Commonweal
@commonwealmagazine.org
A review of religion, politics, and culture since 1924, edited by lay Catholics. Subscribe here: http://commonwealmagazine.org/subscribe
"Thanks to the politics Neuhaus adopted—the kind he once condemned in his exchange with Buckley—the United States has become a crueler country." Arvin Alaigh on Fr. Richard John Neuhaus's Christian radicalism: www.commonwealmagazine.org/christian-ra...
Christian Radical
Over the course of his life, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus surrendered grassroots political organizing for the company of the powerful.
commonwealmagazine.org
"In reading his philosophy, I have a very peculiar and powerful impression analogous to poetry." From the archives: G. K. Chesterton defends the literary merits of St. Thomas Aquinas. www.commonwealmagazine.org/poetry-saint...
The Poetry of Saint Thomas
G. K. Chesterton defends Thomas Aquinas against the charge that his theology is not poetic
commonwealmagazine.org
Some bishops are speaking out about mass detention and deportation. But will they act again as a group at their November meeting? Read the latest from @heidischlumpf.bsky.social: www.commonwealmagazine.org/schlumpf-bis...
Prophetic Words
Some bishops are speaking out about mass detention and deportation. But will they act again as a group at their November meeting?
commonwealmagazine.org
"As courageous and inspirational as these individual bishops’ words and actions are, they represent a minority." @heidischlumpf.bsky.social on mass deportations and the bishops' November meeting: www.commonwealmagazine.org/schlumpf-bis...
Prophetic Words
Some bishops are speaking out about mass detention and deportation. But will they act again as a group at their November meeting?
commonwealmagazine.org
Great piece in @commonwealmagazine.org on a young Richard John Neuhaus - before the dark times, before First Things...
Christian Radical
Over the course of his life, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus surrendered grassroots political organizing for the company of the powerful.
commonwealmagazine.org
"'To Catch a Predator' was an expression of a broader pathology that implicates the audience, too: a desire to turn literally everything into entertainment." Milo Priddle reviews ‘PRIMETIME’: www.commonwealmagazine.org/priddle-prim...
Ahab Vs. Predator
'PRIMETIME' depicts Chris Hansen's pathological bid to turn the hunt for pedophiles into television entertainment.
commonwealmagazine.org
In an interview with @antoniospadaro.bsky.social, internet pioneer Vint G. Cerf warns that we are at risk of entering a digital Dark Age. 'Memory in the Digital Age' www.commonwealmagazine.org/vint-cerf-sp...
Memory in the Digital Age
Internet pioneer Vint G. Cerf warns that we are at risk of entering a digital Dark Age.
commonwealmagazine.org
We're delighted to announce that Arvin Alaigh is the recipient of this year’s Centennial Fellowship! During his Fellowship, Arvin will examine the historical and current state of nonviolent activism by faith-based groups.
"Poverty closely parallels God in this collection. Carson has an affinity for mystics." Jordan Burke on Anne Carson's instructions for losing personhood (from 2024): www.commonwealmagazine.org/hard-swerves
Hard Swerves
Anne Carson’s newest collection of essays and poems probes the relationship between art and suffering.
commonwealmagazine.org
Over the course of his life, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus gave up grassroots political organizing for the company of the powerful. Arvin Alaigh: 'From Firebrand to Valet' www.commonwealmagazine.org/firebrand-va...
From Firebrand to Valet
Over the course of his life, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus surrendered grassroots political organizing for the company of the powerful.
commonwealmagazine.org
"Though he continued to minister to poor and working-class congregations, he seemed most at home in the company of the powerful." Arvin Alaigh on the conversions of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus: www.commonwealmagazine.org/firebrand-va...
From Firebrand to Valet
Over the course of his life, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus surrendered grassroots political organizing for the company of the powerful.
commonwealmagazine.org
The November issue is here! Feat.: - Arvin Alaigh on Fr. Richard John Neuhaus - @mollieoreilly.bsky.social on rebuilding after Trump - Eugene McCarraher on capitalism's origins - The Editors on the bishops & MAGA nativism And much more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-...
This was extremely fun, but then I had to get up and teach an 8 AM class this morning, which was less fun. Getting up itself was less fun, I mean. The class was still pretty fun.
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · 6d agoWe had a ball last night at the Commonweal Benefit Dinner, where we honored Rev. John Jenkins, President Emeritus of @notredame.bsky.social, with our Centennial Award. It was wonderful to see so many friends old and new!
It was a good time! Felt like kind of a "this is your life" at times spending time with people ranging from a college choir friend, grad school mentors, professional colleagues, etc.
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · 6d agoWe had a ball last night at the Commonweal Benefit Dinner, where we honored Rev. John Jenkins, President Emeritus of @notredame.bsky.social, with our Centennial Award. It was wonderful to see so many friends old and new!
There aren't a lot of rooms I love being in as much as this one. The Commonweal community is such a vital source of encouragement and light for me. Thanks for the lovely time, and here's to another 98 years!
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · 6d agoWe had a ball last night at the Commonweal Benefit Dinner, where we honored Rev. John Jenkins, President Emeritus of @notredame.bsky.social, with our Centennial Award. It was wonderful to see so many friends old and new!
„Meghan O'Gieblyn copies a line from Simone Weil on an index card and tapes it above her desk: ‘We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will.‘“
Commonweal@commonwealmagazine.org · last wk."The heart of the book is the author’s midlife return to the two forces that shaped her young-adult years: religion and alcohol." Todd Shy reviews Meghan O’Gieblyn’s memoir of alcoholism and attentive escape: www.commonwealmagazine.org/we-are-doubl...
Boomer Christianity may be dying, but the prospect of its being replaced by the old Crusader Christianity is dead on arrival. Paul Baumann on Louise Perry and the fecklessness of boomers: www.commonwealmagazine.org/baumann-loui...
Longing for the Crusades
Boomer Christianity may be dying, but the prospect of its being replaced by the old Crusader Christianity is dead on arrival.
commonwealmagazine.org
"Twenty years after a regime at the heart of Europe had attempted to annihilate the Jewish people, it seemed obscene to pray for that people’s assimilation." John Connelly: Are we forgetting what ‘Nostra aetate’ teaches about the Church and Judaism? www.commonwealmagazine.org/connelly-Nos...
The Wrong Prayer
The Church’s leaders cannot assume that Catholics are familiar with 'Nostra aetate,' or that they are all aware of the Church’s long history of anti-Judaism.
commonwealmagazine.org
We had a ball last night at the Commonweal Benefit Dinner, where we honored Rev. John Jenkins, President Emeritus of @notredame.bsky.social, with our Centennial Award. It was wonderful to see so many friends old and new!
Today's #history article pick from Damn History, my free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @drwclvrt.bsky.social & @commonwealmagazine.org! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe www.commonwealmagazine.org/literature-n...
Literature Is Not About You
Reading great novels should be an encounter that makes you more human, not more productive.
commonwealmagazine.org
"Synodality proposes to address both clericalism and the resistance it generated." Timothy Kirchoff on Leo and Francis's vision for clergy and the laity: www.commonwealmagazine.org/kirchoff-leo...
Clerics Without Clericalism
The more we see laypeople living out the universal call to holiness, the more clearly we understand the specific role of priests.
commonwealmagazine.org
"The problem with self-help is that in offering solutions, diagnoses, boundaries, and methods, it protects suffering readers from a genuine encounter." Drew Calvert on literature and self-help: www.commonwealmagazine.org/literature-n...
Literature Is Not About You
Reading great novels should be an encounter that makes you more human, not more productive.
commonwealmagazine.org
"The heart of the book is the author’s midlife return to the two forces that shaped her young-adult years: religion and alcohol." Todd Shy reviews Meghan O’Gieblyn’s memoir of alcoholism and attentive escape: www.commonwealmagazine.org/we-are-doubl...
We Are Double
Summoning more willpower couldn't keep Meghan O'Gieblyn sober. But perhaps the pursuit of beauty, inspired by Irish Murdoch and Simone Weil, could.
commonwealmagazine.org
I get into L'affaire Pecknold for @commonwealmagazine.org a little more deeply here: www.commonwealmagazine.org/heaps-peckno...
Chad Pecknold’s New Job
How should the Church respond to theologian Chad Pecknold's controversial decision to take a job in Trump's DHS?
commonwealmagazine.org
TOMORROW: @heidischlumpf.bsky.social launches The First Word, a weekly guide to the Church and beyond. To get the first edition of the newsletter in your inbox, subscribe today! mailchi.mp/commonwealma...
How not to despair in troubling times like these? Live, take notes, and compose poems of love. Poet Larry Joseph joins the Commonweal podcast: www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/love...
Love Songs
How not to despair in troubling times like these? Live, take notes, and compose poems of love.
commonwealmagazine.org
Catholics could be a key voting block, and there are plenty of efforts to mobilize them for the midterms. With @stephenschneck.bsky.social @networklobby.bsky.social @ignatiansolidarity.bsky.social Catholics Vote Common Good @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/heidi-schlum...
Can Catholic Voters Tip the Midterms?
Since Catholic voters were pivotal in helping re-elect Trump, they could now step up to start trying to fix this mess.
commonwealmagazine.org
The more we see laypeople living out the universal call to holiness, the more clearly we understand the specific role of priests. Timothy Kirchoff: 'Clerics Without Clericalism' www.commonwealmagazine.org/kirchoff-leo...
Clerics Without Clericalism
The more we see laypeople living out the universal call to holiness, the more clearly we understand the specific role of priests.
commonwealmagazine.org
"The promise of lethal injections did not match the reality." Ethan Bauer on capital punishment's new era: www.commonwealmagazine.org/bauer-ethan-...
Firing Squads Are Back
As lethal injections fall out of favor, some states are experimenting with alternatives, from suffocation to firing squads.
commonwealmagazine.org
Veteran religion reporter and Commonweal senior correspondent @heidischlumpf.bsky.social is launching a weekly newsletter! The First Word is Heidi’s guide to the week ahead—in the Church and beyond! Sign up today and get the first edition in your inbox this Monday: mailchi.mp/commonwealma...