Elizabeth Ann Seton has only officially been a saint for 49 years, a blink of an eye in the timeline of the church. But in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, she is a towering figure.
Literature
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Tim Kaine reminds us what’s possible in a political candidate
In ‘Walk Ride Paddle: A Life Outside,’ Kaine invites readers on a journey as he narrates his human-powered travels throughout Virginia, where he has served as senator, governor and mayor of Richmond.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Amy Clampitt, the ‘late bloomer’ of poetry
Willard Spiegelman’s probing biography, ‘Nothing Stays Put: The Life and Poetry of Amy Clampitt,’ describes how she rose to meteoric heights in the poetry world relatively late in life.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
The British Fulton Sheen: What Catholics should know about C. C. Martindale, S.J.
C. C. Martindale, S.J., played an important role in the life of the Catholic Church in Great Britain in the 20th century—and brought more than a few seekers along with him.
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‘A court with many lords and few ladies’: Mary Ann Glendon on her experiences of sexism in the Vatican
‘In the Courts of Three Popes’ gives us Mary Ann Glendon’s journey from Vatican outsider to insider and provides a captivating frame for her examination of the Vatican’s intertwined grandeur and dysfunction.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Edna O’Brien: the quintessential Irish writer (who was occasionally banned in Ireland)
Edna O’Brien, who died on July 27, seemed to be in many ways the quintessential Irish writer. But her career began with a highly acclaimed novel that was widely condemned on the Emerald Isle.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Remembering Gail Lumet Buckley, chronicler of African American history and a ‘pluralistic Catholic’
Gail Lumet Buckley, who died on July 18, was an award-winning chronicler of the African American experience. She once wrote of herself in ‘America’ that “I choose the cross of faith over the sword of ideology.”
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‘Dante’ and ‘Desire’: 2 poetry collections confront modern crises in ancient style
Micheal O’Siadhail’s ‘Desire’ and Angela Alaimo O’Donnell’s ‘Dear Dante’ are collections designed and erected meticulously in an ancient style that an avid reader is unlikely to see in much contemporary poetry.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Biden didn’t do something unthinkable. LBJ also withdrew from the presidential race.
President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek re-election is surprising—but don’t call it unprecedented. It happened once before, in 1968.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
You’re reading this online. Walter Ong had thoughts about that.
The contributions of Walter J. Ong, S.J., to American letters are countless, and he remains a renowned figure in the study of communications, literacy, group psychology and mass media.