In the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, not far from the free medical clinic and showers for the homeless and undocumented migrants opened by Pope Francis in 2018, sits a man on a bench. From behind, his clothes are rough…
USCCB’s immigration chief: ‘We announce the gospel, in season and out’
In 2022, Pope Francis was asked about the U.S. bishops’ conference and identified one man, El Paso, Texas, Bishop Mark Seitz, as an example of a “good pastor.” Seitz, who had just been named to head the U.S. Conference of…
Dividing lines at Catholic Conclave may be different than you expect
The process of choosing a successor for the late Pope Francis will certainly include maneuvering by conservative and progressive elements in the Catholic Church, but with little if any of the zero-sum scheming common among bitterly divided U.S. denominations, Vatican…
Mr. Trump goes to Rome
Most of the time, when people say, “Just joking,” they’re not joking at all. Often, we use “just joking” as a cover when we’ve trotted out ideas we know will be controversial or hurtful but we want to say them…
What The Roman Catholic Church needs is a wholesale reset, not a new Pope
The death of Pope Francis, after a very public diminishment, closes a signal chapter in Catholic history with absolutely no certainty about who or what comes next. Rather than reflexively corralling the cardinals into a Conclave to elect his successor,…
The Latin American pontiff who changed the papal narrative
In the broad sweep of world history, some leaders come and go without leaving a lasting impact, while others mark their era indelibly. Pope Francis — born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the first Latin American pontiff…
A conservative Baptist’s prayerful appreciation for Pope Francis
“Pope Francis has died.” Those words were the first banner I saw on my iPhone when I woke up Easter Monday. The Supreme Pontiff and Bishop of Rome (yes, it’s hard for a Baptist to type those words) died at 7:35…
Crowds flock to newest Catholic saint in Assisi — a millennial teen whose ordinariness is the draw
Pilgrims have been pouring into this medieval hilltop town to venerate not only two of the Catholic Church’s most celebrated saints, Francis and Clare, but its newest — Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, who will be canonized on April 27.
A Catholic vice president shouldn’t bless war crimes
Officials in the Trump administration are facing intense scrutiny this week after it was revealed that National Security Adviser Michael Waltz accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a group chat on the Signal encrypted messaging app. The…
At the king of Jordan’s interfaith iftar, Orthodox and Catholic leaders attack Christian Zionism
King Abdullah II’s annual iftar has become a highly anticipated Ramadan event where members of the royal family, religious leaders and local notables, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and key members of his government, are all invited to…
Catholic leaders and JD Vance spar over immigration doctrine
Vice President JD Vance and the Catholic Church — of which he is a member — are at odds over U.S. immigration policy. With less than a week in office, President Donald Trump has begun swiftly implementing anti-immigrant and anti-refugee…
Former editor explains how the Boston Globe broke the Catholic abuse story
The Houston Chronicle’s “Abuse of Faith” newspaper series about sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention likely would not have been possible without an earlier expose of the Roman Catholic Church published by the Boston Globe, that paper’s former editor…