I keep a photo of Jean Vanier on my desk. It is painful to look at today. I’ve written almost completely uncritically about the founder of L’Arche several times at America: I called him a “revered spiritual master and prophetic voice” whose messages “always bear repeating” in a review of his last book; I wrote Read more
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Democratic candidates and party officials have worked hard to counter the narrative that their party has a “religion problem.” They’ve hired faith outreach directors, met with religious activists and courted the votes of people of a wide range of faith groups throughout the Democratic primary season. But experts Read more
It became clear that I would need to follow the Rev. Jacques Mourad around all day. To the kitchen, where he was preparing kebab with eggplants or demonstrating how to cut onions just so or washing dishes. To the chapel, where he was picking away wax collecting on candle holders. To the classrooms, where he Read more
My wife and I, we have four children, all younger than 7. Ours is not a quiet house. A house of screaming and a house of endless snot, it’s also a house of love, grown and multiplied every few years. In a house of little sleep, my hobby these days is simply to sit down; Read more
Though 500 years have passed since the Protestant Reformation began in the eastern German town of Wittenberg, traditional and conservative Catholics find themselves eyeing the German church with concern once again. The country’s Catholic bishops recently launched a two-year summit aimed at “newly assessing” long-held Catholic beliefs on sexuality, love and priestly life, including how Read more
Hearts hardened by ideology, selfishness and arrogance leave no room for God, Pope Francis said. “The Lord only goes in hearts that are like his heart,” that is, “hearts that are compassionate, open,” the Pope said in his homily on February 18 during morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope reflected on the Read more
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter Laudato si’, on care for our common home, the Earth, continued the tradition of the prophets and of popes before him who have spoken out on global concerns, such as Pope John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris on world peace when the world sat on the knife-edge of nuclear war; and Read more
It was disappointing but not a surprise that Pope Francis decided not to respond to the Amazon synod’s recommendation that the Catholic Church ordain mature, married men to make up for the huge shortage of priests in the Amazon region. Francis did not say yes to married priests, but neither did he really say no. Read more
Pope Francis has just issued an important document entitled “Querida Amazonia,” or “Beloved Amazon.” It is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, that is, the Holy Father’s summing up of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, which took place in October of last year. The synod gathered Catholic bishops, clergy, theologians and lay people, including Read more
In Religion in Public, Melissa Deckman of Washington College finds that the probability of being a religious none in Gen Z (born after 1995) is the same as for Millenials (born between 1981-1994). This bombshell finding sent us running for other datasets. Like all good scientists, we trust, but verify. In this post, we run Read more