A Reflection for Ash Wednesday, by Sam Sawyer, S.J.

“If you take refuge in an idea, in an ideology, whether right or left or center, you are making the Gospel a political party, an ideology, a club of people,” Pope Francis said during his general audience on Feb. 22.

What book will you pick up this Lent? America editors have never been shy about making recommendations on this topic, and over the years, various contributors have also given suggestions on everything from Scripture to novels to devotional reading and more.

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, by Zac Davis

Pope Francis has unequivocally confirmed that bishops must obtain authorization from the Holy See before granting permission to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Mass in parish churches.

Two former F.B.I. agents who went on to hold leadership roles in the church say a memo characterizing traditionalist Catholics as possible domestic threats is a troubling example of the bureau not following its own guidelines.

Mardi Gras is not only Catholic, it’s French, Creole, African-American, African and Native American. And there are layers to this ornate carnival that reveal a powerful history of Black joy, resistance and rebellion.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was committed to ‘the ordinary person, not the rich Catholic,’ said Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration attorney who worked with the bishop. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

With the first anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine just days away, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke about gratitude and powerlessness in the face of a “blind, absurd, sacrilegious war.”

A prominent Jesuit artist whose mosaics decorate churches around the globe has been barred from pursuing his artistic activity after 15 more people came forward with fresh accusations against him of spiritual, sexual and psychological abuse.