Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times recently documented specific, concrete cases of people who died in Africa of malaria, HIV, and other maladies due to DOGE-driven reductions in medical supplies and aid workers.
It was amazing to attend such a unique gathering of political and religious leaders speaking about freedom, political rights, and peace.
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · last mo.Accepting the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal, Pope Leo explored the relationship between political freedom and care for the vulnerable. @regmunch.bsky.social: 'An American Pope on American Freedom'
The Declaration embraces equality—because it will not tolerate a tyrant’s cruelty. On America's 250th birthday, read Charlie Tyson on the Declaration's radical political vision: www.commonwealmagazine.org/declaration-...
commonwealmagazine.org
Happy 4th of July, for my first piece for @commonwealmagazine.org, I looked into whether or not the pandemic contributed to the nation’s rightwing lurch. Does Terror Management Theory, the idea that a repressed fear of death can have political consequences, help explain our current moment?
Memento Mori
Is our collective refusal to remember and grieve the deaths caused by the pandemic contributing to s rightward lurch in our politics?
commonwealmagazine.org
My name's Max, and I'm very happy to be starting as digital editor at @commonwealmagazine.org! Here's my latest for the website — an America 250 take on early American pamphlet wars, MAGA slop, and Christian hope: www.commonwealmagazine.org/american-fou...
Rising Above the Slop
The United States, on its 250th birthday, is a country in decline. American Catholics should embrace this sour semiquincentennial as a moment for discernment.
commonwealmagazine.org
"It is the first known transfer of Church-owned land to a tribal nation as an explicit act of reparation for the Church’s actions during the colonization of America." @regmunch.bsky.social reports on an extraordinary act of land rematriation:
The Way You Let Go
This October saw the first known transfer of Church-owned land to a tribal nation as an explicit act of reparation. What can the experiment teach the rest of the Church?
commonwealmagazine.org
The June issue is here! Feat.: - @massimofaggioli.bsky.social and Thomas Banchoff on liberal democracy & the Church - Ian Marcus Corbin on our 'ownerist' society - Ellen Wayland-Smith on the hardness of Christian love And more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-...
NEW: ProPublica identified at least 79 children who’ve been left screaming, unable to breathe, or otherwise hurt by tear gas and pepper spray during Trump’s historic immigration crackdown.
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Has Harmed Scores of Kids With Tear Gas, Pepper Spray
In several cities, judges have chastised federal officers, saying they used excessive force. One former DHS leader called ProPublica’s findings a “bright red flag.”
propublica.org
Whenever someone says "there are no civilians in [country]," they are making an argument for genocide.
Tom Pepinsky@tompepinsky.com · 4mo agoClick below to see NRO author Andrew McCarthy argue that that Iran doesn't have civilians. www.nationalreview.com/2026/04/the-...
in persian culture, telling someone "we're going to kill you all" is considered deeply offensive
Whether it’s children in liberal families watching Ms. Rachel or teenagers in conservative student groups praising Adolf Hitler, young people on both sides have embraced controversial figures.
This is one of my favorite stories we've published so far this year: www.commonwealmagazine.org/border-mercy...
All the Way to the Abyss
My time in the borderlands taught me that there is dignity in the deviant and the criminal. Even Judases need an advocate.
commonwealmagazine.org
Dame Mullally’s participation in Becket Camino represents a sign of ecumenism as she prepares to become the first woman to lead the Church of England. Analysis from Vanessa R. Corcoran: www.commonwealmagazine.org/canterbury-a...
An Ecumenical Pilgrimage
Dame Mullally’s participation in Becket Camino represents a sign of ecumenism as she prepares to become the first woman to lead the Church of England.
commonwealmagazine.org
The April issue is here! Feat.: - @susanbreynolds.bsky.social on Easter and cynicism - @alexwstern.bsky.social on AI - A conversation between Patti Smith and @antoniospadaro.bsky.social - @heidischlumpf.bsky.social on women's ordination And more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-...
The March issue is here! Feat.: - @regmunch.bsky.social & Patricia Hampl on the crisis in Minnesota - The Editors on Epstein - Frederick Bauerschmidt on Erik Varden's theology - @heidischlumpf.bsky.social interviews John Carr And more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-...
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has passed away at the age of 84. My thoughts are with his family. I wanted to share this clip from his appearance on Sesame Street in 1971. His important words ring just as true today as they did back then.
An article from one of America's leading Catholic publications.
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · 6mo agoThe Trump administration is constructing a network of concentration camps on U.S. soil. Have the American people seen enough? @regmunch.bsky.social: 'The Cruelty Inside' www.commonwealmagazine.org/munch-trump-...
Get mad, get organized, say no to your local concentration camp. www.commonwealmagazine.org/munch-trump-...
The Cruelty Inside
The Trump administration is constructing a network of concentration camps on U.S. soil. Have the American people seen enough?
commonwealmagazine.org
this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier
Where do I go to get my apology from all the folks on both sides and center of the political spectrum who insisted Trump wasn't a warmonger or imperialist and would be different to the Democrats and Republicans and (especially) neocons who came before him?
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo agoTrump on Venezuela: "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition"
"I still wonder about the point of a flag or a sign or a bumper sticker. Is it to express frustration or to change people’s minds?" @regmunch.bsky.social takes a look at some pretty bad anti-Trump slogans: www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-politi...
In This House We Believe
Expressing rage and group-identity can’t be the end of political communication. I worry that for too many privileged people, it is.
commonwealmagazine.org
"What is happening in Los Angeles is not normal. Every American in every state needs to understand this. It may not stop here." @claudiaavilac.bsky.social writes from LA: www.commonwealmagazine.org/politics-imm...
Canary in a Coal Mine
What is happening in Los Angeles is not normal. Every American in every state needs to understand this. It may not stop here.
commonwealmagazine.org
"Immunity from preventable diseases will suddenly become unaffordable, and many poor children will go unvaccinated." @regmunch.bsky.social on Robert F. Kennedy's crusade against vaccination: www.commonwealmagazine.org/anti-vaxxers...
The Anti-vaxxers Take Over
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wouldn’t “take away anybody’s vaccines," but as secretary of HSS, he is steadily dismantling our national vaccine infrastructure.
commonwealmagazine.org
"If there were justice in the world, Musk would never be able to repair his reputation, at least not without devoting the bulk of his fortune to easing the misery he’s engendered."
Michelle Goldberg@michellegoldberg.bsky.social · last yr.www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
My review of Fredriksen's Ancient Christianities out now in @commonweal.bsky.social More important topics covered in the issue: US deportation violences, the natural-birth movement, environmental justice www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
May 2025
commonwealmagazine.org
In which a pregnant lady gets very worked up about the advice to "trust your body."
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · last yr.The natural-birth movement intends to reclaim childbirth from the predominantly male medical establishment. But, @regmunch.bsky.social argues in a new feature, its aversion to medical interventions can endanger women's lives. www.commonwealmagazine.org/expecting-pe...
The May issue is here! Feat. - @paulelie.bsky.social on crypto-Catholicism in the 80s - @regmunch.bsky.social on the natural-birth movement - @drwclvrt.bsky.social on the entrepreneurial work ethic - The Editors on Trump's offshore gulag and much more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
bloomberg: ~90% of deported migrants to el salvador had no criminal record
