Commentaries
Actions, not intent, break through systemic poverty
Carolyn Woo points to one example of how a university, philanthropists and an urban community are putting college in reach for many. Such actions can inspire us to work for change.
Cheer up, and count your blessings in these hard times
The daily news is a gauntlet of doom, but Greg Erlandson sees the global collaborative effort to find a cure to the pandemic, and the many small acts of everyday heroism.
Counting the blessings of God’s diverse creation
Sister Ann Heath reflects on the true meaning of Christmas, even in the summertime, to reawaken a future full of compassion, hope and goodness to be shared by all.
Sanger, Serra and a deadly double standard
The founder of Planned Parenthood and the saint who built the California missions aren't getting the same historical treatment, and the consequences are ultimately fatal, writes Gina Christian.
‘Hamilton’ tells how to save our flawed America
The big Broadway hit airing in this chaotic summer offers three ways Americans can preserve this country and help it live up to its ideals of equality and justice, writes Father Eric Banecker.
We’re all called to conversion — especially our parishes
Parishes exist in a new reality, not of the past, and that requires a change in mentality on the part of clergy and laity, writes Oblate Father Thomas Dailey.
How Catholic organizations are weathering the pandemic
Parishes, schools and Catholic Charities need your support -- as does your diocesan newspaper, which tells the Catholic story honestly and fully, writes Greg Erlandson.
Religious neutrality, the heart of separation of church and state
The Constitution isn't mean to push religion off into a corner, but to let us make up our own minds, writes John Garvey.
Our vanishing children
The eradication of Uighur children from China by force should remind us of the decline of children in the U.S. by choice, and all that it portends, writes Elise Italiano Ureneck.
Freedom in the face of mandates for masks
A view of freedom that focuses only on one's personal freedom leads to self-imprisonment, the opposite of being free, writes Father Eugene Hemrick. The pandemic will be conquered only by thoughtful people with a moral conscience.