Of Many Things
Matt Malone, S.J.: Christmas reminds us that there is only one redeemer (and it’s not the president)
The United States is a unique achievement in a fallen world.
Your Take
Your Take: Reactions to the 2020 Election
A selection of reader reactions to the 2020 election.
Editorials
The McCarrick Report lacked an independent investigator. It shows.
The church has come forth with a substantial public report that admits failure and injustice.
Joe Biden has a mandate: to heal our wounded and divided nation
This is a victory for the entire country, and the men and women who won office must now govern for the entire country.
Short Take
Life without parole is a ‘secret death penalty.’ It’s also against Catholic teaching.
In “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis writes that punishment must include “healing and reintegration into society.” A sentence of life without parole, writes Nicholas Goldrosen, violates this principle.
Dispatches
Pandemic Accounting: Need is up, charitable giving is down as Covid-19 crisis continues
At the same time that the Covid-19 crisis has driven up the need for direct services from charities, it has depressed the dollar amounts in donations they are likely to receive.
The McCarrick Report and Pope John Paul II: Confronting a saint’s tarnished legacy
St. John Paul II knew about the Theodore McCarrick sex abuse allegations—and promoted him anyway. Why?
Where homosexuality is still illegal, Pope Francis has thrown a lifeline to L.G.B.T. Catholics
“It definitely will save lives, especially in countries where there is active persecution of L.G.B.T.Q. people.”
Nigeria’s Catholic leaders call for an end to crackdown on #EndSARS protestors
The demands of the demonstrators have quickly expanded into a broad critique of government corruption, incompetence and impunity as human rights abuses and economic malaise continues in Nigeria.
The little town of Bethlehem is slowly getting smaller because of expanding Israeli settlements.
According to the Oslo Accords, Israel retains control over security and land management in “Area C,” 60 percent of the West Bank, where Mr. Abu Eid’s orchard is located. He feels his land is under constant threat of confiscation by Israel.
The Catholic Church in Latin America is losing control of the pro-life movement. Can it win it back?
New social actors, especially evangelical Protestant groups and right-wing movements, have joined the debate on the liberalization of abortion law.
GoodNews
Pope Francis meets with the missionary priest freed after two years of captivity
Recalling his abduction and two-year captivity, Father Maccalli told Vatican News that during that time, “tears were my bread for many days and were my prayer when I didn’t know what to say.”
Features
The single life is a sacred vocation—and it’s more fulfilling than our culture leads you to believe.
A willingness to recognize the holiness of the ordinary might be the highest ideal of the solitary life.
A Kansas priest’s quest to canonize a Korean War hero
A Korean War hero, the Rev. Emil Kapaun is now a candidate for sainthood, but the process is long and complicated.
Faith and Reason
What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
What role does religion have to play for a leader facing his darkest hours? In the midst of civil war, in the valley of despair, Abraham Lincoln grappled with this question.
Faith in Focus
St. Hildegard gives us a recipe for joy—even during a pandemic
Hildegard von Bingen’s five ingredients for an abundant life.
Ideas
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (maybe) spoke with the dead
‘The root of Spiritism…is the diseased moral condition of the age,’ one Catholic author wrote.
Books
Review: Yaa Gyasi’s fully human characters
Come to Yaa Gyasi’s fiction, all you who are weary and burdened, and she will give you heartbreak.
Review: Life is dull. Enjoy it anyway.
Anne Tyler’s new novel can help us realize that life often is not spectacular or about jumping from one big event to the next.
Review: Marilynne Robinson returns to Gilead
Those familiar with the Gilead story will find in Marilynne Robinson’s latest novel another beautiful meditation on grace operative in spite of habits of despair and the social sins that feed them.
Los Angeles: a city of faith, beauty and pain
A longtime historian of Los Angeles explores and deconstructs the mythical city of boosters, developers and “perpetual reinvention.”
The art of book reviewing
If you think being a writer is nerve-wracking, try being a reviewer.
Music
A brief history of ‘O Holy Night,’ the rousing Christmas hymn that garnered mixed reviews
“It might be a good thing to discard this piece whose popularity is becoming unhealthy,” one early critic wrote.
Poetry
After the Diamond Sutra
there is only one way to pray
The Lamb and Where it Went
Christ bursts into the manger, quickened into cows
The Word
Do you treat your neighbors and community as family? The Gospel says you should.
Today’s readings should inspire us to strengthen connections with our own families and communities.
What can you do to bless others?
These readings just before Christmas help us think about Jesus’ heritage, significance and important people in his family.
Who in your life sheds light on God’s word?
Paul affirms the importance of critical thinking and discernment.
Listening to the prophets of our time
These readings just before Christmas help us think about Jesus’ heritage, significance and important people in his family.
Last Take
The U.S. bishops should find ways to collaborate with Joe Biden (and not alienate him)
As only the second Catholic president, Joe Biden can renew communication and collaboration with church leaders, writes J. Kevin Appleby. But only if mutual respect prevails.
Faith
The single life is a sacred vocation—and it’s more fulfilling than our culture leads you to believe.
A willingness to recognize the holiness of the ordinary might be the highest ideal of the solitary life.
Do you treat your neighbors and community as family? The Gospel says you should.
Today’s readings should inspire us to strengthen connections with our own families and communities.
What can you do to bless others?
These readings just before Christmas help us think about Jesus’ heritage, significance and important people in his family.
Who in your life sheds light on God’s word?
Paul affirms the importance of critical thinking and discernment.
Listening to the prophets of our time
These readings just before Christmas help us think about Jesus’ heritage, significance and important people in his family.
St. Hildegard gives us a recipe for joy—even during a pandemic
Hildegard von Bingen’s five ingredients for an abundant life.
A Kansas priest’s quest to canonize a Korean War hero
A Korean War hero, the Rev. Emil Kapaun is now a candidate for sainthood, but the process is long and complicated.
Pope Francis meets with the missionary priest freed after two years of captivity
Recalling his abduction and two-year captivity, Father Maccalli told Vatican News that during that time, “tears were my bread for many days and were my prayer when I didn’t know what to say.”
The McCarrick Report lacked an independent investigator. It shows.
The church has come forth with a substantial public report that admits failure and injustice.
The McCarrick Report and Pope John Paul II: Confronting a saint’s tarnished legacy
St. John Paul II knew about the Theodore McCarrick sex abuse allegations—and promoted him anyway. Why?
What Abraham Lincoln found reading the Book of Job amid civil war
What role does religion have to play for a leader facing his darkest hours? In the midst of civil war, in the valley of despair, Abraham Lincoln grappled with this question.
Where homosexuality is still illegal, Pope Francis has thrown a lifeline to L.G.B.T. Catholics
“It definitely will save lives, especially in countries where there is active persecution of L.G.B.T.Q. people.”
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts