LGBTQ issues

Article

Why We Left

We asked you to tell us your stories of why you came, left, or stayed in the church. In this installment, three readers explain why they left

By The Editors

January 9, 2019

LGBTQ issues

Sexual-abuse Crisis

Liturgy

Bishops

U.S. Catholicism

Article

Reading the Opposition

Instead of hyperventilating about the decline of Western religious and political institutions, conservatives ought to help build them back up

By Paul Baumann

December 13, 2018

Secularism and Modernity

LGBTQ issues

Foreign Affairs

U.S. Catholicism

Feature

Standing Up for the Little Guy

A recent retrospective at the Whitney Museum centers on the activist legacy of New York City artist David Wojnarowicz, but also reveals his latent Catholicism

By Nicole-Ann Lobo

October 26, 2018

LGBTQ issues

Social Justice

Arts

Article

… has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it … freedom of religion has been used to justify discrimination. And to me it is one of the … and neutral enforcement of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law—a law that protects …

By Paul Moses

June 6, 2018

Supreme Court

LGBTQ issues

Secularism and Modernity

Article

The Scandal of Firing LGBT Catholics

Punitive actions against LGBT Catholics do not reflect the fact that we are at a moment that requires prayerful discernment

By John Gehring

February 16, 2018

LGBTQ issues

Sexuality

U.S. Catholicism

Article

Not Worth a Cake?

It’s hard to see how a baker’s claim to religious freedom doesn’t amount to discrimination

By John Gehring

December 7, 2017

Article

Letter from Rome

The truth (and history) behind the pope's comments on a commission to "clarify" the role of women deacons; Italian bishops react to Italy legalizing same-sex unions.

By Robert Mickens

May 18, 2016

Article

Two Steps Back

The forced resignation of the widely respected Tony Spence, who had a long history of serving the Catholic press, raises questions about changes at the USCCB.

By John Gehring

May 3, 2016

Article

Unity, Growth & Love in the Church

The exhortation is a valiant and powerful exercise in the Petrine ministry of upholding church unity. Is it another starting point in Francis's pontificate?

By Peter Steinfels

April 13, 2016

U.S. Catholicism

Pope Francis

LGBTQ issues

Secularism and Modernity

Article

The Poet Pope's Pastoral Discernment

If John Paul II was the philosopher and Benedict XVI the theologian, Pope Francis is the poet pope, giving voice to the dreams and wisdom of migrants and the poor.

By William L. Portier

April 12, 2016

Secularism and Modernity

Article

What Is Francis Saying with 'Amoris Laetitia'?

By Massimo Faggioli

April 8, 2016

Article

Letter from Rome

Who's revealing Francis's exhortation on marriage and the family; What some speculate it says about divorced and same-sex couples; How corrupt Cardinal Bertone is.

By Robert Mickens

April 6, 2016

Article

The Exhortation Expectations Game

By Massimo Faggioli

April 5, 2016

Article

'Prophecy Without Contempt': Watch Cathleen Kaveny, Peter Steinfels & Bishop Robert McElroy in Conversation

By Dominic Preziosi

March 8, 2016

Muslim-Christian Relations

Article

Asymmetric Culture War in the Church of Francis

By Massimo Faggioli

January 26, 2016

Article

The Synod on the Family

Selected articles, interviews, and video from our coverage of the Synod on the Family—and the continuing dialogue about sex, marriage, and Catholic family life.

By The Editors

November 19, 2015

Article

Still a Church of Surprises

So this, I realized as I watched, was still a church of surprises. Vatican II lived on. A weight accumulated over thirty-five years dropped from from my shoulders.

By John Wilkins

November 17, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Theology

Article

Let's Talk About Authority

Francis has introduced the possibility that the spotlight of moral judgment can can be shone back on those who make the judgments, and on their very act of judging.

By Karen Kilby

November 5, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Sexuality

Theology

Article

Conspiracy of the Faithful

John Henry Newman once said of the laity that the church would look foolish without them, and from the beginning the synod did indeed look foolish without us.

By Catherine Wolff

November 2, 2015

Article

'Just a Revelation'

Aside from restatements of the teaching on sexual morality, there were glimpses of how a spirituality of discernment could infuse the church in its mission of mercy.

By Mary Lee Freeman

October 30, 2015

Article

Letter from Rome

After news of secret visit with Kim Davis, could the affection that Pope Francis generated with his visit to the United States last week vanish in a cloud of smoke?

By Robert Mickens

September 30, 2015

Article

Did Francis Show Us 'A Better Politics'?

By Dominic Preziosi

September 30, 2015

Pope Francis

LGBTQ issues

Article

Seen, Heard & Not Heard at the World Meeting of Families (UPDATED)

By Ellen B. Koneck

September 27, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Theology

Article

Peter Steinfels on Politicizing Pope Francis

By Kaitlin Campbell

September 22, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Pope Francis & America

By Paul Baumann

September 20, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Vatican II

Article

Fortress or Field Hospital: The Video

By Dominic Preziosi

September 16, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Social Justice

Vatican II

Article

What a Great Country!

By Bethe Dufresne

September 4, 2015

LGBTQ issues

Article

Letter from Rome

Traditionalists grumble Francis is stacking the Synod assembly with "lefties"; 2016 World Day of Peace theme is announced, along with a long list of global issues.

By Robert Mickens

August 12, 2015

Continuing the Conversation

Contraception mandate

Article

New issue, now live

By Kaitlin Campbell

August 3, 2015

Article

The More You Know

Nothing has changed me as much as being friends with gay people has. The theory, the doctrine, the dogma: it all disappears in the face of friendship and love.

By Jo McGowan

July 29, 2015

Article

Sr. Mary Scullion Writes on the Firing of Margie Winters

By Dominic Preziosi

July 22, 2015

Article

Fighting a Firing in Philadelphia

By Dominic Preziosi

July 15, 2015

Article

Pomp & Circumstances

For supporters of same-sex marriage, Obergefell is definitely a victory. But the victory is not primarily one for the Supreme Court—or for Justice Anthony Kennedy.

By Paul Horwitz

July 10, 2015

Article

Privacy, not Equal Protection

Articulating a basis for the Court’s judgment that's preferable to the somewhat diffuse mix of rationales on which Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority relies.

By Michael J. Perry

July 9, 2015

Article

'Under God'

Whether or not U.S. support for LGBT rights goes beyond the rhetorical, societies still viewing themselves as “under God” will bridle at this sudden turn about.

By Andrew J. Bacevich

July 6, 2015

Muslim-Christian Relations

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Calm, collected.

By Grant Gallicho

June 29, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Bishops

LGBTQ issues

Article

The Acceleration of History

The core liberal conviction about the Supreme Court still rings true: it is most constructive when power is used to vindicate the rights of beleaguered minorities.

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

June 29, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Race

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Anne Enright's new novel suggests something simple—family, for good or ill, keeps forming us even when we try to escape it—but her prose constantly surprises.

By Anthony Domestico

June 25, 2015

Article

Letter from Rome

Synod officials released an "underwhelming" working document for October's assembly while Italian Catholics gathered to protest gay marriage and gender theory.

By Robert Mickens

June 24, 2015

Pope Francis

Letter from Rome

Secularism and Modernity

Bishops

Continuing the Conversation

Article

Valuing the Family

What Beau Biden's funeral brought home is that the feelings nearly all of us -- left, right, and center -- have about family bonds transcend day-to-day arguments.

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

June 11, 2015

Article

Letter from Rome

A preview of upcoming papal visits at home, abroad and with Italian protestants. And the press turns Francis's list of "attacks on life" into an abortion debate.

By Robert Mickens

June 3, 2015

Article

Ireland's 'Social Revolution'

It is a mark of how much has changed so quickly that Ireland's vote for gay marriage was the expected outcome, even if the breadth of that outcome was breathtaking.

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

May 28, 2015

Article

Same-Sex Marriage 'Reality Check'

By Kaitlin Campbell

May 27, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Secularism and Modernity

Bishops

Continuing the Conversation

Article

Gay-friendly Catholics

By Paul Lakeland

May 27, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Pope Francis

LGBTQ issues

Article

Now on the homepage

By Kaitlin Campbell

May 27, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Letter from Rome

Pope Francis

Secularism and Modernity

Continuing the Conversation

Contraception mandate

Article

Letter from Rome

Cardinal Parolin calls Ireland's gay marriage victory a "defeat for humanity"; progressives and traditionalists hold secret meetings to discuss Synod on the Family.

By Robert Mickens

May 27, 2015

Article

Reading the Same-Sex Marriage Polls in Ireland

By Dominic Preziosi

May 21, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Foreign Affairs

LGBTQ issues

Article

Playing the Princess

… religious freedom and the need to combat discrimination against homosexuals. But … between religious freedom and combating discrimination is the frame for RFRA debates. …

By Cathleen Kaveny

April 20, 2015

U.S. Catholicism

Columnists

Contraception mandate

Domestic Affairs

LGBTQ issues

Article

On "lynch mobs"

By John Schwenkler

April 10, 2015

LGBTQ issues

Race

Media

Article

Overheated

The furor over Indiana's RFRA raises questions about our capacity to engage in the kind of thoughtful, careful public discussion that issues like this demand.

By Paul Horwitz

April 8, 2015