Last year, as 2016 drew to a close, a rough election year left the Catholic writer Ann Patchett “mindlessly scrolling through two particular shopping websites, numbing my fears with pictures of shoes, clothes, purses and jewelry.” Finally,...

[Editor's Note: This post was updated Dec. 19.  Since writing this post, I have read Bishop Robert Barron's column, "Lady Bird and the Breakthrough of Grace," and wanted to bring it to readers' attention.  It is well worth reading.] As an...

As powerful men in entertainment, politics and business face credible accusations of sexual harassment and assault, the Democratic Party has finally begun to reassess its response to similarly egregious claims against former U.S. President Bill...

On Tuesday the U.S. bishops will elect the new chair of their Pro-life Activities Committee, and the outcome of this closely-watched contest serves as a “barometer of support for Pope Francis among the American hierarchy,” according to a report...

“At the highest circles, people still don’t get it,” said Brown, during his 40-minute speech at a climate change conference organized by the Pontifical Academy for Sciences. “It’s not just a light rinse” that is needed, he added. “We need a...

Why would angry college protesters on the beautiful grounds of Middlebury College attack a middle-aged professor, sending her to a hospital emergency room for treatment of a concussion? What led students at the University of California Berkeley...

Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the Gender Recognition Act of 2017. The law adds “nonbinary” to male and female in official state documents. Residents who identify as transgender have applauded the new legislation,...

 Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japanese-born author of The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, and five other acclaimed English-language novels, was awarded the Nobel Prize on Thursday.  No doubt, Ishiguro’s Catholic fans, myself included, heartily...

Flannery O’Connor was just 25 years old, and already a promising writer, when she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, the disease that killed her father. Told she had just five years to live, the young Catholic left New York’s...

This week, as the public outcry over the violent racist protests in Charlottesville continued, George Clooney and his wife, Amal, announced that their foundation would give $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center for a joint initiative to...