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.
Elizabeth Warren deserved better, writes Dorothy Fortenberry, but it's now time to close ranks around Bernie.
Elizabeth Warren deserved better, but it's now time to close ranks around Bernie.
In 'Softness of Bodies,' poetry and theft are the two activities through which to escape the world of money, competition, and opportunity-cost calculations.
In 'Softness of Bodies,' the story of a flighty young poet in Berlin pivots from comedy to drama, from shoplifted shoes to darker issues of money and violence.
For Robert Imbelli, Benedict's defense of celibacy does not mean he's abandoned Vatican II.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI didn’t turn his back on Vatican II: he endorsed its core ideas, emphasizing the person of Christ and our role as Christ’s body.
The church may not need modern genetics to make its case for human equality, but it should continue to be responsive to scientific discoveries.
The evolving scientific consensus against racial hierarchies strengthens church teachings about equality and human dignity.
Gabriel Marcel worked with the Red Cross for only a short time, but he spent the rest of his life responding to anguished inquirers, trying to do justice to their loves and losses.
Problems have solutions, while mysteries like suffering, love, and death do not. They must be instead lived out with attention to human richness and interconnection.
In his new, monthly book column, Anthony Domestico provides a wide-ranging round-up of work, play, and poetry, including Paul Mariani's buoyant work of criticism.
Columnist Anthony Domestico reviews biographies, baseball novels, literary criticism, and poetry in the first installment of his new web series.
If, as one Founding Father put it, "conscience is the most sacred property of all," who do we have left in Trump's White House?
Administration officials asked to judge the president fairly often find themselves out of a job when their consciences come into conflict with Trump’s demands.
Melancholy is a familiar feeling for the left, but there is danger in preemptively settling for "virtuous defeat."
Melancholy is a familiar feeling for the left, but there is danger in preemptively settling for "virtuous defeat."
Democrats need broad support to defeat Trump. And right now, Biden is the best bet.
It is the responsibility of all Democrats to unite behind the nominee. Right now, Joe Biden is the most likely—and arguably the best—choice.
For Andrew Bacevich, "The Decadent Society" offers a fresh take on an old subject: the decline of Western civilization.
Ross Douthat’s new book argues that our society has stagnated, with young people unable to form meaningful, lasting relationships.
A new book blames generational differences, rather than conservative politics, for the plight of young people today.
Joseph Sternberg’s latest book blames generational differences, rather than conservative politics, for the plight of young people today.
Record players, push-up contests, and running for...Senate? Matthew Sitman
on how Biden may not be up to the rigors of a general election campaign.
The democratic establishment continues to prop up Joe Biden, despite his alarming incoherence and deteriorating mental acumen.
Cathleen Kaveny reflects on death, memory, and Augustine's fullness of time.
“We might then think of our redeemed bodies almost like diamonds, simultaneously refracting different times of our lives as we turn in the light of God’s love.”
"So this is Houellebecq. Revolting." Phil Klay on what makes 'Serotonin' both brilliant and troubling.
https://buff.ly/2PYOUft
Set in a miserable dystopia, Houellebecq’s latest novel is both thought-provoking and wearying, fronted by a hypercynical yet dangerously nostalgic narrator.
Austen Ivereigh on what we got wrong about 'Querida Amazonia'.
Pope Francis hasn’t rejected any of the synod’s recommendations. Instead he’s listened carefully, and urges us to do the same.
Think of a vote for Bernie like eating a dinner of chicken nuggets and watching Frozen 2. Is it your first choice? Honestly, no. But you’re doing it because your kids like it.
Elizabeth Warren deserved better, but it's now time to close ranks around Bernie.
If you needed proof that Oscar nominations are capricious and routinely neglect excellent films, here are three prime pieces of evidence, all worth watching.
If you needed proof that Oscar nominations are capricious and routinely neglect excellent films, here are three prime pieces of evidence.
In books, our literary columnist reviews an imaginative biography, a buoyant work of criticism, and the best baseball novel ever.
Columnist Anthony Domestico reviews biographies, baseball novels, literary criticism, and poetry in the first installment of his new web series.
When 60% of the world's population could be infected, transparency and effective containment are more important than ever.
Containing and effectively addressing Coronavirus requires honesty and responsibility from the Chinese government.
Tales of the West have been a part of our national imagination for years. Rather than simply debunking these dreams, a new history demystifies them.
Capturing diverse perspectives and humanizing legends, H. W. Brands’ new history of the American West is eloquent and informative.
For those in Washington, Trump’s abnormal behavior time and again forces the issue: Who are you going to believe, me or your own conscience?
Administration officials asked to judge the president fairly often find themselves out of a job when their consciences come into conflict with Trump’s demands.
For Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, the differences between the leadership and the constituency are more than cultural. Like so much else in Israel and Palestine, it's also about land.
Lack of local representation plagues the Orthodox Church in Palestine, where the largely Greek-born clergy fails to defend Palestinian interests.
What films like Francesco and Corpo Celeste suggest is that innocence in a Christian context can become a possibility only at the moment people understand that they are not innocent.
Innocence is not just something to be lost, but also a gift to be received and a state we strive for.
Sanders was right: Morales was a successful leader. But he also lacked respect for democratic norms.
Bernie Sanders defended a successful leader who shares his socialist vision but lacked sufficient respect for democratic norms.
On the latest episode of The Commonweal Podcast, E.J. Dionne, Jr on how we should understand the current split between so-called “progressives” and “moderates” in the Democratic Party.
How should we understand the current split between so-called “progressives” and “moderates” in the Democratic Party? In the middle of an uncertain primary campaign, where can they find compromise and unity? Longtime Commonweal columnist and political scientist E.J. Dionne, Jr. joins associat...
The revelations of Jean Vanier's abuse have shocked the Catholic world. But to start healing, we're all called to "cleanse the waters of perception."
Lies and deception have compromised the integrity of the mission of L’Arche. But it has also responded with humility and integrity, and begun the work of healing.
"As I watch Biden stumble through speeches and debate answers, I keep wondering why so few people seem alarmed."
The democratic establishment continues to prop up Joe Biden, despite his alarming incoherence and deteriorating mental acumen.
Real socialism, argues David Bentley Hart, is a Christian tradition worth revisiting.
https://buff.ly/38lPAlH
In the late modern world something like socialism is the only possible way of embodying Christian love in concrete political practices.
What Trump's budget proposal reveals, writes the editors, is his obsession with superficial markers of national glory and supremacy.
Trump’s budget proposes deep cuts to social and environmental programs and increased military spending, prioritizing vanity projects over people’s welfare.
For Phil Klay, Houellebecq’s new novel is “crude, sexist, shapeless.” But, it also sparked more serious thinking than most books he’s read in the past year.
Set in a miserable dystopia, Houellebecq’s latest novel is both thought-provoking and wearying, fronted by a hypercynical yet dangerously nostalgic narrator.
From earlier this week, Michael Marchal provides a reflection on the words of Ash Wednesday.
The message that accompanies the ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday should invite us to community, love, and repentance rather than guilt or fear.
When it comes to end-of-life decisions, church teaching needs to adequately grapple with harm caused by futile treatments.
Giving medical professionals some agency in end-of-life decisions can be consistent with church teaching. We just need to integrate the concept of futility.
Pope Francis didn't give us a dictate. Instead, he defers to the discernment of the local church, and this carries deep implications.
Pope Francis hasn’t rejected any of the synod’s recommendations. Instead he’s listened carefully, and urges us to do the same.
If a modern paganism "sacralizes the emperor as an agent of God, scorns truth, despises the weak, and tortures the vulnerable," then what do we call the politics of Trump?
The debate is not whether modern paganism is real, but where it lives, how it appears, and what it does. In contemporary politics, it's cruelty and violence.
For the weekend, three films blithely swept aside by the Academy—all streamable, and all worth watching.
If you needed proof that Oscar nominations are capricious and routinely neglect excellent films, here are three prime pieces of evidence.
Ezra Klein's recommendations to combat polarization would certainly make our political system more efficient. But would it be more just?
By implementing Ezra Klein’s recommendations, we certainly would have a marginally more functional political system. But would it be more just?
Two films interrogate the meaning of 'innocence,'—not as something to be lost, but to be received.
Innocence is not just something to be lost, but also a gift to be received and a state we strive for.
Containing Coronavirus requires accurate information and responsibility from the Chinese government.
Containing and effectively addressing Coronavirus requires honesty and responsibility from the Chinese government.
When it’s not clear where a race-altering victory will come next for Buttigieg, Warren, or Klobuchar, Democratic voters may be faced with a binary choice: Bernie or Bloomberg.
Democratic voters could end up being faced with a clear choice: either back a multi-racial grassroots coalition or accept that wealth entitles you to rule.
The revelations around Jean Vanier have been devastating, but we must tell the truth to begin the work of healing.
Lies and deception have compromised the integrity of the mission of L’Arche. But it has also responded with humility and integrity, and begun the work of healing.
For the editors, "Trump’s proposed budget is really a campaign document."
Trump’s budget proposes deep cuts to social and environmental programs and increased military spending, prioritizing vanity projects over people’s welfare.
For Melody Gee, converting to Catholicism was not "just a new set of ideas or beliefs to take up, but a desire to turn and follow whatever was speaking to me and learn to speak back."
Conversion, like language acquisition, can be both comforting and bittersweet, a constant struggle toward fluency and understanding.
A closer look at why Bernie Sanders defended the former Bolivian president.
Bernie Sanders defended a successful leader who shares his socialist vision but lacked sufficient respect for democratic norms.
This Ash Wednesday, try not to focus on 'dust.'
The message that accompanies the ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday should invite us to community, love, and repentance rather than guilt or fear.
Social democracy sparks a lot of alarm, but are Americans really more free than Germans or Danes?
In the late modern world something like socialism is the only possible way of embodying Christian love in concrete political practices.
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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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