External realities are complicating the traditional structures on which parishes have relied for decades.

What caused Dorothy Day to stand out in her time, as it does still, is the way her spiritual life was expressed not only in her daily prayer but in her response to the needs of her neighbors, to the poor and to the demands of history.

In a world that was coming to understand the structural underpinnings of poverty and violence, Father Gutiérrez was a prophet who saw clearly how the Christian proclamation of salvation involved not merely the afterlife but included human liberation in this life as well.

Here are five qualities that today’s prophetic voices share with our predecessors.

“Sing Sing” sidesteps the trap of cheap melodrama that exploits the trials and trauma of incarcerated people.

With all due respect to the leadership, I believe the U.S. bishops’ conference is quietly taking extraordinary actions that curtail our sacred social mission.