The genre of the crime-solving priest or religious might be a niche one, but it’s been around on the page and the screen for more than a century.
Catholic Identity
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Bridging the Catholic gap
In ‘Cultural Catholics,’ Maureen K. Day works to answer the question of who “cultural Catholics” really are—and how to connect with them.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
‘The Great Gatsby’ got a bad review in America. A century later, how do we see F. Scott Fitzgerald?
F. Scott Fitzgerald was not a favorite of America’s editors for many years, but they all read ‘Gatsby.’ Everyone reads ‘Gatsby.’
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Catholic Charities USA Head: ‘We don’t have a choice to ignore the Gospel’
How is Catholic Charities navigating political opposition to their work with migrants?
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Remembering Flannery O’Connor (and her contributions to America magazine) on her 100th birthday
Perhaps no author’s name has appeared in ‘America’ more often than Flannery O’Connor’s over the years, from a 1956 editorial through to a story just last week.
Posted inArts & Culture, Short Take
March Madness 2025: A guide to all the Catholic teams in the tournament
Who will win it all? Probably not a Catholic school, but hope springs eternal.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Author Pat Conroy’s message for struggling Catholics: ‘I left the Church but she has not left me.’
Pat Conroy was the epitome of the “Southern Writer” for many years and called by some “the most beloved American writer of his generation”—and was also a God-haunted Catholic who wrote often and deeply about religious faith.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Ernest Hemingway’s simple, devotional and private Catholicism
Was Ernest Hemingway’s lifelong subject a study of saintliness? A new book on his religious faith provides ample evidence of that.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Why Catholic literary circles should remember the writings of William Barrett
William Barrett is hardly remembered in Catholic academic or literary circles, though his Catholic novels offer richly textured stories that avoid the sensational and sentimental.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Data and discernment: How the church can make better use of empirical evidence
How and why should the church use empirical evidence for ministry and discernment? Empirical data and engagement with the broader context of Catholicism can help us to better understand the life of the church.