Of Many Things
The pilgrim believes you can find God in all things—even beyond the horizon
“Faith is the heart of the pilgrim, every pilgrim, the pilgrim’s modus operandi. Faith is our yes to what we know; but even more, it is our yes to what we don’t know—to all that is to come,” writes Matt Malone, S.J., in a homily he delivered in Ireland.
Your Take
Should the United States have a period of mandatory service for all citizens?
Many countries around the globe employ a system of mandatory national service for their citizens. We asked our readers: Is mandatory service for U.S. citizens a good idea?
Editorials
The Editors: The culture wars won’t stop the rise of the religiously unaffiliated
The Pew Research Center recently declared that so-called nones, or the religiously unaffiliated, make up 26 percent of the U.S. population, up from 17 percent only a decade ago.
The Editors: Unity and hope from the Amazon synod must speak louder than fear
One of the most significant questions we now face in the church is how to commit to the path of “synodal conversion,” overcoming fear and distrust.
Short Take
What Americans can learn from Northern Ireland: Walls make bad neighbors
The Troubles in Northern Ireland were worsened by the failure to build social bridges between Protestants and Catholics, write Joseph M. Brown and Gordon McCord. The lesson applies to divisions in our own time.
Dispatches
Whom do you trust to get the job done?
According to a new survey, a large share of U.S. Catholics still have doubts about the ability of religious leaders to admit and take responsibility for mistakes. But no one fares worse than members of Congress in terms of public trust.
Pope Francis: The church must listen to ‘the cry of the poor’
The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with the Amazon’s 34 million inhabitants.
Mexico’s fight against organized crime takes a dark turn after urban warfare in Culiacán
Mexico is on edge after a wave of violence hit the country last week, culminating in heavy fighting between the army and alleged members of organized crime in Culiacán, the capital of the northern state of Sinaloa, that lasted for hours on Oct. 17.
Erbil’s Archbishop Warda urges protection of innocent civilians in northern Syria
Bashar Warda, C.Ss.R., the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil in Iraqi-Kurdistan, urged all parties in the new conflict between Turkey and the Kurdish and allied militias of the Syrian Democratic Forces “to remember at all times their obligations to protect innocent civilians.”
GoodNews
Venezuelan priest becomes social media sensation with Scripture video series
Capuchin Franciscan Father Luis Antonio Salazar is breaking with traditional ways of preaching and bringing the Gospel to thousands of cellphone users each week through an Instagram video series called “Vivir el Evangelio,” or “Living the Gospel.”
Features
What Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish can teach us about American Catholicism
What has football contributed to American Catholicism? What has Catholicism contributed to American football? For Catholics, it is particularly worth revisiting Notre Dame’s unique story.
The Christian argument for more stay-at-home dads
Putting an end to the cultural pressure that prevents men from taking on caregiving roles.
Faith and Reason
What we owe refugees fleeing persecution around the globe
If solidarity extends only as far as national or cultural borders, refugees will not receive the support they need.
Faith in Focus
Choosing life over death on the George Washington Bridge
What saved me? No simple answers or solutions exist. People in the throes of deep depression cannot see a tomorrow of bright sunshine and love and joy.
Ideas
How a 20th century theologian became a quiet prophet for our distracted age
The technological changes Guardini witnessed during his lifetime (1885-1968) were far more dramatic, jarring and violent than anything we are likely to see in our own era. Yet the deeper I go into his writings, the more convinced I become of their urgency and relevance in the here and now.
Books
Tiny scriptures of truth: America’s 2019 poetry roundup
New American poetry that spans the globe.
Film
‘Pain and Glory’ review: A rich and moving memory play from Pedro Almodóvar
Growing up, the plan for Pedro Almodóvar was to become a priest. Instead he became one of the world’s great directors.
Theater
‘Porgy and Bess’ and the power of representation
Written in the 1930s, George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” has always been controversial.
Poetry
On a Circus Elephant
But then they come, the slow gray monoliths.
The Word
Christians are called to preach the Gospel to everyone who will listen
Christ’s delay is part of God’s plan; it gives Christians time to preach the Gospel to everyone who will listen.
For Jesus, leadership was about self-sacrifice, not earthly authority
The strategic vision of Jesus as leader was not a plan of invasion but rather the conquest of death itself.
Last Take
How my Catholic identity has been challenged—and enriched—by social justice
Christianity is not a collection of abstract principles that can be reduced to parsing and defending faceless propositions.
Faith
Pope Francis: The church must listen to ‘the cry of the poor’
The most important thing to emerge from the synod was the unequivocal commitment by the church to seek new ways to preach the Gospel and to promote justice and stand in solidarity with the Amazon’s 34 million inhabitants.
Christians are called to preach the Gospel to everyone who will listen
Christ’s delay is part of God’s plan; it gives Christians time to preach the Gospel to everyone who will listen.
For Jesus, leadership was about self-sacrifice, not earthly authority
The strategic vision of Jesus as leader was not a plan of invasion but rather the conquest of death itself.
How my Catholic identity has been challenged—and enriched—by social justice
Christianity is not a collection of abstract principles that can be reduced to parsing and defending faceless propositions.
What Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish can teach us about American Catholicism
What has football contributed to American Catholicism? What has Catholicism contributed to American football? For Catholics, it is particularly worth revisiting Notre Dame’s unique story.
The Christian argument for more stay-at-home dads
Putting an end to the cultural pressure that prevents men from taking on caregiving roles.
The Editors: Unity and hope from the Amazon synod must speak louder than fear
One of the most significant questions we now face in the church is how to commit to the path of “synodal conversion,” overcoming fear and distrust.
Venezuelan priest becomes social media sensation with Scripture video series
Capuchin Franciscan Father Luis Antonio Salazar is breaking with traditional ways of preaching and bringing the Gospel to thousands of cellphone users each week through an Instagram video series called “Vivir el Evangelio,” or “Living the Gospel.”
Choosing life over death on the George Washington Bridge
What saved me? No simple answers or solutions exist. People in the throes of deep depression cannot see a tomorrow of bright sunshine and love and joy.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts