Of Many Things
If we want Catholics to understand church teaching on the Eucharist, we need a fresh approach
Pew explains, “just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31 percent) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.’”
Your Take
Young adults respond: How has your family supported you in your faith?
Part of our special family issue.
Editorials
Why Americans need nonprofit sources for news
For some time now, the nation has seemed unable to have a civil discussion about a growing list of public policy issues. There seems to be no common ground on racism, gun control, immigration policy, international relations, the economy or climate change. News outlets, by providing facts and context, could be a part of the…
The myth of the self-sufficient immigrant that’s fueling the White House’s draconian policy
The Trump administration’s immigration policies betray a profound misunderstanding of what drives the tired and poor to our shores and borders, the Editors write.
Short Take
We need national paid family leave that includes elderly care, too.
We can honor our parents by supporting a paid family leave program, one that is not limited to raising children but also recognizes the growing financial and physical burdens of caring for elderly family members.
Dispatches
Marriage is thriving—but only among college graduates
Nearly two-thirds of college graduates are married, writes Robert David Sullivan, compared with only about half of those who have not gone beyond high school.
After ICE raids in Mississippi, Catholic Charities prepares for long-term impact
The near-term hardship “won’t hit for a week or two,” Bishop Kopacz said. But “as time goes on this month, there’s going to be some real crises.”
After another record-breaking heatwave, will Europe take the lead in the fight against climate change?
People fainted on public transport in England. In Paris schools postponed exams, and the heat wave aggravated wildfires in Spain and Portugal. In Scandinavia it hastened Arctic melt.
‘Safe third country’? Guatemalans are not convinced
“Our own people don’t have dignity. There’s no security. There are thousands of malnourished kids. How can we offer to be a safe country if it isn’t even safe for our own citizens?”
GoodNews
Knights of Columbus commit to helping asylum seekers at the southern border
“Let me be clear: This is not a political statement,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. “This is a statement of principle. This is about helping people who need our help right now.”
Features
How one ministry helps families live the sacrament of marriage in community
Its multifaceted approach aims to welcome couples into the community, enrich their relationships and help them grow together in the faith.
Long-distance grandparenting is not easy. Here’s how these families make it work.
Each grandparent finds their own way to maintain connections, build relationships and meet the challenges of sharing their Catholic faith from afar.
Faith in Focus
My daughter’s alcoholism and recovery changed how I see the parable of the prodigal son
Do not ever let anyone say that sobriety is easy on a family: The return of a prodigal can spark consuming fires.
Books
Review: What are ‘Red State Christians’ really like?
In her new book on ‘Red State Christians,’ Angela Denker seeks “greater engagement and conversation at a time when America feels pulled to its extremes, when our first national impulse is to block and unfriend anyone who disagrees with us.”
Review: Jon Hassler’s fiction takes us to the midwest and back again
Jon Hassler championed “America’s often struggling middle class” with his rigorous moral vision in his novels.
Review: The importance of being Ibsen
In his new biography of Henrik Ibsen, Ivo de Figueiredo describes the story of the suffering artist, his father’s bankruptcy, his years as an apothecary’s assistant and his role as writer and theater manager.
Review: The birth (and birthplace) of R.E.M.
Robert Dean Lurie’s biography of R.E.M. aims to trace the group’s rapid ascension from college town obscurity to rock’s upper echelons.
Television
50 years of ‘Sesame Street’: What the show’s history can teach us about evangelization
The history of “Sesame Street” offers some helpful lessons to anyone trying to spread a message of hope in an all-too-divided world.
A new puppet film tells the story of Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria
“Yo Soy Taino” offers a brief and necessary look into the complicated history between the United States and Puerto Rico.
Theater
A new play honors Our Lady of Guadalupe and the missing women of Juarez
A new broadway play creates a docu-mythologia around the disappearance and murders of more than 700 women in Ciudad Juárez since 1993.
Poetry
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or A Little Levity About Leaven
Be praised, O Lord, for this bit of mystery, / which lifts, which lightens.
The Word
How can we live out the Parable of the Prodigal Son?
A life of true intentionality requires us to seek out the lost and welcome them.
To follow Christ, you must renounce your ego.
Discipleship requires us to renounce our ego.
Last Take
What will it take to keep young people in the church?
How do we keep them, or anyone really, Catholic? To keep them, we have to stop asking that question in the first place.
Faith
My daughter’s alcoholism and recovery changed how I see the parable of the prodigal son
Do not ever let anyone say that sobriety is easy on a family: The return of a prodigal can spark consuming fires.
How one ministry helps families live the sacrament of marriage in community
Its multifaceted approach aims to welcome couples into the community, enrich their relationships and help them grow together in the faith.
Young adults respond: How has your family supported you in your faith?
Part of our special family issue.
If we want Catholics to understand church teaching on the Eucharist, we need a fresh approach
Pew explains, “just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31 percent) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.’”
Long-distance grandparenting is not easy. Here’s how these families make it work.
Each grandparent finds their own way to maintain connections, build relationships and meet the challenges of sharing their Catholic faith from afar.
How can we live out the Parable of the Prodigal Son?
A life of true intentionality requires us to seek out the lost and welcome them.
To follow Christ, you must renounce your ego.
Discipleship requires us to renounce our ego.
What will it take to keep young people in the church?
How do we keep them, or anyone really, Catholic? To keep them, we have to stop asking that question in the first place.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts