The Catholic Church is dividing along culture war lines. For many conservative Catholics associated with the “old guard leadership” of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic cable channel EWTN, Pope Francis is enemy number one. David Gibson,...
American Catholicism
The Author’s Corner with William Cossen
William Cossen is a teacher in the Social Studies Department at The Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology. This interview is based on his new book, Making Catholic America: Religious Nationalism in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (Cornell University...
The Author’s Corner with Leah Mickens
Leah Mickens is August Wilson Project Archivist at the University of Pittsburgh. This interview is based on her new book, In the Shadow of Ebenezer: A Black Catholic Parish in the Age of Civil Rights and Vatican II (NYU Press,...
The Author’s Corner with Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith is Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Regional Director of Public Programming at Miami University of Ohio. This interview is based on his new book, The Spires Still Point to Heaven: Cincinnati’s Religious Landscape, 1788–1873 (Temple University Press,...
Priests in cars in Milwaukee
Over JSTOR Daily, Livia Gershon, with the help of historian Peter Cajka, explains how the automobile changed Milwaukee Catholicism. Here is a taste: With the rise of cars, and especially after 1945, these boundaries loosened. Many Catholics moved out of...
When it comes to presidents quoting scripture and spiritual writers, Joe Biden may surpass Barack Obama
In 2012, I asked readers of my now defunct Patheos column if they would vote for a man who: …gives praise and honor to God before a public audience? …wants to seek God’s face with other believers? …admits that prayer...
Thomas Howard, RIP
Catholic writer Thomas Howard has died. When evangelicals of a certain age think about Howard several things may come to mind: He is the brother of Elisabeth Elliott, the husband of Jim Elliott, one of the evangelical missionaries killed by...
*The Washington Post* religion desk tackles Amy Coney Barrett and People of Praise
Here is Emma Brown, Jon Swaine, and Michelle Boorstein: While Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has faced questions about how her Catholic faith might influence her jurisprudence, she has not spoken publicly about her involvement in People of Praise,...
Notre Dame president tests positive for COVID-19 after visiting the White House
Fr. John Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame, has tested positive for COVID-19. He was at the White House last week for the announcement of Amy Coney Barret as Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. Here is...
More on charismatic Catholicism
In our continuing efforts to make sense of Amy Coney Barrett’s religious community, here is my friend Matthew Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, on the charismatic Catholicism that informs People of Praise. Catholic...
People of Praise and South Bend, Indiana
Over at Politico, Adam Wren writes about the relationship between People of Praise and the city of South Bend, Indiana. Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court has brought attention to this small Catholic community. Here is a taste...
Randall Balmer: Evangelicals “have been outsourcing their judicial appointments to conservative Catholics”
Back in July 2018, National Public Radio reporter Sarah McCammon asked me why there are no evangelical Christians on the Supreme Court. Here is the part of my answer that made it into her story: MCCAMMON: A major goal for...
Local coverage of the South Bend People of Praise community, 1977
Sun, Aug 7, 1977 – 30 · The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana) · Newspapers.com Later today Trump is expected to announce his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court....
Amy Coney Barrett and the People of Praise
It looks like Trump will nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court later today. Over the next several weeks, Senators and pundits will want to know more about People of Praise, a Catholic charismatic group in which the Barrett...
Watch Springsteen’s convocation address at Boston College
Get up to speed at the end of this post. If you don’t want to watch the entire thing, here are the highlights: Context: (For more on Created and Called for Community at Messiah University click here)....
A new Springsteen album is almost here
It is titled “Letter to You.” There are also rumors that a song off the album will drop tomorrow. Here is Jay Lustig at NJArts.net: Though there has been no official announcement, it appears that the next Bruce Springsteen album...
The Author’s Corner with Kate Moran
Kate Moran is Associate Professor of American Studies at Saint Louis University. This interview is based on her new book, The Imperial Church: Catholic Founding Fathers and United States Empire (Cornell University Press, 2020). JF: Why did you decide to...
The “moral complexity” of Junipero Serra
Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan priest who established some of the earliest Spanish missions in California, has been under attack of late. On June 19, 2020, activists pulled-down a Serra statue in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The following day,...
The president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities on the “ethics of reopening”
Reverend Dennis Holtschneider, CM, is president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. Over at Inside Higher Ed he offers 13 things to think about as colleges and universities reopen in a few weeks: “Everyone holds ethical responsibility for others in...
When the Supreme Court engages in bad history
Willamette University law professor and historian Steven K. Green makes a compelling case that the Supreme Court was “sloppy” in its use of history in the recent Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue decision. Here is a taste of his...