Historically, the Catholic Church has both aided authoritarian regimes and contributed to their demise.
History
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.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
SSPX ordains four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo and the Vatican
The SSPX ordained four new bishops without a papal mandate in Switzerland, triggering automatic excommunication for all six bishops involved.
Posted inCatholic Book Club
‘America’ magazine’s most compelling Fourth of July musings over the years
As we all prepare for the 4th of July, going through some of America’s past commentaries provides some curious glimpses of the preoccupations and hopes of other generations.
Posted inExplainer
A Quaker, a Bavarian monk and a Catholic king: Exploring Catholic history in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey
Catholic life throughout the region was often sustained quietly through family networks, informal gathering places, and the ministry of itinerant priests.
Posted inExplainer
Catholic growth in anti-Catholic colonies: The fledgling Church in New England
Catholics in colonial New England kept a low profile, and for long stretches there was effectively no public Catholic life at all.
Posted inBooks
Beach reads, old faves and some seriously hefty tomes: The ‘America’ summer reading list
Some of our recommendations are great beach reads; some are serious history books; and one of them is an old encyclical, because Jesuits gonna Jesuit.
Posted inEditorials
The editors: The unfinished work that remains for the United States of America
Americans should reject the false choice between an uncritical celebration and a despair that is blind to the country’s virtues.