Of Many Things
What our legislators need to do to break the pattern of mass shootings
Again, the bullet. Again, the agony. We are repeating the day over and over, writes Matt Malone, S.J.
Letters
The Letters
A Spiritual Work of Mercy Re “The Catholic High School That Holds Funerals for Homeless Veterans,” by Michael Kotsopoulos (5/26): Great article, very well written and a great message both in the article and in what those young men are doing! I think this is also a great idea for a volunteer program and experience…
Your Take
What’s your favorite hymn?
Do you have a “guilty pleasure” hymn that you love?
Editorials
The Editors: The church and state can still learn from each other
Religious liberty and the relationship between church and state are two issues that have long vexed the Catholic Church, particularly since the Enlightenment.
Short Take
How to get more people to sing at Mass: Stop adding new hymns
A supposed need for variety imposes more and more hymns on congregants, but the cost of novelty can be the full, active participation of those in the pews, writes John Zupez, S.J.
Dispatches
Parishes without pastors decline, but only because more churches have closed
The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.
The Vanier model for living with the disabled takes root
At a new residential complex in North Carolina, graduate students and adults with developmental disabilities share living quarters and meet in prayer.
How a Brussels church became a home for Latin American refugees
In a country where the Hispanic community is dispersed and Latin American restaurants and organizations are few, Notre Dame aux Riches Claires is the go-to gathering place for migrants and refugees who want to be reminded of home.
Despite far-right gains in European election, there is hope for Pope Francis’ new humanism
The big story in the European elections, writes Austen Ivereigh, was the collapse of the centrist governing coalition, with a multiplicity of small parties on the rise. One hopeful sign: A record voter turnout.
Poll: Canadians say the Catholic Church has failed in its sex abuse response
In the survey conducted online in early May and just published by the British Columbia-based Angus Reid Institute, 78 percent of all Canadians (including non-Catholics) gave the church a poor grade.
Features
Can the technology behind Bitcoin be used to build a belief system?
Bitcoin has value because people believe in it and evangelize it, and the more that value increases, the more incentive there is to evangelize it.
Can common sense fix our broken democracy?
Most Americans want Washington to change how it works. But attacking Washington is like punching into fog.
Faith and Reason
Pope Francis calls us to build bridges. Let’s start in our parishes.
We do not join with one another to be politically correct or to celebrate diversity. We do so because we believe that salvation is communal.
Faith in Focus
In a church without priests, I cannot find redemption: a response to James Carroll
James Carroll’s article gives no hint that we are all, in fact, sinners in need of salvation; he argues that the only thing lay Catholics need to be saved from is Catholicism itself.
Meet the Catholic graffiti artist who created a giant St. Thomas Aquinas mural in Texas
The final design of the graffiti mural, along with the choice of artist to paint it, were great ways to highlight the bold moves the university was making.
Ideas
Questioning the narrative about the Treaty of Versailles
The treaty’s offhand attitude toward the non-European world stirred up resentments that lingered for decades.
Books
Review: Roger Angell’s love for our national pastime
Joe Bonomo’s well-written take on Roger Angell’s musings on baseball.
Review: A new biography shares the endearing human side of Raymond E. Brown
A devotee of the opera, Brown eagerly gave tickets to his students, hoping to get them totally immersed in the arias he loved.
Review: Can the university be sacred space for reasoned discourse?
John Sexton’s passion and commitment are infectious, and one cannot help hoping along with him that our universities will be able to realize the great aspirations that he has for them.
Review: James Cone, the father of Black theology
James Cone’s autobiography shows that theology does not arrive out of a sterile doctrinal laboratory but from the pains, sufferings and triumphs of the people of God.
Television
‘Fleabag,’ or, in praise of cool priests who swear
The priest in “Fleabag” is of a type that has become, surprisingly, quite common in film and on television
Poetry
St. Perpetua/St. Felicity
The pain wasn’t in dying/ but in belief in you, that you required of me
The Word
A relationship with Jesus will always lead to mission.
Jesus’ determination to travel to Jerusalem is the pivot on which Luke’s Gospel turns.
Even when it costs, discipleship leads to joy.
Taking up the proclamation of God’s reign placed the disciples in an unexpectedly rich relationship with God and the world.
Last Take
How my mother helped mentor the first female president of Loyola University New Orleans
Tania is the first woman and the first layperson to lead the university since it was founded by the Jesuits in 1912, writes Cokie Roberts.
Faith
Parishes without pastors decline, but only because more churches have closed
The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.
What’s your favorite hymn?
Do you have a “guilty pleasure” hymn that you love?
The Vanier model for living with the disabled takes root
At a new residential complex in North Carolina, graduate students and adults with developmental disabilities share living quarters and meet in prayer.
A relationship with Jesus will always lead to mission.
Jesus’ determination to travel to Jerusalem is the pivot on which Luke’s Gospel turns.
Even when it costs, discipleship leads to joy.
Taking up the proclamation of God’s reign placed the disciples in an unexpectedly rich relationship with God and the world.
Pope Francis calls us to build bridges. Let’s start in our parishes.
We do not join with one another to be politically correct or to celebrate diversity. We do so because we believe that salvation is communal.
Poll: Canadians say the Catholic Church has failed in its sex abuse response
In the survey conducted online in early May and just published by the British Columbia-based Angus Reid Institute, 78 percent of all Canadians (including non-Catholics) gave the church a poor grade.
In a church without priests, I cannot find redemption: a response to James Carroll
James Carroll’s article gives no hint that we are all, in fact, sinners in need of salvation; he argues that the only thing lay Catholics need to be saved from is Catholicism itself.
How to get more people to sing at Mass: Stop adding new hymns
A supposed need for variety imposes more and more hymns on congregants, but the cost of novelty can be the full, active participation of those in the pews, writes John Zupez, S.J.
Meet the Catholic graffiti artist who created a giant St. Thomas Aquinas mural in Texas
The final design of the graffiti mural, along with the choice of artist to paint it, were great ways to highlight the bold moves the university was making.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts