Books for every kind of reader are featured in our Spring Books special literary issue.
Papal Authority
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis: ‘Build bridges, not walls’
Aboard the papal plane, Francis spoke with reporters about the need to build solidarity, not barriers.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Explainer: Why doesn’t Pope Francis want people to kiss his ring?
Some background to the kerfuffle over Pope Francis and kissing the papal ring.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Popes in fiction: What do they say about us?
When it comes to writing fiction about the papacy, we imagine the popes we want—most of the time.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Pope Francis on capital punishment: a closer look
Did Pope Francis depart from Scripture and tradition in declaring the death penalty “inadmissible”? Or was his declaration rooted deeply in both?
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
From 1968, America’s editors on ‘Humanae Vitae’
“The right of Catholics to express disagreement with their leaders is a right as old as Peter and Paul.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Why the Catholic Church can (and does) change
Review of Ross Douthat’s latest book, “To Change the Church.”
While the church always strives to honor what Jesus said about divorce and remarriage, it has made pastoral accommodations since its earliest days.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
The Vatican kidnapped a Jewish boy in 1858. Why are we still talking about it?
In the case of Edgardo Mortara, a number of central theological questions come into play.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
Are we seeing changes in the teaching ministry of the pope?
Papal authority has expanded dramatically over the last 150 years. But our age has seen something new—informal papal teachings meant as pastoral encouragements more than doctrinal clarifications.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The Millennium and the Papalization of Catholicism
Everyone has been trying to see the big picture. We have been bombarded with a certain type of question. Who is the man or woman of the century—better, of the millennium? What are the happenings in the past thousand years that most changed the course of history?