“Illinois” describes a state and a nation in motion, full of complicated human beings who do bad things and good things.
US Politics
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Trump closing U.S.A.I.D. could cost an estimated 14 million lives by 2030
The end of U.S.A.I.D. will result in the loss of a “staggering” 14 million lives by 2030, including the deaths of 4.5 million children under age 5.
Posted inFaith, News
Catholics say Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ would hurt immigrant families—and the church
Catholics react to President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
What Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign can teach the Catholic Church about reaching Gen Z
On Tuesday night, Mr. Mamdani pulled off a shocking upset and finished first in the initial round of vote-counting in the Democratic primary for mayor. What can his campaign teach the Catholic Church about energizing “Gen Z”?
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
God and man in America: William F. Buckley Jr.
As Sam Tanenhaus makes clear in ‘Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America,’ it is impossible to understand American politics and culture without grasping Buckley’s immense influence.
Posted inFaith
Pete Buttigieg on identity and faith in public life
This week on “The Spiritual Life,” Father James Martin speaks with former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about faith, fatherhood and his “Jesuit background.”
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
Our Lady and the Mexican flag: Symbols of Los Angeles’ fight for America’s future
Among the hopeful and fearful seeking their place in an occupied city, the Virgin—Patroness of All the Americas—is a sign that a community with humane borders and greater compassion may be possible.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The Catholic fragments of art, faith and sex in 1980s pop culture
Paul Elie’s ‘The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy’ investigates pop culture’s crypto-religious, uncanny symbols of immanence and transcendence.
Posted inOf Many Things, Politics & Society
‘Because Trump said so’ is no reason to bomb Iran
As I write, Mr. Trump is declaring that “nobody knows” what he is going to do about Iran. I fear that “nobody” includes him.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The Catholic case for American cosmopolitanism
A cosmopolitan stance—one that values other cultures while treasuring the unique gifts of one’s own—is a necessary one in a world where Donald Trump is destroying the venturing spirit and generosity of the American people.