Who Am I to Lead?: Female leadership for the 21st-century church
Carolyn Woo did not grow up imagining herself in a leadership role in the Catholic Church. But now she is president and chief executive officer of Catholic Relief Services, the international aid organization that reaches 93 countries and nearly 100 million of the world’s poorest people each ye
Your Average American Catholic: A model citizen for a diverse church
What does the typical American Catholic look like? Surveys conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate tell us she is a 48-year-old, non-Hispanic white, married woman with a Catholic spouse. She is of the post-Vatican II generation (born between 1961 and 1981). Born in 1968, she i
A Call to Virtue: Living the Gospel in the land of liberty
Pope Francis has declared that the joy of the Gospel can help the world to overcome the globalization of indifference to others. Undoubtedly, he will bring this message when he visits the United States. But when he does, he will face a society in thrall to a different idea—that of the unaliena
The Migrants’ Lament: Imagining their plight requires only a little heart and faith
Refugees and immigrants can be found all around the world. Some nations open their arms to them; others raise their fists. Some welcome them; others reject them and turn them away. Yet immigrants and refugees continue to arrive, seeking asylum, searching for security, wanting a decent life.When I se
Relying on Each Other: Catholic couples discuss the realities of natural family planning.
Pope Francis opened the Synod of Bishops on the Family with a call for open and sincere discussion of challenges facing the family, and in many ways, the synod delivered that. Yet transcripts of the testimonies given by the half-dozen married couples chosen to speak at the synod reveal that the
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
A portrait of the church Pope Francis will encounter in the United States this September.
Letters
Reply All
Religious Freedom FactsRe “Bridging Our Divisions” (Editorial, 4/27): It is indeed unfortunate, but not unpredictable, that “religious liberty has become a partisan issue.” The legal adage quoted by Justice Ginsburg in her dissent to the Hobby Lobby case, “Your right to
Editorials
Fair Trade, Not Free Trade
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is shifting traditional partisan battle lines in Washington.
Books
Mirror, Mirror
‘The Americanization of Narcissism,’ by Elizabeth Lunbeck
An Examined Life
In Fallen Leaves Will Durant best known for the best-selling History of Philosophy and popular 14-volume History of Civilization seeks to express ldquo how I feel now that I have one foot in the grave about those ultimate riddles I dealt with so recklessly years ago hellip rdquo including li
Painful Blessings
‘Lila,’ by Marilynne Robinson
Theater
In Her Majesty’s Service: ‘The Audience’ takes a closer look at Queen Elizabeth
‘The Audience’ takes a closer look at Queen Elizabeth
Poetry
Letter Written After Leaving Fresno
I’ll return for one night, carrying youpapaya. Thickly cut. Resembling driftwood scattered below the parking lotI can see from Sacramento’s river bridges. I’m taking I-5 south to 99. Cut tomatoskins roll in foil. My chest drops like ocean swells I could onlysee once
The Word
The Spirit of Truth Comes
The Greek word pneuma can be translated ldquo wind breath or spirit rdquo So when the sound at the door is ldquo like the rush of a violent wind rdquo you should answer and you had better be prepared to have your world turned upside down Or right-side up Because according to the Acts of…
Current Comment
Current Comment
The riots in Baltimore are a symptom of a national economic, racial and moral disease.
Faith
Five Minutes With Francis: What would you say to the pope?
Pope Francis’ penchant for cold-calling Catholics has become a well-known sign of his warmth, candor and attention to individuals. And although not everyone can expect to receive a personal phone call from the pope it does not hurt to be prepared. So we asked a few members of the fai
Of Other Things
In Our Sons’ Names
An intimate glimpse into the lives of two parents whose son was killed on Sept. 11.
Signs Of the Times
News Briefs
Catholic workers in the contested region of Abyei, who complained in April that the world has lost interest in the unresolved border feud between Sudan and South Sudan, are launching new efforts to make peace between the two ethnic groups that claim the isolated region. • For a Vatican charity
Archbishop Lori Seeks to Return Hope to ‘Two Baltimores’
Three days after Archbishop William Lori’s city of Baltimore was rocked by civil unrest that began as a young man who died while in police custody was laid to rest, the archbishop was pondering how the local church could respond to the crisis in the city’s streets.“We’re not
Defending Serra
Defining Blessed Junípero Serra as a “working-class missionary,” Archbishop José H. Gómez of Los Angeles said the 18th-century Franciscan deserves to be made a saint and to have his record as a defender of native peoples made known. Pope Francis’ announcement that he will canoni
Vatican Wants Action On Climate Change
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is banking on Pope Francis to be a unifying moral force to get the world onboard in the fight against global warming. He spoke at the Vatican on April 28 at an international gathering about the moral dimensions of climate change and sustainable development. “
Progress in Panama
Since its launch in 1994 the Summit of the Americas had become best known for two very dismal features.
Nepal Response
Caritas aid missions are reporting that villages in remote areas of Nepal have been utterly devastated by the earthquake. Speaking from Pokhari Danda in Gorkha, about seven miles from the epicenter, Stefen Teplan of Caritas Germany said: “Sixty percent of the village is destroyed. More than fo
Remembering Sister Mary Ann
Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a journalist and a longtime spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, died on April 28, succumbing to a recurring cancer. True to form, she transformed her last days into an opportunity for a final lesson in living with dignity and grace.She described her experi
Vatican Dispatch
Address the Root Causes
The drowning of 900 migrants from many countries in the Mediterranean on the night of April 18 jolted consciences worldwide. It was but the latest, though the worst, in a series of similar tragedies in the sea between North Africa and Europe in recent years: 3,200 drowned last year, over 1,700 so fa
Washington Front
Forming Catholic Voters
We should avoid the temptation to adapt our faith to advance our politics.
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Culture
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Scripture
Podcasts