John Rodden has written for Commonweal since 1984 on topics ranging from George Orwell to Mother Teresa and St. Michael the Archangel.
Article How the Irish Changed Penance The history behind a group of Irish monks who transformed the sacrament of reconciliation By John Rodden February 14, 2022 Religion
Article Always Honing an Argument A decade after Christopher Hitchens’s death, his rhetorical style may prove his most lasting legacy. By John Rodden December 15, 2021 Secularism and Modernity
Article ‘Barbed-Wire Sunday’ Sixty years ago, in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 13, East Germany was enclosed in a barbed-wire prison. By John Rodden August 13, 2021 History
Article The Inimitable Orwell “Politics and the English Language” remains an important essay, but we have done it a great disservice by turning it into a dusty school assignment. By John Rodden June 30, 2021 Education Nonfiction
Article The Gadfly In his work, the late historian John Lukacs embodied a Christian humanism, one that ideologues on both the left and right did their best to bury. He will be missed. By John Rodden May 18, 2019 Foreign Affairs Higher Education
Article The ‘Crazy Love’ of Dr. Ruth Pfau Ruth Pfau pursued her health mission in a manner that not only alleviated suffering, but helped erode walls of prejudice and fear By John Rodden November 1, 2017 Social Justice Religious Life
