Pope urges Brazil’s consecrated religious to care for their vocation
Pope Francis sends his greetings to Brazil’s Congress of Consecrated Religious Life, and praises their various charisms for building up the mission of the Church. Read all
Archbishop Gallagher visits Croatia
The Vatican Secretary for Relations with States is in Croatia for the feast of Our Lady of the Stone Gate. He is also scheduled to meet State authorities and give a lecture at the Croatian Catholic University. Read all
The Sins of St. Francis’s Father
The Sins of St. Francis’s Father Among the villains who populate the lives of the saints, none stands out quite like Peter Bernadone. Peter is famous for abusing his son, St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most beloved figures in the history of the Western world. Students of Church history typically give Peter no […]
On Nuclear Disbelief
On Nuclear Disbelief In June 1945, Commonweal associate editor C. G. Paulding denounced an essay by Major George Fielding Eliot, then a military analyst for the New York Herald Tribune, that proposed a large-scale gas attack against Japan to end World War II. “There is no use arguing whether poison gas is a little worse or […]
A We without Boundaries
A We without Boundaries Let me cut to the chase: this book is a stunning achievement. Brian D. Robinette, associate professor of theology at Boston College, has gifted us with a deeply pondered work about God’s utterly gratuitous gift of creation, redemption, and fulfillment in Christ. The Difference Nothing Makes meditates on the loving God […]
Living Water
Living Water I have chosen to address in this lecture the theme of discernment and its relation to the dialectic of mercy in the thought of Pope Francis. Allow me to begin with a quick journey back to ancient Greece. Diogenes the Cynic was once found walking the crowded streets of Athens in broad daylight […]
Weight and Measure
Weight and Measure Anthony Hecht, who died in 2004, has assumed the status of one of the major American poets of the past century’s late decades, taking his place alongside Richard Wilbur and James Merrill as formalist masters. His eight books of poetry brought him numerous prizes and awards, and his teaching career included many […]
What Does Dignity Mean Now?
What Does Dignity Mean Now? The Editors May 28, 2024
The ‘Spirit’ of Vatican II Conservatism?
The ‘Spirit’ of Vatican II Conservatism? There’s the National Eucharistic Congress coming in July, not to mention the second session of the Synod on Synodality in October and the opening of the Jubilee of 2025 in December. But what many U.S. Catholics may be more focused on are the presidential election in November and the […]
Too Many Abstractions
Too Many Abstractions The release of a new document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) always generates news, without much regard for how newsworthy the document actually turns out to be. In this case, the excitement was understandable but the document itself turned out to be underwhelming. Dignitas Infinita purports to […]