

Which Side Are We On?: Catholic teachers and the right to unionize
Catholic social teaching on the rights of workers to organize is clear and consistent. “The repeated calls issued within the church’s social doctrine, beginning with ‘Rerum Novarum,’ for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights,” writes
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Standing for the Unborn: The Society of Jesus’ commitment to a consistent ethic of life
Letters
Reply All
Living LawRe “Has Natural Law Died?” by John J. Conley, S.J. (12/22): Speaking as a lawyer, I would argue that natural law is, for the first time in the last few centuries, actually starting to take hold—just not within the church. In particular, natural law concepts are now findin
Editorials
Torture Is Still With Us
The results of the Senate’s investigation into C.I.A. practices presents a serious moral challenge to all Americans.
Faith in Focus
Merton (Still) Matters: How the Trappist monk and author speaks to millennials
Jan. 31, 2015, would have marked the 100th birthday of the American Trappist monk and author Thomas Merton.
Books
Belief in Brotherhood
‘Malcolm X at Oxford Union,’ by Saladin Ambar
Mother McAuley’s Vision
‘Women of Faith,’ by Mary Beth Fraser Connolly
The Company Man
‘The Good Spy,’ by Kai Bird
Film
Up The Mountain: The powerful message of ‘Selma’
The powerful message of ‘Selma’
The Word
Following a Friend
When is the best time to repent Now Now is the time Now is always the time Who knows whether there will be time if you wait This seems to be the approach of the Ninevites who appear in the prophetic book of Jonah as the most eager of penitents Scholars do not see Jonah…
Tell Me the Good News
We are all formally students for some time in our lives and it is best to remain informal students throughout our lives for there is no point at which there is not something we can learn At the same time most of us function as teachers at many points in our lives some of us…
Columns
Internal Affairs
We’d all do well to hesitate before calling someone a criminal, before calling a cop a thug.
Current Comment
Current Comment
Isolation has been given 50 years to “work” in Cuba; that has been more than enough time to demonstrate its ineffectiveness.
Faith
The Feminist Case Against Abortion: the pro-life roots of the women’s movement
Properly defined, feminism is a philosophy that embraces basic rights for all human beings without exception.
Merton (Still) Matters: How the Trappist monk and author speaks to millennials
Jan. 31, 2015, would have marked the 100th birthday of the American Trappist monk and author Thomas Merton.
Of Other Things
Hip-Hop, My First Love
I remember the first time I heard Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues,” a song about winning and losing in life. I was 10 years old, attempting to explain the lyrics to my father. Sitting across from me in the kitchen of our old apartment, his acoustic guitar across his lap, my father respo
Signs Of the Times
Syria: Record Year of Suffering as War Takes a High Toll on Civilians
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights issued a depressing portrait on Jan. 1 of a year in death in Syria. According to the group’s tracking of the many casualties of the ongoing and complex conflict, the civil war in Syria claimed 76,021 lives in 2014. Its researchers acknowledged that this
Pope Names 15 Cardinals
Underscoring the geographical diversity of his selections, Pope Francis named 15 cardinal electors “from 14 nations of every continent, showing the inseparable link between the church of Rome and the particular churches present in the world.” The pope announced the names on Jan. 4 and sa
News Briefs
In his World Day of Peace address on Jan. 1, Pope Francis continued his promotion of a world free of human trafficking and modern forms of slavery, calling for a globalization of solidarity which rejects a globalization of indifference. • The Italian coast guard took control on Jan. 1 of a carg
Catholic Numbers Rise
The number of Catholics in the world has increased, with growth registered across all five continents, according to Vatican news agency Fides. The number of Catholics in the world stood at nearly 1.23 billion people, with an overall increase of more than 15 million over the 2013 numbers. The America
Career Interrupted
It’s your typical Hollywood story: In the late 1970s, a Jewish kid from Los Angeles answers an ad to work as secretary to a film producer. She wants to get in “the business,” but she doesn’t exactly have the pedigree. Dad’s an economist; Mom runs a bookstore. Growing up
Communion Change?
According to the findings of a German bishops’ report released on Dec. 22, most of the country’s 66 bishops now favor allowing divorced Catholics living in new civil unions to participate in confession and receive Communion in “particular justified instances.” The report said
Pastoral Workers: 26 Killed in Service to Church
Pope Francis expressed his “deep sadness” and condolences on Jan. 1 to the ecclesial community of the Diocese of Altamirano in Mexico after the murder of the Rev. Gregorio López Gorostieta, before urging “the priests and other missionaries of the diocese to continue their ecclesia
Vatican Dispatch
Francis Returns to Asia
Pope Francis’ second visit to Asia (Jan. 12 to 19)—to Sri Lanka and the Philippines—is about to take place as I write. I am one of some 70 reporters accompanying him and will report for America. Here I wish to simply highlight some similarities and differences between the two count






