Of Many Things
When Father Malone is away, guest columnist James T. Keane will play ball.
Matt Malone, S.J., is traveling abroad. But I also suspect he let me be the pinch-hitter for this column in America’s special sports issue out of pity.
Your Take
Do you believe that sports build character?
When asked if sports build character, 75 percent of respondents said yes and 25 percent said no.
The Letters
God’s Creation Re “The Green New Deal Should Be Improved, Not Mocked” (Our Take, 3/4): It is clear to me that our entire civilization faces an imminent, existential threat and that its prevention is entirely feasible, yet kept out of reach by a powerful few. When I go to Mass, I do not hear from…
Editorials
How the apostolic preferences for the Society of Jesus guide America Media
America strives to understand and highlight the experiences of those on the margins.
The Editors: Trump’s national emergency declaration is dangerous for democracy
Above all, Mr. Trump’s action is dangerous because it is based on fear.
Short Take
Why boxing was the most Catholic sport for almost 100 years
As late as the 1970s, boxing saturated U.S. Catholic culture. It reinforced Catholic ideas about the redemptive value of physical suffering; it also offered a powerful form of assimilation to male Catholic immigrants.
Dispatches
The big money behind March Madness
Watching the N.C.A.A. annual college basketball tournament has become a tradition for many Catholics. March Madness is also a huge moneymaker for everyone except the players.
In the Philippines, a Duterte critic is charged with ‘cyber libel’
The Philippine journalist Maria Ressa was arrested on Feb. 13.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro is worried about a new ‘leftist’ insurgency: The Catholic Church.
Some members of the armed forces resent the influence and popularity of the Catholic Church in the Amazon.
GoodNews: How one Jesuit parish is bringing food and health care to the margins in East Timor
The Jesuit program’s emphasis on nutrition, health and education components is a trifecta of basic social needs that its sponsors say are essential for the nation’s future development.
After 10 days of protest, Haiti steps back from the brink
“The hour is serious, poverty is increasing; the common good is threatened,” Haiti’s bishops wrote. “The country is on the brink of collapse!”
Features
Meet the Vatican team running for the greater glory of God (and maybe the Olympics)
A new Vatican team supports fitness and the value of being Christian. And they just might make it to the Olympics someday.
Meet the most Catholic team in the N.H.L.
Despite its explicit Catholic attributes, N.H.L. players are not known for wearing religion on their sleeves the way players do in other sports leagues, like the National Football League or the National Basketball Association.
Faith and Reason
Cornel West and Robert P. George on Christian love in the public square
When it comes to improving the public discourse in the United States, is bringing back “civility” enough? Should we instead speak of restoring love to our political debates?
Faith in Focus
How Loyola Chicago’s Sister Jean prays—on and off the court
A conversation with the celebrity sister of college basketball
Turning down ESPN to work in campus ministry
Why did I choose ministry over sports media? For the love of the person, the whole person.
Ideas
A history of Catholic School Sports, From Babe Ruth to LeBron James
There is no way to explain the success of Catholic school athletes without taking into account a wide range of factors—historical, sociological and, yes, spiritual.
Books
Review: An authoritative guide to California’s most prominent political family
California governors Pat and Jerry Brown played pivotal roles in a startling array of events in the state’s history.
Review: The Boston Celtics’ glory and shame
Gary Pomerantz’s detailed exploration of Bob Cousy’s career touches on the heroic moments and the bitter failures of the Boston Celtics, including a shameful history of racial prejudice.
Review: The truth-telling poems of Frank Bidart
Frank Bidart tells us he came the closest to finding himself in his own poetry—and even then, not really.
Review: To hell and back
A comprehensive new book takes us all the way through Hell.
Art
“Confess”: The profoundly spiritual art exhibit tackling the abuse crisis
The idea of mounting an exhibition that takes on the crisis of abuse seems both essential for the Catholic community right now and near impossible to render palatable.. Trina McKillen’s “Confess” is now on view at L.M.U.’s Laband Art Gallery.
Music
Brandi Carlile’s Biblical imagination in ‘By the Way, I Forgive You’
What is there to gain from probing life’s wounds? Brandi Carlile has an answer in her new album.
Poetry
St. Brendan’s Round Boat
It wanted to turn, the stern rocking around to the front, taking the place of the bow, the bow to the stern, port to starboard
The Word
Why good things happen to bad people
Good things happen to bad people because God hopes for their transformation.
What the parable of the prodigal son can teach us about freedom, duty and love
In this parable, Luke presents a complex study of the interplay of freedom, duty and love.
Last Take
What running taught the ‘Iron Nun’ about aging
As I approach 90, I am less concerned with outward appearances—things like what I wear, how my hair looks, what others think of me—and more concerned with my inner life and how I relate to the world around me.
Faith
Meet the Vatican team running for the greater glory of God (and maybe the Olympics)
A new Vatican team supports fitness and the value of being Christian. And they just might make it to the Olympics someday.
Why good things happen to bad people
Good things happen to bad people because God hopes for their transformation.
What the parable of the prodigal son can teach us about freedom, duty and love
In this parable, Luke presents a complex study of the interplay of freedom, duty and love.
How Loyola Chicago’s Sister Jean prays—on and off the court
A conversation with the celebrity sister of college basketball
Why boxing was the most Catholic sport for almost 100 years
As late as the 1970s, boxing saturated U.S. Catholic culture. It reinforced Catholic ideas about the redemptive value of physical suffering; it also offered a powerful form of assimilation to male Catholic immigrants.
How the apostolic preferences for the Society of Jesus guide America Media
America strives to understand and highlight the experiences of those on the margins.
When Father Malone is away, guest columnist James T. Keane will play ball.
Matt Malone, S.J., is traveling abroad. But I also suspect he let me be the pinch-hitter for this column in America’s special sports issue out of pity.
What running taught the ‘Iron Nun’ about aging
As I approach 90, I am less concerned with outward appearances—things like what I wear, how my hair looks, what others think of me—and more concerned with my inner life and how I relate to the world around me.
Turning down ESPN to work in campus ministry
Why did I choose ministry over sports media? For the love of the person, the whole person.
Magazine
The Letters
God’s Creation Re “The Green New Deal Should Be Improved, Not Mocked” (Our Take, 3/4): It is clear to me that our entire civilization faces an imminent, existential threat and that its prevention is entirely feasible, yet kept out of reach by a powerful few. When I go to Mass, I do not hear from…
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts