One of the nation’s most distinguished sociologists for many years and an expert on the relationship between religion and public life, the Rev. John A. Coleman died on Jan. 17, 2025 in Los Gatos, Calif., at the age of 87.

Octavia Butler, the Black science fiction writer who died in 2006, did not just create imaginary worlds with parallels to ours. Sometimes she created worlds that are eerily a little too much like our own.

The U.S. bishops have been measured in their response to the new administration’s avalanche of activity, reserving sharp criticism on points of divergence while not hesitating to praise him for his actions in areas where they find alignment.

Michael Longley, the Irish poet whose long career included more than 40 books, died last week. He was lauded by literary, social and political figures alike for his many contributions to Irish literature and to the cause of social reconciliation.

Bishop Budde reminded Donald Trump that people are scared and vulnerable, and that compassion and welcome are the way of the Gospel.

The Catholic Church has its own history of prophetic voices using the moral authority of the priesthood to remind political leaders of the Christian precept of human dignity.

Josephine Ward was a strong critic of Catholic modernism, and many of her novels featured protagonists struggling to reconcile au courant political and religious ideas with the strictures of the Catholic Church.

D. J. Waldie's strikingly beautiful book in 1996 about what it was like to grow up in Lakewood, Calif., "Holy Land," is one of many writings by this chronicler of Los Angeles's past and future.

In 2023, “Jesuitical” hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless spoke with Cardinal Robert McElroy about his call for a church of “radical inclusion.” This week, Cardinal McElroy was named the new archbishop of Washington, D.C.

A Reflection for Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time, by Valerie Schultz