65 years ago, the Berlin Wall divided that city in two and became an enduring symbol of the Cold War. But do walls really ever work?
History
Posted inShort Take
We need a more biblical view of American history
The Bible isn’t afraid to call out the failings of political and religious leaders. Modern historians shouldn’t be either.
Posted inFaith and Reason
Paragraph 176 of ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ and Pope Leo XIV’s apology for the enslavement of African people
“Pope Leo’s formal apology and plea for forgiveness is long overdue,” Bishop Edward Braxton writes. Is it too late for the pope’s words to have an impact?
Posted inNews Analysis
The Catholic principle guiding popes through tech upheavals, from the Industrial Revolution to AI
Pope Leo is one of many popes to respond to technological change by drawing on a Catholic principle called ‘subsidiarity.’
Posted inIdeas
The pioneering woman who photographed the Jesuits for Life magazine
Few people familiar with American Catholic history know Margaret Bourke-White’s name or how her camerawork popularized American Jesuits in the atomic age.
Posted inFaith in Focus
What a Buffalo priest and the basilica he built taught me about prayer
For 100 years now, Our Lady of Victory Basilica has been a landmark of the Western New York region and a pilgrimage site for tens of thousands of people every year.
Posted inFeatures
How the Catholic Church has protected elections around the world
Historically, the Catholic Church has both aided authoritarian regimes and contributed to their demise.
Posted inIdeas
Did Pope Leo just quote a Bob Dylan deep cut?
Pope Leo is the first pope to quote Bob Dylan. But he’s not the first to interact with the famous troubadour.
Posted inFaith and Reason
A rare look at Black Catholic life before the Civil War
Even if the Society of the Holy Family did not survive the antebellum period, it showed how a West African-rooted Catholicism could thrive in the United States.
Posted inThe Good Word
God doesn’t need our humility. We need God’s.
God does not require or seek our abasement.