Depressingly, 40 years since Cardinal Bernardin first proposed the consistent ethic of life, the ethic remains mired in the same senseless, polarized partisanship that Bernardin proposed the ethic to overcome.

Should a Catholic Church ever be a movie set? From our most iconic movies to some regrettable music videos, it's a question that has been asked many times and answered in different ways.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novels 'Silver Nitrate' and 'Mexican Gothic' feature complicated heroines, compelling plots and supernatural elements solidly grounded in research.

The ongoing sexual abuse scandal involving the Rev. Marko Rupnik is another reminder of what the church needs to do to deal with this continuing plague.

The good news for anyone whose literary tastes have been strongly influenced by the Catholic novels of Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, Francois Mauriac, Georges Bernanos and more is this: The new Alice McDermott novel, 'Absolution,' has arrived.

'Big Fiction' is a book full of cogent analysis, ambitious argument, juicy quotes from insiders and a demonstration of the central role of Catholics in American publishing.