Russell Shaw
The Pope, the Pets, and Population
The recent comment by Pope Francis that people who have pets instead of children are, sometimes at least, manifesting selfishness... Read more
Solving Our Race Problem
Here is today’s quiz: What 19th century novel points the way to a lasting solution to the racial tensions afflicting... Read more
Waiting for Dobbs
The Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision on abortion almost certainly is a done deal. The justices and their clerks know the... Read more
Leaving Home for Christmas
Although coming home for Christmas is a beautiful holiday tradition greatly to be cherished, it nevertheless occurs to me that... Read more
A Fair Shake for Parental Choice?
Four years ago, in a case from Missouri, a majority of justices of the Supreme Court agreed that a Lutheran... Read more
End of the line for Roe v. Wade?
Starting Dec. 1, the nine justices of the Supreme Court will begin work in earnest on what already looks to... Read more
National (Dis)unity
Are the bonds of American national unity becoming dangerously frayed? To judge from a steady stream of books, op ed... Read more
Why Purgatory?
Coming just after Hell and just before Heaven, the second of the three books that make up Dante’s Divine Comedy... Read more
Spreading the Thinking of Pope John Paul II
It’s sometimes said Pope St. John Paul II was the most intellectually gifted occupant of the See of Peter ever,... Read more
After 'Roe'
In a long, somewhat rambling piece about the bishops and abortion appearing in the September Commonweal, Peter Steinfels makes a... Read more
The Greatest Catholic Novel
If you think a novel set in 14th century Norway has to be dull, think again. Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter... Read more
Handing on the Faith
It’s hard to imagine that anyone who ever raised children found it an entirely easy job. Challenging, exciting, often rewarding... Read more
Religion and the Court
Has the Supreme Court sold out to religion? You could be excused for thinking so if all you had to... Read more
Eucharistic Revival
Nearly buried last month in the hubbub surrounding the U.S. bishops’ debate over who is and isn’t worthy to receive... Read more
The Court and Abortion
The Supreme Court’s announcement that it will consider an abortion case from Mississippi next fall touched off a predictable outpouring... Read more
Bishops, Politicians, and Communion
If you’re seeking evidence of how hard it is for the Church to communicate its message in and to our... Read more
The Pope and Populism
Is Pope Francis a populist? The simple answer is no. A better answer is necessarily more complicated. Read more
The Supreme Court’s Abortion Mystery
Imagine trying to follow a game whose rules and objectives you don’t know and whose players aren’t letting on. That... Read more
Three Philosophers
Intellectual confusion resembling a smog of the mind has been a deadening presence in Catholicism in the years since Vatican... Read more
The Future Is Here For American Catholics
Eight years ago I published a book called American Church. The subtitle explained what it was about: “The Remarkable Rise,... Read more
