The poetry of Catholicism: living between absurdity and faith
If we can manage this pilgrimage—a miracle of grace beyond our merit—we can count upon an army of celebrants, glasses raised on high, reciting poems more beautiful than any we can imagine.
A Deacon’s Education: Lessons on the universal call to Christian ministry
On Memorial Day weekend last year, 22 of us stood before our bishop and were ordained to the diaconate. We had spent four years—five if you include the year of discernment and application—preparing for this day. In that time we had studied Scripture, liturgy, moral theology and canon law
Mission work or voluntourism? Searching for a deeper mission
“Although globally aware, these young people seem unclear on what the Gospel is beyond just ‘doing good.'”
On Their Shoulders: The pallium in American Catholic history
The news that Pope Francis has changed the procedure for the reception and imposition of the pallium probably struck most Catholics as a relatively insignificant alteration in a ceremony restricted to very high members of the hierarchy, archbishops with metropolitan provinces—and therefore vir
Of Many Things
The cablization of America’s political marketplace
Like today’s cable news anchor, politicians are not talking to most of us, but to the relatively few of us they need in order to win.
Letters
Reply All
No to VouchersIn “Our Segregated Schools” (Editorial, 8/31) the editors call for the expansion of voucher programs as a way to combat segregation. What that suggestion misses is that Catholic schools are overwhelmingly not unionized. As such, the pay for teachers is significantly lower i
Editorials
Why Educate?
The measure of a college graduate should be who she becomes as a person, not on how much she makes.
Faith in Focus
Good Fruit: A parolee readies for life beyond prison.
The thing I remember best about Louie is that he said he hadn’t had a peach in 30 years. Louie (not his real name) was a lifer; he was in his 50s and had been in prison for over three decades. On the day he told me this, as he was hanging out in the…
Cafeteria Prayers: Mass at an immigrant detention facility
Mass at an immigrant detention facility in Florence, Ariz.
Books
A Jesuit Boy’s Quest
‘Francis, Pope of Good Promise,’ by Jimmy Burns
New Orleans, Born Again
‘Katrina,’ by Gary Rivilin
A Creative Ring
‘The Fellowship,’ by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
Film
Trail Blazers: Stories of recovery and rebuilding
Stories of recovery and rebuilding
Poetry
C 49
You can’t tell from these cloudswhy this afternoon was set on fireis burning through some lullaby you’re singing to yourselfby gathering a few leaves, some twigsfor the gentleness falling out your mouth —you dead know how it is, each hushmust be buried on the way backwith
The Word
Little Children of the Word
In his teaching on divorce Jesus claims that the circumstances that allowed for divorce in the Mosaic law were due to the ldquo hardness of heart rdquo of human beings after the fall These laws were conditional Jesus says not God rsquo s intent ldquo from the beginning of creation rdquo Jes
(Un)Conventional Wisdom
TV comes of age
Shows that stayed away from anything controversial would be pointless in 2015.
Columns
Nouveau Censors
But what can escape the outrage censors when everything is an outrage?
Current Comment
Current Comment
Unions struggling to organize workers will now be able to bargain with the parent company that is ultimately calling the shots.
Of Other Things
Data-Determinism
Metrics and efficiency have become the lifeblood of our technocracy.
Signs Of the Times
Faith Hiring Protection
Religious leaders from different faith traditions urged President Obama in a letter on Sept. 10 to continue to permit government-funded faith groups to employ people with like beliefs. Their request comes less than a month after a coalition of religious and secular organizations sent the president a
Papal Decrees Seek Faster Annulments
Pope Francis’ reformed rules for marriage annulment cases, making the process simpler, quicker and less expensive, respond to calls that bishops from around the world have been making since before the 1980 meeting of the Synod of Bishops on the family convoked by St. John Paul II. With the new
Should South Africa be policing cultish churches?
That such ministries are sinister is obvious. They rely on mass, possibly hypnotic, suggestion, group hysteria and unscrupulous manipulation.
News Briefs
As Israeli students began their second week of classes on Sept. 6, thousands of students and teachers from Christian schools converged in front of the Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s office to protest government budget cuts to their schools. • During his homily on Sept. 10, Pope Francis s
Mission History Review
California Catholic leaders plan to revamp church curriculum and museum programs on the California mission system to present more accurately the history, the perspective of California Indians and the missions’ impact on Indian life. The initiative is part of a larger program of the California
U.S. Bishops Urge Stepped-up Response to Syrian Refugee Crisis
The Obama administration announced on Sept. 10 that it would seek to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees during the next fiscal year in response to a growing crisis that has shocked consciences around the world. That number would reflect a significant increase from the 1,293 admitted in fiscal year 2015, b
Right-to-Die Bill Rejected in U.K.
British parliamentarians on Sept. 11 soundly rejected a right-to-die bill that would have allowed people with less than six months to live to end their lives legally. Only 118 members of Parliament voted in favor of the bill; 330 voted against it. The bill had faced strong opposition from vario
Vatican Dispatch
In China, Fear of Faith
The crackdown against Christianity has taken various forms.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts