In more than two dozen novels, memoirs, travelogues and other writings, the Massachusetts writer Roland Merullo has proved to be an astute observer of the human condition.

How did a Catholic TV station known for its prayer programs get involved in broadcasting attacks on the pope that he felt compelled to publicly denounce as “the work of the devil”?

Not only is the immigration system broken, but the conversation around it is as well. Far too frequently, we become polarized.

He said he also told the unvaccinated priests that “they couldn't go into the homes of the sick or the homebound or be in close proximity” to worshippers.

To outsiders, the situation can appear completely beyond repair, but that is not the reality Sister Marilyn has come to know in Jacmel. “People need to hear that Haitians are survivors,” she said. “They are people of hope.”

The Catholic Church’s ethical tradition gives us some navigational aids in traversing the difficult terrain of mask mandates and vaccine requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic.