Interviews
Interview: Colm Tóibín on ‘Long Island,’ sequel-writing and the delight of a Costco chicken
Colm Tóibín’s new novel, ‘Long Island,’ is a sequel to perhaps his best-known book, ‘Brooklyn.’ What was it like to take up the story again two decades later? He tells us in this interview with America.
Of Many Things
What Americans can learn from South Africa’s example of messy and imperfect compromise
When public servants when they show us a glimpse of something that points the way toward “more perfect union,” we ought to pay close and grateful attention.
Your Take
Breaking bread and ending culture wars
In a piece published in the September issue of America, the Napa Institute’s Tim Busch described his initiative to alleviate American Catholic polarization through a series of dinners. His approach elicited diverse reactions from our readers.
Editorials
The Editors: American political life doesn’t need to depend on fear-mongering
Facts are the great enemy of the demagogue, as Senator McCarthy learned so many years ago.
Short Take
How Catholic marriage prep is better serving adults from divorced families
Pastoral ministers should recognize that many adults from divorced families struggle in relationships. Difficult conversations must occur so that couples can be better prepared for marriage.
Dispatches
‘Irish Patriots’ and Ulster loyalists find a shared scapegoat in Northern Ireland: Immigrants
Loyalist paramilitaries played a central role in organizing the unrest in Belfast, but it was a surprise on both sides of the northern Irish border when they were joined by self-proclaimed “Irish patriots” from the Republic of Ireland.
The E.U. migration crisis’s latest challenge: the plight of unaccompanied children
On Spain’s Canary Islands, arrivals of unaccompanied migrants are on track to reach a historic high this year, and caring for the migrant youth has become politically contentious.
Jesuits urge Ortega to ‘stop the repression’ on one year anniversary of Nicaragua’s government seizing university
Jesuits: The “unpunished and unjustified confiscation” of UCA has done “inestimable damage to the scientific and cultural heritage of Nicaragua.”
Features
‘Let justice prevail’: Biblical prophets’ lessons for modern life
Here are five qualities that today’s prophetic voices share with our predecessors.
Vatican II—and its media coverage—has a lesson for today’s synod: Don’t expect immediate results
A look back at the Second Vatican Council through the coverage offered by America and Commonweal offers two lessons: First, we should not expect the journey of the church after the Synod on Synodality to be smooth sailing. Second, the church is very much capable of getting through such turmoil, and emerging stronger from it.
Faith and Reason
Latin chant or folk music at Mass? A debate on what makes liturgy ‘reverent’
One of the recommendations of the first meeting of the Synod on Synodality was to explore ways to improve the quality of liturgies. America asked two contributors to reflect on how we worship.
Faith in Focus
Avoiding election anxiety: Some Jesuit advice on how to find hope
First, remind yourself that extreme forms of hopelessness are not coming from God.
I encountered the real presence of the American church at the Eucharistic Congress.
One girl told me that the congress ‘has been a sneak peek into heaven.’
Books
Review: Martyrs for the earth
In ‘Ecomartyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for Our Common Home,’ Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo invites us to look carefully at the lives of modern ecomartyrs as a guide to help us “re-imagine and re-embody the relationship between human beings and the earth.”
Review: Debunking marriage myths
Why would you get married? In his new book, ‘Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,’ Brad Wilcox argues that civilization itself depends upon convincing more Americans to tie the knot.
Review: New book challenges the ‘villainous’ image of the Vatican Curia
The Vatican Curia is a mystery, but it need not be a shadowy mystery. Anthony Ekpo’s ‘The Roman Curia: History, Theology and Organization’ contributes greatly to our understanding of the structures and organization of the Curia.
Review: Falling out of love with ideology during election season
Jason Blakely’s new book, “Lost in Ideology,” is “quite simply the best guide to today’s dominant ideologies,” writes William Cavanaugh. “Blakely is concise, sympathetic, insightful, critical and fair.”
Poetry
Bible Study
Her laptop says Coffee and Jesus, so I fish the Bible from my backpack,
Gibbous Moon
a goblet neither full nor empty, off balance there, like Humpty Dumpty
Faith
Avoiding election anxiety: Some Jesuit advice on how to find hope
First, remind yourself that extreme forms of hopelessness are not coming from God.
I encountered the real presence of the American church at the Eucharistic Congress.
One girl told me that the congress ‘has been a sneak peek into heaven.’
Latin chant or folk music at Mass? A debate on what makes liturgy ‘reverent’
One of the recommendations of the first meeting of the Synod on Synodality was to explore ways to improve the quality of liturgies. America asked two contributors to reflect on how we worship.
‘Let justice prevail’: Biblical prophets’ lessons for modern life
Here are five qualities that today’s prophetic voices share with our predecessors.
Breaking bread and ending culture wars
In a piece published in the September issue of America, the Napa Institute’s Tim Busch described his initiative to alleviate American Catholic polarization through a series of dinners. His approach elicited diverse reactions from our readers.
Vatican II—and its media coverage—has a lesson for today’s synod: Don’t expect immediate results
A look back at the Second Vatican Council through the coverage offered by America and Commonweal offers two lessons: First, we should not expect the journey of the church after the Synod on Synodality to be smooth sailing. Second, the church is very much capable of getting through such turmoil, and emerging stronger from it.
In new interview, Pope Francis shares his advice for men who want to join the Jesuits—and for his successor
In a wide-ranging conversation, Pope Francis also repeated his ardent desire to visit China, discussed how he handles stress and criticism, and shared that he has experienced crises in his religious life as a Jesuit.
How Catholic marriage prep is better serving adults from divorced families
Pastoral ministers should recognize that many adults from divorced families struggle in relationships. Difficult conversations must occur so that couples can be better prepared for marriage.
Vatican Dispatch
In new interview, Pope Francis shares his advice for men who want to join the Jesuits—and for his successor
In a wide-ranging conversation, Pope Francis also repeated his ardent desire to visit China, discussed how he handles stress and criticism, and shared that he has experienced crises in his religious life as a Jesuit.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts