pope francis
Major stories in American Christianity of the 2010s
How faith has been shaped by Obergefell, the Charleston murders, Me Too, and more
Stumbling toward peace in Colombia
Churches continue to work at the grassroots to see the peace deal implemented.
Pope Francis the populist intellectual
The pope doesn't always show off his theological talents. Does that matter?
by Jon Sweeney
Blaise Pascal, blessed doubter
Pascal knew both the inconstancy of the human heart and the promise that we were made for glory.
Merciful within limits
Pope Francis's theology of mercy has political implications.
Mercy for the earth, mercy for ourselves
Pope Francis calls us to internalize the planet's pain.
Remembering the Reformation—with the pope
"A commemoration, not a celebration." What does this mean?
by Michael Root
True witness, absurd violence
Pope Francis’s response to the killing of a French priest puzzled some. But it pointed to the true nature of Christian witness.
What future is there for women religious in the West?
Is there a future for religious women in North America and Western Europe? Even heavily Catholic regions like Ireland and Quebec have populations of Catholic sisters who are overwhelmingly elderly.
Papal politics and perils
Politi's account reveals much of what happened among the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on those days in March 2013.
by Jon Sweeney
Womenpriests on the prospect of female deacons
There’s the Pope Francis buzz. And then there’s reality.
Last week news outlets reported that Pope Francis would form a commission to study the issue of female deacons in the Catholic Church. The predictable reverberations began immediately.
The genesis of kinship
The ancient stories of Genesis bear witness to a created world that is interconnected and has value in God’s eyes.
Healing from the ground up: The church as field hospital
The church I dream of goes out onto the field of battle—not to kill and maim on either side's behalf, but to bind up wounds.
Spotlight and a changing Catholic landscape
Nearly 15 years ago, the Boston Globe broke the story of the priest-pedophilia and bishop-cover-up crimes. The film Spotlight, which chronicles the investigative reporting behind the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage, is now up for a Best Picture Academy Award. While this new film shines a light on what happened then, watching it now reveals how the Catholic landscape has changed (and not changed) since the story broke in 2002.
While the reporters depicted in Spotlight initially pursue the stories of particular priest-pedophiles, the editors see the bigger picture: the bureaucratic system, the hierarchy, and the mindset that allowed these priests to be moved from parish to parish without legal intervention.
Fluent in God’s work
Learning a language requires us to focus our attention on something outside ourselves. It's a lot like learning to pray.