what I read.”
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts