Was Fr. Spadaro’s metaphor such a big mistake—or a mistake at all? I don’t think it was, but even if he did fall off the theological high wire, these things happen.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s presence at the inauguration should prompt sober reflection about the role of faith leaders when it comes to their relationship with power.
In his farewell, Barack Obama offered nothing less than a robust defense of the communitarian values that have long been central to Catholic social thought.
In Mary, God’s unique creative act becomes human procreation and the divine takes on visible form. We might think of her as the first Christian artist.
Here’s what bothers me: Long before Trump came along we were entirely free to say merry Christmas to each other. Our political leaders could say it, too.
Nothing would do more to energize social-justice movements than a broad-based coalition able to break through the impasse of abortion politics in the United States.
One of the most important contributions Pope Francis is making to the church concerns his efforts to exercise the kind of pastoral magisterium Pope John hoped for.
Martin Scorsese talks about apostasy and faith, and how some of the films he's made (and some he's influenced by) have taken up these ideas in different ways.
Martin Scorsese talks about the challenges of filing a story set four hundred years ago, the similarities between Endo and Graham Greene, and the idea of vocation.
The director talks about growing up on the Lower East Side, his early dream of making a film about Jesus in New York City, and what led him to Endo's "Silence."
Losing to the “atheistic progressive agenda” might be good for the American church. Just look to that specter haunting the nightmares of U.S. conservatives: Sweden.
The Vatican reaffirmed a controversial directive that excludes “persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies” from being admitted to Catholic seminaries.
Some of the anxiety pervading reception of 'Amoris laetitia' invites misconstruals of the text that dwarf whatever legitimate worries that critics may have.
Simeon Zahl offers thoughts and comments on David Bentley Hart’s "blistering reflection on the economic ethics of the first Christians," and Hart responds.
Henri Nouwen, a Pierrot-like figure with many masks, turned personal vulnerability into spiritual exploration, addressing other people’s pain by sharing his own.
There is deep malaise among people who work in the curia about whether or not Francis's reforms will improve working conditions for its over 3000 lay employees.
It is worth stopping to reflect on what Francis has described as “the very foundation of the church’s life,” now, while the Year of Mercy remains fresh in our minds.
Fond memories and beautiful places are fine, but they are not all that matters. Indeed, there is a “Catholic way of doing things” when it comes to death.
In the midst of pre-Christmas celebrating, it can be hard to convince my kids that Advent exists at all. But we have a secret weapon for making it real.
