Through all the triumphs and tragedies of the church in its American pilgrimage, we kept the faith; we helped others to find their faith again.
History
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Remembering priest and historian Thomas Shelley: ‘an intellectual who wished the church were more intellectual’
The Rev. Thomas J. Shelley, who died on Monday, taught generations of priests, men and women religious and lay scholars the ins and outs of Catholic history.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Christopher Lasch: the critic of American life beloved by traditionalist Catholics and Marxists alike
Christopher Lasch’s writings are cited by everyone from the most fervent cultural conservatives to dyed-in-the-wool Marxists—and he had much to say about modern American culture.
Posted inArt, Arts & Culture
Rare British Jesuit artifacts that survived the Protestant Reformation are touring across America
During the Reformation, Catholic vestments were targeted for destruction. At the end of the 16th century, only one of these Henry VII copes was left: the one on display today.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
When the (books about) saints go marching in
All Saints Day is a day to venerate holy men and women—and also to recognize the saints in our midst, complicated though they might be.
Posted inPodcasts, Politics & Society
Podcast: An honest look at slavery in the Christian tradition
This week on “The Gloria Purvis Podcast,” Gloria interviews Chris Kellerman, S.J., about his new book, ‘All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism and The Catholic Church.’
Posted inDispatches, Faith
In Salem, the witch trials are gone—but the tourists aren’t. Here’s how a local Catholic priest welcomes them.
How does a Catholic priest minister in a town famous for its devotion to the occult? Well, first you try to be a good neighbor.
Posted inFaith, Last Take
The final secret of the Vatican’s Jesuit saint maker
Peter Gumpel, S.J., who died last week, devoted his life to the work of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He also had a surprising secret about his own background.
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
From 1962: America’s editors on the Cuban Missile Crisis
After a tense standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States over the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, the editors of America weigh the outcome and the consequences.
Posted inArts & Culture, Theater
Broadway’s ‘1776’ revival casts women and non-binary actors as founding fathers. Can it succeed in the shadow of ‘Hamilton’?
While Lin-Manuel Miranda’s popular Founding Fathers remix was built for performers of color, “1776” has been retrofitted onto this troupe of talented women.