It’s a fair question. Here is Kentucky-based writer Silas House at The Atlantic: Refusing to sacrifice for the common good is an American problem, not just a Kentucky one; opposition to masking and vaccination is happening in such disparate places...
Catholic Church
Commonweal writer slams the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops
Molly Wilson O’Reilly, a practicing Catholic, pulls very few punches in this piece at The Atlantic. The context, of course, is the bishops’ efforts to ban Joe Biden from communion for his views on abortion. Here is a taste: It...
Supreme Court upholds Obamacare (7-2) and religious liberty (9-0)
Here is Politico on the Texas challenge to the Affordable Care Act: The Supreme Court on Thursdaythrew out a lawsuit threatening the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, finding that Republican-led states behind the case did not have legal ground...
Yes, Pope Francis is Catholic
Pope Francis says priests cannot bless same-sex unions. Here is Chico Harlan and Sarah Pulliam Bailey at The Washington Post: In a decree approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican on Monday said that priests cannot bless same-sex unions, describing such...
Does the Catholic Church have a Joe Biden problem?
Or does Biden have a Catholic problem? Biden is the second Catholic president in U.S. history. He also supports abortion rights. Over at The Atlantic, Emma Green interviews Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas. Here is a taste: Green: When...
Pope Francis’s scathing critique of American life
Yesterday at The New York Times, Pope Francis published an excerpt of his new book Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. He offers a devastating critique of the selfishness that we Americans try to pass off as...
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...
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...
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)....
Former *Christianity Today* editor Mark Galli will convert to Catholicism
I did not see this coming. Here is Yonat Shimron at Religion News Service: On Sunday (Sept. 13), Mark Galli will stand before Bishop Richard Pates in the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, Illinois, to hear these words:...
A “progressive evangelical thinker” responds to the Eric Metaxas punch
Apparently, I am now a “progressive evangelical thinker.” Perhaps this may restore my reputation among some in the academic profession. 🙂 Here is Samuel Smith at The Christian Post: While some on social media, including at least one progressive evangelical thinker,...
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,...
What is happening at *Sojourners*?
Aysha Khan at Religion News Service is reporting that the progressive Christian magazine Sojourners has replaced Jim Wallis as editor in chief and “announced a new policy of editorial independence from the organization’s advocacy work.” Wallis founded Sojourners and is President...
Catholic Archbishop of Washington D.C. Condemns Trump’s Visit to John Paul II Memorial Today
Today, in an attempt to shore-up his support among Roman Catholics, Donald Trump visited the John Paul II National Shrine in Washington D.C. America magazine has it covered here. Here is Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory: I find it baffling and...
Is Trump Pro-Life?
John Gehring is Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life Action and the author of The Francis Effect: A Radical Pope’s Challenge to the American Catholic Church. Here is a taste of his Religion News Service piece “Trump Woos Catholics...
An Important Piece on Abortion That Will Irritate Both Sides of the Debate
Sometimes irritating the extremes is a good thing. Here is Michael Sean Winters at the National Catholic Reporter on the eve of the March for Life: Friday, tens of thousands of people, mostly Catholics, will stream into our nation’s capital for...