The British referendum revealed the weakness of the political establishment. The phenomenon points to the opening of a new chapter in Europe's post-war history.
The tensions within Orthodoxy are partly theological. But there is also a more worldly clash of interests, including the rivalry between Constantinople and Moscow.
Brexit may end up being not a setback but an opportunity. And a decade or two from now, we may well find it difficult to recall what all the fuss was about.
Poland's young extreme nationalists represent a revival for which being Catholic and Polish implies also being anti-European, anti-pluralist, and anti-liberal.
As a student of Reinhold Niebuhr, President Obama has sought out occasions on which he could preach about the ironies and uncertainties of human action.
The atmosphere of moral agony in Eye in the Sky reflects standard-issue Hollywood sentimentality. Politically, it offers Americans moral justification for drone war.
Candidate Trump offers a set of fatuous, swaggering reactions that he trots out in response to various topics in international relations. Is that "policy"?
In two new books, Hazareesingh and Bell incorporate American views into the 20th century struggles between republicans and Catholics in France over "basic freedoms"
Simon Leys’s Catholic sensibility is never insistent, and never descends into preachiness. As he said of Confucius, sometimes it can be better to stay silent.
Though many Westerners think of Iran as a theocratic monolith, Christians of various kinds consider it home and see the Shiite majority not as hosts but neighbors.
Scott Shane's telling of the U.S.-born Muslim preacher-turned-terrorist and his surveillance by the FBI reveals that the calculus for terrorism is political.
In his latest, Thomas Mallon turns real-life figures like Nixon, Reagan, and Nancy Reagan's astrologer into characters as skillfully as he creates fictional ones.
The contrast between the response in Europe—reactive, ill-tempered, and chaotic—and that of the countries bordering Syria ought to be a cause of shame.
Like St. Gregory, Bishop Djomo of the Congo is committed to building unity among his own local people—and he lives in a world lacking effective public services.
Considering how religiously diverse and culturally cosmopolitan its cities were before WWI, few could have foreseen today's calamity for the Middle Eastern region.
Konrad Jarausch's history of Europe's recent past pursues a fundamental question—what is modernization? And is modern progress liberating for all, or still "dark"?
Catholic teaching emphasizes the obligation of nations to help the stranger in need. It is neither statesman-like nor Christian to close the door on Syrian refugees.
To understand how Islamic extremism grew, one must consider Washington’s decades-long military support to Pakistan, and its protection of the Saudi Arabian monarchy.
What Pope Francis is doing during his first trip to Africa, despite security threats; who among the cardinals thinks the pope is "wobbly" on church teaching, again.
Pope sows "confusion" by inviting Muslims take part in upcoming Jubilee Year, giving a Eucharistic chalice to a Lutheran pastor, and remaining the Bishop of Rome.
How to remove ISIS is a puzzle whose solution will require resolve, patience, and international cooperation. For the United States to act alone would be a mistake.
It remains to be seen whether a monstrous terrorist attack will shake the trajectory of a presidential campaign that is operating within a logic of its own.
Driven by poverty, Central American migrants continue to cross Mexico for the United States, the vast majority now making the journey almost entirely by foot.
The election of Justin Trudeau resoundingly closes what many observers view as a dismal era in modern Canadian politics personified by conservative Stephen Harper.
John Norris's new biography of Pulitzer prize-winning political journalist (and Commonweal Catholic) Mary McGrory is engaging, carefully researched, and sympathetic.
The horrors suffered by Christians in parts of the Middle East can't be overlooked. But in Jordan, the historic coexistence of Islam and Christianity continues.
U.S. Paulist Fathers give moral prescription for Synod; Priest fired for announcing gay partnership reveals more in upcoming book; Families in Rome welcome migrants.
