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Voices
Robert David Sullivan is the production editor at America magazine.
Caucus goers check in at Roosevelt High School on Feb. 3 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Politics & SocietyNews Analysis
Robert David Sullivan
We still do not have the official results from the Iowa caucuses, writes Robert David Sullivan, but we have lessons to learn from the fiasco.
Pope Francis holds his pastoral staff as he celebrates Mass marking the feast of All Souls at Laurentino Cemetery in Rome on Nov. 2, 2018. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 
FaithDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
What is coming up in 2020, from Holy Days of Obligation to the presidential election and the Summer Olympics.
A major fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris this past April left many readers asking, “Where was God?” (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
Articles that tackled perplexing questions (“Why Do Some Catholics Oppose Pope Francis?” “Where Was God When Notre Dame Was in Flames?”) were especially popular with our readers in 2019. But what else made the hit list?
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
Federal spending on children fell to 1.9 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2018.
When it comes to population growth, the United States has two regions. The Frontier (gray-colored states in the West and the Southeast) attracts native-born U.S. citizens from other states. The Gateway (blue-colored states in the Northeast and California) depends on international immigration for population growth. The Great Interior (orange-colored states) gets relatively few newcomers, and population growth depends on the birth rate.
Politics & SocietyFeatures
Robert David Sullivan
Both the church and the nation will steadily shrink without newcomers from beyond our national borders. But there are big differences in how immigration plays out in different parts of the U.S.
A man holds a life-size cutout of new St. Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan of India before the canonization Mass for five new saints celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
FaithDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
John Paul II canonized more saints (482) than the popes from the previous 500 years combined, and Pope Francis is more than keeping up.
Couples exchange vows during a wedding service at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Georgetown, Del., on Feb. 14, 2010. (CNS photo/Don Blake, The Dialog)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
Nearly two-thirds of college graduates are married, writes Robert David Sullivan, compared with only about half of those who have not gone beyond high school.
(iStock/BackyardProduction)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
Children are consistently the poorest age group in the United States, writes Robert David Sullivan. But will they be heard in Washington as they become outnumbered by people over 65?
In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, Border Patrol agent Vincent Pirro looks on near a border wall that separates the cities of Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
Since he began his campaign for national office in 2015, President Trump has repeatedly referred to a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border, but the numbers have been less consistent.
A man walks past the former Church of the Nativity in New York City in December 2018. It was deconsecrated in 2017. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz) 
FaithDispatches
Robert David Sullivan
The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.