Pope Francis greeted the pilgrims gathered in Lisbon for the opening of MAGIS 2023, imploring them to “truly believe and become what they are: ‘A future full of hope.’”

The Jesuits will begin their pre-World Youth Day program this Saturday with the start of MAGIS 2023, which will bring about 2,000 young people from 82 countries connected with the Society of Jesus to Lisbon.

When we think of science fiction, lasers and aliens might come to mind first—but it is also a genre in which religious imagination plays a role.

“I’m honored to be invited by the Holy Father to participate in the Synod,” Father James Martin said. “As a Jesuit, I’m committed to this kind of group discernment.”

Francis X. Talbot, S.J., was for many years America's literary editor, and later its editor in chief. He was also a saucy literary stylist who loved nothing more than a good argument.

When will the day come when we won’t see a headline about the church reluctantly admitting that they have spent several decades protecting yet another predator and feeding yet more victims into the flames?