A century ago, Al Smith was a force in American politics—and the first Catholic to mount a major run at the White House. And if he is to be believed, he didn’t know what an encyclical was.
Literature
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
The Emily Dickinson poem about love that you should read
By force of her imagination and skill, Emily Dickinson could take the measure of solitude, opprobrium and even damnation.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: A priestly ministry on hockey skates
‘Hockey Priest: Father David Bauer and the Spirit of the Canadian Game’ shows the interplay of spirituality and sport in the world that Father Bauer helped create.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Philip Berrigan’s prophetic ire
‘A Ministry of Risk,’ a collection of the writings and speeches of the late Phil Berrigan (1923-2002), is a provocative anthology destined to leave most readers bewildered, challenged and perhaps even a little angry.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: André Aciman’s formative year in Rome
The novelist and memoirist André Aciman chronicles his formative year in Rome as a teenager in ‘Roman Year.’
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: ISIS killed her son. She met them face to face.
‘American Mother,’ Diane Foley’s and Colum McCann’s story of Foley’s life and that of her son, James Foley, is written with a mother’s love, her eventual understanding of hostage situations and her desire for others to understand the struggle she faced.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Father James Martin on three books about death and mortality
I was delighted recently to discover that three of my favorite authors, all from extremely different backgrounds and perspectives, have written three extremely different books on aging. Yet even with their differences, they agree on the big points.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
R.I.P. John Coleman, S.J., distinguished sociologist (and parish priest)
One of the nation’s most distinguished sociologists for many years and an expert on the relationship between religion and public life, the Rev. John A. Coleman died on Jan. 17, 2025 in Los Gatos, Calif., at the age of 87.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Octavia Butler: A Black science fiction writer who predicted today’s dire headlines
Octavia Butler, the Black science fiction writer who died in 2006, did not just create imaginary worlds with parallels to ours. Sometimes she created worlds that are eerily a little too much like our own.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Michael Longley’s poetry perfectly blends Irish political and pastoral themes
Michael Longley, the Irish poet whose long career included more than 40 books, died last week. He was lauded by literary, social and political figures alike for his many contributions to Irish literature and to the cause of social reconciliation.