Religion

Dolly Parton's non-judgmental faith could be a lesson for many of today’s Christians.

Pope Leo has focused on issues—immigration, economic justice, war and peace, and artificial intelligence—on which the American polity is hungry for moral guidance.

Self-described "amateur" composer Norah Duncan IV has been a creative emblem of Detroit's rich Black Catholic heritage.

Suddenly, a lot of folks are taking the Church’s social teaching seriously. The shift is noticeable even to those outside the Church.

A Eucharistic celebration in Puebla displays a community's devotion and the central role of lay leaders in Mexican Catholicism.

Catholic postliberals keen to dismiss dignity as an empty category should consult the Church's Magisterium—and listen to the cries of the vulnerable.

As a New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat's commentary on the Church was defined by a central antagonist: Pope Francis.

Church teaching on suicide tells us what we must not do. But it doesn’t give us anything helpful to say to those facing intolerable suffering.

On Tuesday, the White Sox gave every fan who entered the park an “official” Sox papal mitre. The promotion was a smash success, of course.

The allegations against Fr. Michael Pfleger have once again put the Catholic Church’s procedures around sexual abuse of minors in the spotlight.

"The blessedness of the night is something I now try to embrace. When I probe the darkness, I usually find God more present than I’d realized."

A new exhibit at the Morgan Museum and Library traces tarot's transformation from a courtly card game in fifteenth-century Milan into a map of the modern subconscious.

Three writers—a Jewish theologian, a legal scholar and intellectual historian, and a Catholic philosopher of religion—reflect on Omri Boehm’s call for a "radical universalism."

Three writers—a Jewish theologian, a legal scholar and intellectual historian, and a Catholic philosopher of religion—reflect on Omri Boehm’s call for a "radical universalism."

"To be well known, even in as small a pond as the intellectual life, can be gratifying. Like most other pleasures, however, it also has its problems."

… humanism to bear on the issues of his day. Omri Boehm is an Israeli philosopher who teaches at … of Buchenwald to rescind their invitation to Boehm, who had been scheduled to speak at the … human freedom. This makes it puzzling that Boehm insists Kant “modernized the idea of …

The boldest part of Leo’s first encyclical is about war, not artificial intelligence.

"When we wonder why death takes a life too soon, we bring forth a more wondrous puzzle: Why are there lives to be taken at all?"

Four eminent democratic theorists discuss Francis’s culture of encounter and its significance for democracy in the United States and around the world.

The West still pictures India as rooted in Gandhian tradition. But it is Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's radical nationalism that drives Indian politics today.

J. D. Vance’s ‘Communion’ and Lena Dunham’s ‘Famesick’ are two sequels to splashy, confessional memoirs by millennial authors. Only one of them is fun to read.

Omri Boehm looks to Abraham for biblical evidence of philosophical universalism. His reconstruction is speculative, at best.

St. John's is attempting to justify a union-busting campaign by appealing to the university's Catholic identity and mission.

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, provocative art came to be leveraged for right-wing political power. We're still dealing with the consequences.

Pope Leo faces profound questions concerning women in the diaconate and in lay ministry. What can we expect?

“Yesteryear,” this year’s breakout novel, promises insights into the antifeminist phenomenon, but it doesn’t deliver.

No one should be on the sidelines in the fight against hunger—especially when the GOP's fight against the hungry is being so ruthlessly waged.

The Vatican now views the SSPX as an external schismatic issue. What remains to be seen is how Leo will deal with the issue of internal radical traditionalism.

Many psychedelic users emerge from their trips with renewed interest in the communal and symbolic life of the world’s religions. Catholic leaders should take their experiences seriously.

The United Kingdom now has its sixth prime minister in the past ten years. Will this job crush even the ebullient Andy Burnham?

Martin Scorsese's 'The Last Temptation of Christ' is a Christologically correct film. It lies at the secret heart of the director's entire career.

'The Sheep Detectives' is a family-friendly whodunit that also takes up profound questions about the human condition. Its worldview isn't wholly incompatible with the complexity of our faith.

Patricia Lockwood's latest claims to report “on the state of American Catholicism,” but her essay is ultimately a caricature tailored for the misconceptions of secular readers.

Many declining congregations must figure out what to do with their buildings. What should a sacred space become after it is no longer used for worship?

Ohio has known hucksters like J. D. Vance before. The state has a long memory for men who climb the ladder and then kick it down after them.

Can James Talarico's blend of Christian uplift and progressive populism strike a chord among the Texans who have eluded Democrats this century?

The conversation among three unlikely dialogue partners—a twentieth-century Jerusalem rabbi, the ancient rabbis of the Talmud, and a German Jewish philosopher—illuminates universalism's real meaning.

Six Commonweal contributors to comment on 'Magnifica humanitas' and reflect on what it may tell us about the trajectory of Leo's new pontificate.

From the point of AI to the Church's role in slavery, 'Magnifica humanitas' provides a rich analysis of creativity and humanity. Commonweal contributors weigh in.

"In twenty-five years as a caregiver for elderly Trappist monks, I’ve experienced countless times the grace that emerges in vulnerability."

"I wanted to understand how people like me—those who grew up in the Black church and later found themselves outside of it—were channeling the impulse to believe."

Christians may find some of Nietzsche’s religious criticisms are constructive, emphasizing the authentic core of the faith: unconditional love.

Pope Leo reminds us to consider not just what AI can do, but also who designs it, who it serves, and who gets left out.

American Christianity has been captured by Trumpism over the past decade. How can we recover from his politics of resentment?

… in the not-too-distant future, you will pay subscriptions to AI products that will make …

Chris Jennings's book about violent Christian separatists traces the fracturing of American society. But was America ever whole before, and can it ever be now?

The Eucharist is not just the summit of our Catholic experience. It is also the source of our conviction to live as Christ did, giving ourselves to others in daily life.

Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe discusses his six decades as a Dominican and the point of being a Christian today.

Pope Leo's encyclical doesn't ask whether machines can make good art; it explores the uniquely human purposes of art that a machine can never access.

Virgil Michel and his friends at the Catholic Worker knew that liturgy and social justice are inseparable—together, they are the source and the fruit of true Christian spirit.