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commonweal.bsky.social
Commonweal
@commonweal.bsky.social
1.9K followers 510 following 550 posts
A review of religion, politics, and culture since 1924, edited by lay Catholics. Subscribe here: http://commonwealmagazine.org/subscribe
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commonweal.bsky.social
Commonweal @commonweal.bsky.social · 5d
The January issue is here! Inside:
- George Scialabba on the end of verbal literacy
- Anne M. Carpenter on Balthasar and the Catholic right
- Sharon Mesmer on Patti Smith
- M. Anthony Mills on a MAGA attack on science
And more!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
commonweal.bsky.social
"Doctor-assisted suicide would be wrong even in a world of material abundance, equality, and free health care. But to offer it as an option under these conditions is unconscionable." — Santiago Ramos
www.commonwealmagazine.org/santiago-ram...
Death Is Cheaper
New York governor Kathy Hochul has described herself as a “social-justice Catholic.” Social justice demands that she veto the state's bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 28, 2025 at 3:32 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Education, for Leo, is another name for peace—because it teaches us to appreciate differences and to grow in dialogue."

@antoniospadaro.bsky.social on genuine Catholic education against the Silicon Valley cult of efficiency:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/spadaro-educ...
Pope Leo vs. Palantir
Between Palo Alto and Rome, two gospels of learning now face each other: one of efficiency, the other of discernment.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Let us for Love unite our various song,
Each with his gift according to his kind
Bringing this child his body and his mind."

A Christmas oratorio by W.H. Auden:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/manger-auden...
At the Manger
"Let us for Love unite our various song / Each with his gift according to his kind / Bringing this child his body and his mind."
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"I startled some honest Protestants lately by telling them that, though I am (unfortunately) no longer a child, I do most definitely believe in Santa Claus."

From the archives — G.K. Chesterton on imagination, faith, and the natural fancy of children:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/santa-claus-...
Santa Claus and Science
On imagination, faith, and the natural fancy of children
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
The January issue is here! Inside:
- George Scialabba on the end of verbal literacy
- Anne M. Carpenter on Balthasar and the Catholic right
- Sharon Mesmer on Patti Smith
- M. Anthony Mills on a MAGA attack on science
And more!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
December 23, 2025 at 1:56 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Fra Angelico found a new visual language to represent the Redemption as a story that encompasses both suffering and bliss."

Susan Saccoccia on the Angelic Painter:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/angelic-pain...
The Angelic Painter
Fifteenth-century artist and Dominican friar Fra Angelico’s incomparable paintings tell the story of Christian redemption.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 23, 2025 at 1:42 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Miscarriage is humbling. We relinquish control and say goodbye to a future we had envisioned for ourselves."

Adrianna Smith Reig on pregnancy, miscarriage, and Advent:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/watchful-wai...
Watchful Waiting
“So I began Advent waiting—anxiously, watchfully—not with the yes I thought I would share with Mary, but for the no of a passing pregnancy.”
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Crèches are not just cute holiday decorations. They call us to practice mercy and love for the most vulnerable in our world."

@heidischlumpf.bsky.social on the controversy over anti-ICE nativity scenes:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/ice-nativity...
Controversial Crèches
Christmas crèches have always included a prophetic purpose. This year, some churches are using their nativity scenes to call out mass deportations.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 21, 2025 at 2:28 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
New York governor Kathy Hochul has described herself as a “social-justice Catholic.” Social justice demands that she veto the state's bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
www.commonwealmagazine.org/santiago-ram...
Death Is Cheaper
New York governor Kathy Hochul has described herself as a “social-justice Catholic.” Social justice demands that she veto the state's bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:48 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
Trump feels entitled not only to his own “facts” but to a docile press corps that will repeat them uncritically.

The Editors on a MAGA assault on independent media:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/press-freedo...
Smothering the Press
Trump feels entitled not only to his own “facts” but to a docile press corps that will repeat them uncritically.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
mattpolprof.bsky.social
My review of @lkatfield.bsky.social's S Tier new book "Furious Minds" on MAGA intellectuals is out with @commonweal.bsky.social

www.commonwealmagazine.org/big-ideas-no...
Big Ideas, No Scruples
To understand this troubling moment in American democracy, look at the history and making of the New Right.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 18, 2025 at 6:32 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"The intimate business of reading, despite its many and increasing difficulties, is well worth it."

@tonydomestico.bsky.social recommends some of his favorite releases of 2025:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/books-domest...
The Year in Books
Our critic recommends his favorite books released in 2025, including works by Joy Williams, Helen Garner, and John Haskell.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
tonydomestico.bsky.social
Some of my favorite books of 2025, including criticism by A. S. Hamrah and the diaries of Helen Garner, for @commonweal.bsky.social

www.commonwealmagazine.org/books-domest...
The Year in Books
Our critic recommends his favorite books released in 2025, including works by Joy Williams, Helen Garner, and John Haskell.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by Commonweal
dan-sinnamon.bsky.social
Lovely year-end notice from @tonydomestico.bsky.social in @commonweal.bsky.social of CLOSE READING FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. "Sinykin and Winant convincingly argue that close reading isn’t just an intellectual but also a social and ethical practice" www.commonwealmagazine.org/books-domest...
The Year in Books
Our critic recommends his favorite books released in 2025, including works by Joy Williams, Helen Garner, and John Haskell.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"The age of gilded journalism was mostly smoke and mirrors, a magic show with no one behind the curtain."

@kayaoakes.bsky.social recommends books on the ghosts of media past:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/ghosts-media...
The Ghosts of Media Past
Three new books on the rise and fall of glossy magazines, alt weeklies, and gilded journalism.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Few novelists of any era offer as much perception, delight, and insight on every page."

Happy 250th birthday to the incomparable Jane Austen!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/nixon-emma-j...
Universally Mistaken
I’ll be binge-reading Jane Austen again this winter, in honor of her 250th birthday. Few novelists of any era offer as much perception, delight, and insight on every page.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:35 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Fr. Justin began his homily with three words: 'I’m so sorry."'

Max Foley-Keene reflects on a Gaudete Sunday Mass in the wake of a campus shooting:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/brown-shooti...
After the Brown Shooting
'The Catholic chaplain, Fr. Justin, had announced a Mass for the two students killed yesterday during a pre-exam review session.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:41 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"Just how should Leonine Christian Democrats think about AI, and what, if anything, can and should they do about it?"

John J. DiIulio Jr. on Catholic social thought and the threat of AI:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/faustian-bar...
A Faustian Bargain
AI not only poses grave risks not only to human well-being and human labor but to humanity itself.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
daviddarmofal.bsky.social
In @commonweal.bsky.social: an article from a doctoral candidate in political theory at Brown who attended Mass at the campus’s Catholic center this morning.
www.commonwealmagazine.org/brown-shooti...
After the Brown Shooting
'The Catholic chaplain, Fr. Justin, had announced a Mass for the two students killed yesterday during a pre-exam review session.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 14, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
dominicpreziosi.bsky.social
A letter from Providence by Max Foley-Keene, now at @commonweal.bsky.social

www.commonwealmagazine.org/brown-shooti...
After the Brown Shooting
'The Catholic chaplain, Fr. Justin, had announced a Mass for the two students killed yesterday during a pre-exam review session.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 14, 2025 at 11:07 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
'The Catholic chaplain, Fr. Justin, had announced a Mass for the two students killed yesterday during a pre-exam review session.'

Max Foley-Keene writes from Providence on a campus shooting—and a Gaudete Sunday Mass:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/brown-shooti...
After the Brown Shooting
'The Catholic chaplain, Fr. Justin, had announced a Mass for the two students killed yesterday during a pre-exam review session.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 14, 2025 at 10:44 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
'Protests have always inspired me, but for most of my life, they’ve been for other people. Donald Trump changed that.'

Michael Peppard: What it took to get this white suburban moderate off the sidelines.
www.commonwealmagazine.org/peppard-no-k...
My First Protest
Protests have always inspired me, but for most of my life, they’ve been for other people. Donald Trump changed that.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:03 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
The latest decision on women deacons won’t help stop the exodus of young women from the Church.

Commentary from @heidischlumpf.bsky.social:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/heidi-schlum...
Lost Generations
The Vatican's report opposing the ordination of women deacons only makes it harder for women to remain in the Church.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 11, 2025 at 5:30 PM
commonweal.bsky.social
"There is no longer an audience for nostalgic celebrations, no time for a 'the way we were' kind of theology."

@massimofaggioli.bsky.social insists that we need to find new ways to talk about Vatican II:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/vatican-II-a...
No More Nostalgia
Vatican II is not the final word of the Church’s tradition. But on a number of doctrinal matters, it marked a point of no return.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
December 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM