Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, talks with Gloria Purvis about how the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are not as different from ordinary Americans as you might think.

Joan Didion was capable both of conjuring up the horrors of modern life and of offering solace that there was still a point to it all.

The temptation is to fight the ghosts of Modernism by denigrating those working for social justice and “elites” as anti-religious co-conspirators. But this would be a disservice to the truth and to the church.

In mid-January, a law firm is scheduled to publish a report into the handling of clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, where Pope Benedict XVI was archbishop.

A synod on synodality is a process about a process. And that stuck with me. A process about a process seemed to be without content. Where would this lead us?

My dad was and is an alcoholic. Al-Anon gives me a framework for naming my situation, taking responsibility for my actions and making changes so that I can live a (more) emotionally sober life.

Can we ultimately trust the smirking ones in our midst, the sarcastic with a clever quip for our every move, for each vulnerable moment?

In making the poem into a ballet with original music, much has been gained, both for the significance of the new ballet and for a fresh appreciation and engagement with its source.

Seeing these shows, I was reminded of Dickens’s famous ghosts, warning us about where we have been, where we are and where, if we’re not careful, we may be headed.

A hint from Father James Martin: Start with just 15 minutes a day.