Commonweal is an independent journal of opinion edited by lay Catholics. It is an indispensable lifeline for Catholics who want to be part of an informed, engaged, independent-minded laity, as well as for readers of every faith seeking an open, tolerant forum for interreligious conversation.
Commonweal is an indispensable lifeline for Catholics who want to be part of an informed, engaged, independent-minded laity, as well as for readers of every faith seeking an open, tolerant forum for interreligious conversation. Commonweal provides a place for civil, reasoned debate on the interaction of faith with contemporary politics and culture. Read by a passionate audience of educated, committed Catholics and readers from many other religious traditions, Commonweal presents well-argued, respectful points of view from across the ideological spectrum. Our lay-run, independent status is inseparable from our role as a community of open conversation. Independence, clarity, charity, and a certain complexity are Commonweal’s watchwords. We believe challenging ideas need breathing room, explained and articulated not in slogans or sound bites but at length when necessary, always striving to be both informed and accessible to the general reader. Our institutional independence allows Commonweal sometimes to raise unsettling questions, consider novel, sometimes suspect ideas, and support the advance of Catholic thought. Rather than an ideology, Commonweal represents a sensibility. We believe that the quality of conversation shapes our shared sense of what is possible—and that this conversation has to embrace the imaginative and the visionary alongside the pragmatic and the empirical. In religious matters, Commonweal has always embodied the Second Vatican Council’s admonition that the church has important things to learn from modernity, especially from liberal democracy, at the same time that our culture is in need of the moral and social vision distilled in the best of religious tradition. Since its founding in 1924 Commonweal has staked a claim for religious principles and perspective in American life, and for laypeople’s voices within the church. The magazine has been credited with helping prepare American Catholics for Vatican II and its aftermath, and Commonweal’s current readers say it has helped them weather the sexual-abuse scandal in the church and work through questions and frustrations related to the role of women, the relationship between religion and politics, and church teachings on sexuality. The magazine has an ongoing interest in social justice, ecumenism, just-war teaching, liturgical renewal, women’s issues, the primacy of conscience, and the interchange between Catholicism and liberal democracy. Today Commonweal publishes many of the leading theologians, writers, and public figures in the United States, including Alice McDermott, Luke Timothy Johnson, Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, Paul Elie, and Sidney Callahan, among many others. Commonweal is published 20 times a year in print as well as in digital formats, including special issues each year dedicated to contemporary theology, interreligious dialogue, books, and fiction. It also operates a continuously updated website at www.commonwealmagazine.org. It is published by the nonprofit Commonweal Foundation, and its governance involves no institutional church affiliation.
Crises like COVID-19 tend to have an effect on popes as human beings, and on the papacy as an institution. We can already see it beginning to happen.
This COVID-19 crisis is the kind of emergency that in the last two centuries has amplified the advantage the institutional papacy has over local churches.
The culture war skirmish of 'Corpus Christi' was a curious omission from playwright Terrence McNally's obituary, even as the play itself had very little to do with Christian belief.
The late Terrence McNally’s work included one play that stirred considerable controversy among American Catholics. It’s worth revisiting that debate today.
An 11th century hermit has much to teach us on living in community and solitude.
The medieval nobleman-turned-hermit St. Romuald of Ravenna, founder of the Camaldolese Order, viewed confinement not as restriction but as gift.
Mollie Wilson O'Reilly on how pastors can make Mass—even livestreamed services—child friendly.
My parish welcomes families with kids, but I have a small suggestion: shorter homilies, every Sunday. I’m talking five minutes. Six, if you must.
While COVID-19 raged in China, how did Hong Kong keep infection levels low? The key, writes King-Ho Leung, lies within the crucial distinction between the collective good vs. the common good.
Facing the challenges and dangers posed by the pandemic, one cannot simply rely on or blame those in authority. Good government now matters more than ever.
"I haven’t been able to smell or taste for two weeks. Whatever I am in feels like something very different from what ICU patients are in."
I haven’t been able to smell or taste for two weeks. Whatever I am in feels like something very different from what ICU patients are in.
As COVID-19 cases rise, Catholic hospitals face an ethical dilemma: how to distribute limited resources in favor of the poor.
Catholic hospitals are already underfunded. With COVID-19 cases rising, they face an ethical dilemma: how to distribute limited resources in favor of the poor.
Disponible ahora en nuestras páginas: el texto original en español de la entrevista con Papa Francisco.
NEW: An interview with Pope Francis, now available in its original language.
El texto original de la entrevista al Papa Francisco de Austen Ivereigh en Español.
The late John Prine's afterlife isn't one of the Christian Bible, or that of any other major faith. But Prine sang about heaven as if he’d already seen it.
The late singer-songwriter John Prine imagined paradise as a place like Earth, only more abundant, and more welcoming for sinners.
To energize the faith, it's time to let more people—including women—preach.
Preachers should emulate teachers at mass, striving to be adaptable, humble, loving, and willing to learn by inviting participation from the congregation.
Some conservative "defenders" of the faith decry a Muslim prayer at an Irish Mass. But friendly interfaith prayer mattered to St. John Paul II.
Some conservative “defenders” of the faith decry a Muslim prayer at an Irish Mass. But friendly interfaith prayer mattered to St. John Paul II.
Community in extremis, communism as poetry, absurdity-unto-death? Anthony Domestico on new books for our times.
Many of us are familiar with the absurdity-unto-death that is working remotely. Forget the zoom-and-gloom: put down your devices and pick up these new books.
Sr. Donna Markham shares the greatest hopes and the greatest needs of
Catholic Charities USA today in responding to the pandemic.
Besides the federal government, Catholic Charities is the country’s largest social-safety-net provider. It’s now facilitating access to food and mental health care.
For LGBTQ+ Catholics who often feel exiled from their church, groups like Out at St. Paul's are essential for providing affirmation and pastoral care.
The LGBTQ ministry at St. Paul’s in Manhattan has been a balm within a church that continues to wound.
The 1619 Project is more than a correction to history—it is a necessary step toward disenthralling ourselves from an imagined past.
While flawed, the 1619 Project is a first step toward disenthralling ourselves from an imagined past of America as history’s designated instrument of liberation.
If we can pull together and put the vulnerable first to combat COVID-19, why not also climate change, infant mortality, or war?
Service, self-abnegation, solidarity, fraternity, courage: in the trial at hand, the grace of conversion is available to the whole of humanity—including the church.
From our new parish issue, Tia Noelle Pratt on how the experience of Black Catholics can and should be celebrated in all parishes.
Black people were practicing Catholicism in North America hundreds of years before the United States was founded.
This Easter—or really, every Easter—Tom Baker invites us to look around for signs of the risen future.
How do we make our “Easter duty” in a year like this one, when there’s nowhere to go to feel like we have done something?
"Stay home if you can, not in fear but in solidarity." Santiago Ramos on what shutdown skeptics get wrong about the dramatic measures to curb COVID-19.
Is the cure really worse than the disease? Now is the time for responsibility and solidarity, not skepticism about public authority.
The work of Chicago-based Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership has managed to do something new in our midst. Griffin Oleynick reports on how their example could help transform a stalled, divided Catholic Church.
Community organizing and activism are happening beyond traditional parish structures, generating vitality and purpose from which many parishes could stand to learn.
From inside the quarantine of a retired priests’ residence, Fr. Imbelli reflects on the Body of Christ—not as some stirring theological notion, but as an ever-present reality.
Our residence for retired priests in New York has already experienced two deaths. Even so, Christ is present in routine, natural beauty, and above all, prayer.
In January, Princeton's Firestone Library unsealed the epistolary romance between T. S. Eliot and Emily Hale, revealing the extent and undeniable influence of their thirty-year long relationship.
T.S. Eliot’s letters to Emily Hale, recently unsealed, reveal the extent of the their thirty-year epistolary romance, and Hale’s undeniable influence on his poetry.
On Good Friday, we are asked to recall Jesus's Way of the Cross. Patrick Henry reflects on a time with Fr. Daniel Berrigan, SJ where the via dolorosa became a “school of mercy.”
On Good Friday, we are asked to recall Jesus's Way of the Cross, and to walk with the destitute, the dying, and the outcasts.
Who were the 'thieves' crucified with Jesus? A look at how the slippage of translation might expand our traditional understanding of Dismas and Gestas.
https://buff.ly/2x6J85t
Thieves, bandits, terrorists, freedom fighters, or revolutionaries: who were the ‘thieves’ crucified with Jesus? It depends on who’s labeled, and doing the labeling.
To quarantine is Christian: "Few would ask for this cup, but we must drink it—to serve God by serving our neighbors."
Quarantine during a pandemic is not demonic. Few Christians would ask for this cup, but we must drink it—to serve God by serving our neighbors.
This year, there are many accessible seats in the congregation at home. But it remains a problem at the core of our identity as the Body of Christ when only some bodies can access our sacred spaces & liturgies.
Churches are spaces for every part of the body of Christ. By not making them accessible to disabled Catholics, we fail in our commitment to universal inclusion.
The papacy has endured "lockdowns" before, but how will today's highly visible pontificate, Pope Francis, endure a rigorous regime of self-isolation?
This COVID-19 crisis is the kind of emergency that in the last two centuries has amplified the advantage the institutional papacy has over local churches.
In the fight against the virus, Hong Kong has shown that getting everyone to play their part in the common effort is not only crucial, but also possible.
Facing the challenges and dangers posed by the pandemic, one cannot simply rely on or blame those in authority. Good government now matters more than ever.
The late Terrence McNally’s work included one play that stirred considerable controversy among American Catholics. It’s worth revisiting that debate today.
The late Terrence McNally’s work included one play that stirred considerable controversy among American Catholics. It’s worth revisiting that debate today.
With Bernie Sanders out of the presidential race, a look back at why the left should resist the comforts of defeat.
Melancholy is a familiar feeling for the left, but there is danger in preemptively settling for "virtuous defeat."
BREAKING: Our interview with Pope Francis, where the pope shares his spiritual advice and decisive steps for navigating the crisis of COVID-19.
https://buff.ly/3e38FNg
Pope Francis addresses the English-speaking world as the coronavirus pandemic now reaches the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
As the Democratic primary continues, would Biden do enough to push for big structural change?
Joe Biden has adopted Elizabeth Warren’s bankruptcy plan, reversing his 2005 position. But even with it, will he be able to address the underlying causes of debt?
This #WorldHealthDay, Catholic hospitals face a unique challenge on the frontlines of COVID-19 trying to "balance the dignity of the person with the common good."
Catholic hospitals are already underfunded. With COVID-19 cases rising, they face an ethical dilemma: how to distribute limited resources in favor of the poor.
How do we bring different communities together in one parish? Fr. Hector Madrigal in Amarillo, Texas shares best practices of the "heart work" to welcome, accompany, and empower different cultural communities.
An interview with Fr. Hector Madrigal, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Amarillo, Texas.
In an interview with John Gehring, Sr. Donna Markham shares how Catholic Charities USA is responding to the crisis of COVID-19 and what you can do to help.
Besides the federal government, Catholic Charities is the country’s largest social-safety-net provider. It’s now facilitating access to food and mental health care.
When every day seems like another tipping point, what does it mean to face this pandemic together?
The coronavirus crisis will likely demand the kind of collective sacrifice not seen since World War II. It will also challenge how we live together in society.
Like livestream masses, shared parishes were almost never the result of a pastoral plan. Yet these ad hoc responses can be sources of growth, learning, and celebration.
Linguistic and cultural differences can create tension in shared parishes, but they are also sources of growth, learning, and celebration.
As theaters go dark, independent films are falling through the cracks. Thankfully, a special program featuring films about nuns is now available online.
COVID-19 restrictions have had a devastating impact on independent cinemas. But thankfully, a special program of films about nuns is now available online.
This Palm Sunday, suffering and human frailty is not just Jesus’ story, but our story. Publisher Tom Baker on how we can bring ourselves closer to Christ this Holy Week.
It will be hard this week to be without our parishes, our friends, and the Holy Week liturgies. But maybe even in solitude, we can be given new life.
Timothy Radcliffe on this time of isolation: "However lonely I feel, I am not alone, for at the core of my very being is Another."
Even if we cannot get to the Eucharist, we can still enact symbols of communion to fight the destructive effects of isolation.
Resist the narrative of doom and gloom for the parish today—our new collection is a portrait of community and hope in a changing U.S. Church.
The U.S. church is not so much in decline as undergoing a profound transition, a reality we can and should joyfully embrace.
Social distancing, lockdowns, masks in public? Roberto J. De La Noval on what makes us resist these life-saving measures.
Why do we resist hard truths about social distancing? Group and general biases, and difficulty recognizing our own fragility, help explain it.
Forget the Zoom-and-gloom: put down your devices and pick up these new books.
Many of us are familiar with the absurdity-unto-death that is working remotely. Forget the zoom-and-gloom: put down your devices and pick up these new books.
"Never had leadership looked so lonely. Never had it been so essential." Austen Ivereigh on last Friday's extraordinary Urbi et Orbi.
Service, self-abnegation, solidarity, fraternity, courage: in the trial at hand, the grace of conversion is available to the whole of humanity—including the church.
Is the cure really worse than the disease? For Santiago Ramos, all this theorizing from shutdown skeptics lacks a robust sense of responsibility.
Is the cure really worse than the disease? Now is the time for responsibility and solidarity, not skepticism about public authority.
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LIVE NOW -- Conversation on the Vatican summit on sex abuse, and how the Catholic Church should seek authentic reform to heal and reclaim moral credibility. Join John Gehring, Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, Kerry Robinson, and Jeanné Isler in this discussion:
The Catholic Church needs authentic reform to heal and reclaim moral credibility. If you have questions about the Vatican summit on sex abuse, join us NOW for a FB LIVE conversation, with John Gehring, Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, Kerry Robinson, and Jeanné Isler:
Join us for a panel discussion on the Catholic Church's Crisis of Credibility and the Clergy Abuse Scandal. We'll discuss what real reform looks like, and what to expect from church leaders moving ahead. We expect a robust conversation with John Gehring of Faith in Public Life, Rev. Tom Reese, SJ of Religion News Service, Kerry Robinson of Leadership Roundtable and Jeanné Isler, Parishoner at St. Augustine's in Washington, DC
The Catholic Church needs authentic reform to heal and reclaim moral credibility. Join John Gehrning, Rev. Thomas Reese, SJ, Kerry Robinson, and Jeanné Isler for a FB LIVE conversation in the next half hour (12:30ET) about the clergy abuse crisis. Be sure to tune in here:
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