Jesuit School Spotlight
When Detroit’s Catholic schools started moving to the suburbs, one Jesuit high school stayed. It’s made all the difference.
There were once over 30 Catholic high schools in the city of Detroit. There are now three.
Of Many Things
Why Biden’s speech on MAGA Republicans failed
The Democrats and never-Trumpers are obsessed with the loud and visible element of Trump voters who can never be persuaded. They should be focused instead on those who could be.
Your Take
Can school vouchers help Catholic schools fulfill their mission? Our readers weigh in.
Readers respond to our September editorial, “Catholic Education on the Margins,” on school voucher programs.
Editorials
Politicians bus migrants. Catholics must welcome them.
Politicians may fear losing elections, but too many citizens seem to fear migrants and asylum seekers themselves.
Short Take
Jesus would have hung out in a dive bar—and not just to convert its patrons
A popular meme portrays Jesus as always judgmental, always making a sales pitch. But as a human being, he enjoyed friendship for its own sake.
Dispatches
The majority of Americans think migrants are ‘invading’ the U.S. Meanwhile, suffering at the border continues.
Shifting public perceptions on immigration—often based on political rhetoric and a misunderstanding of the facts on the ground—may help explain why there has been little, if any, movement on immigration reform in Congress.
Border apprehensions are at record highs—but they include many repeat offenders
Border Patrol officials said that the large number of expulsions during the pandemic had contributed to a higher-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts.
Pope Francis prays at tomb of Celestine V, urges mercy and humility
Celestine V resigned from the papacy in 1294, the last pope to do so voluntarily before Benedict XVI. Francis, in his homily, praised him for this gesture of humility.
Popes rarely intervene in authoritarian politics. Nicaraguans want Pope Francis to make an exception.
For critics of the first Latin American pope, Francis’ recent expression of concern about the crackdown on Catholics in Nicaragua was too little too late.
In Asia and the Amazon, the synod gives voice to Catholics on the margins
As the diocesan phase of the synod ended on Aug. 15, America touched base with some well-informed sources for insight into how the synod has gone so far in the Amazon region and Asia.
Features
Thousands of Afghan refugees fled to America in search of a new home. Too many are still waiting.
Many faith-based organizations are among those working to provide assistance. Returning to Afghanistan is simply not an option.
Flexible Catholic workplaces aren’t just good for parents. They’re also good for the church.
While Catholic employers still have a long way to go in figuring out sustainable maternity leave policies, most are missing another easily implemented opportunity to support women and families more generally: offering part-time, flexible jobs.
Faith and Reason
Our post-Roe world makes it clear: Laws will never be enough to create a pro-life culture
Women need support and resources when that second line shows up on a pregnancy test. Their first thought is not to wonder how their senator, president or prime minister feels about abortion.
Faith in Focus
The Catholic Church needs to reimagine the role of godparents
Ted Kennedy Jr. on the importance of godparents: The need and desire for spiritual guidance, love, support and personal mentorship does not end when we reach adulthood.
I crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to save my son. This is my story.
I have crossed deserts and climbed walls to protect my son from violence in Colombia.
Books
Review: What happens when athletic heroes fall out of love with the game?
Sports memoirs tend to have a certain arc: the odyssey of the triumphant athlete. But every now and then, a retired athlete—like Jerry West, Abby Wambach and Gale Sayers—tells a more complicated story.
Review: The U.S. is a nation of immigrants. Or is it?
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s new book is a fierce diagnosis of what continues to tear America apart.
Review: When popes play peacemaker
Vatican diplomacy has as its primary goal peace through dialogue, which runs counter to the complex dance of pressures and negotiations that nation-states use to jockey for power on the global stage.
Kellyanne Conway’s Catholic girlhood and my own
Mary Gordon finds that her childhood and that of former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway were strangely similar—and yet diverged in telling ways.
The Jesuit influence in David Foster Wallace’s final, unfinished novel
David Foster Wallace’s novella ‘Something to Do With Paying Attention’ features two conversion narratives, a “fearful Jesuit” and “the death of childhood’s limitless possibility.”
Poetry
A Nun Leaves the Veil
There are roses in the thorny crown, pick them!
One by One They Fall
Here, now, the furled leaves bid adieu
Could’ve/Could’ve Not
you could’ve chosen to be ignorant to the demand that such a recognition may’ve placed on your limbs,
Last Take
How immigrants enrich women’s religious orders
Nearly 400 international religious institutes have extended their mission to the United States. This has helped the ranks of women religious better reflect an increasingly diverse Catholic population.
Faith
How immigrants enrich women’s religious orders
Nearly 400 international religious institutes have extended their mission to the United States. This has helped the ranks of women religious better reflect an increasingly diverse Catholic population.
When Detroit’s Catholic schools started moving to the suburbs, one Jesuit high school stayed. It’s made all the difference.
There were once over 30 Catholic high schools in the city of Detroit. There are now three.
The Catholic Church needs to reimagine the role of godparents
Ted Kennedy Jr. on the importance of godparents: The need and desire for spiritual guidance, love, support and personal mentorship does not end when we reach adulthood.
I crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to save my son. This is my story.
I have crossed deserts and climbed walls to protect my son from violence in Colombia.
Our post-Roe world makes it clear: Laws will never be enough to create a pro-life culture
Women need support and resources when that second line shows up on a pregnancy test. Their first thought is not to wonder how their senator, president or prime minister feels about abortion.
Flexible Catholic workplaces aren’t just good for parents. They’re also good for the church.
While Catholic employers still have a long way to go in figuring out sustainable maternity leave policies, most are missing another easily implemented opportunity to support women and families more generally: offering part-time, flexible jobs.
Pope Francis prays at tomb of Celestine V, urges mercy and humility
Celestine V resigned from the papacy in 1294, the last pope to do so voluntarily before Benedict XVI. Francis, in his homily, praised him for this gesture of humility.
In Asia and the Amazon, the synod gives voice to Catholics on the margins
As the diocesan phase of the synod ended on Aug. 15, America touched base with some well-informed sources for insight into how the synod has gone so far in the Amazon region and Asia.
Jesus would have hung out in a dive bar—and not just to convert its patrons
A popular meme portrays Jesus as always judgmental, always making a sales pitch. But as a human being, he enjoyed friendship for its own sake.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts