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Commonweal
@commonweal.bsky.social
A review of religion, politics, and culture since 1924, edited by lay Catholics. Subscribe here: http://commonwealmagazine.org/subscribe
Pinned
The November issue is here! Feat:
- Lauren Kane on St. Godric
- Alexander Stern on technology and deculturation
- An interview with Brandon Taylor
- The Editors on Leo & care for the poor
And more!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
In 1998, the Christian right was at a crossroads. Tragically, it took a path leading into the arms of Donald Trump.

John Fea: 'Roads Not Taken'
www.commonwealmagazine.org/roads-not-ta...
Roads Not Taken
In 1998, the Christian right was at a crossroads. Tragically, it took a path leading into the arms of Donald Trump.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
From @commonweal.bsky.social: Recovering Our Vision of the Poor
‘Dilexi te’ against MAGA’s effort to disappear the vulnerable
Recovering Our Vision of the Poor
The Trump administration defends a radical inversion of Christian teaching on poverty.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
"'The Lord,' the psalmist proclaims, 'hears the cry of the poor.' We, by contrast, have lost our hearing."

Terence J. Sweeney on MAGA, Pope Leo, and recovering our vision of the poor:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-poor-l...
Recovering Our Vision of the Poor
The Trump administration defends a radical inversion of Christian teaching on poverty.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
I wrote about the decline of inner life in the latest issue of @commonweal.bsky.social
www.commonwealmagazine.org/inner-life-t...
November 5, 2025 at 6:23 PM
THIS THURSDAY: 'Why Write?'

Film critic @alissawilkinson.bsky.social will be in conversation with poet Micheal O’Siadhail at Columbia's Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary.

RSVP here!
events.columbia.edu/go/Commonwea...
November 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
My conversation with Brandon Taylor for @commonweal.bsky.social
November 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
Mollie, Susan, Rita, Heidi? DREAM TEAM of writers (to say nothing of Claudia, part of the dream team of editors). Catholic lay-led journalism that values women's voices and analysis is exactly what the church/world needs.
Please join us in welcoming the great @heidischlumpf.bsky.social to Commonweal! We’re delighted to announce that Heidi will be coming on board as Senior Correspondent.

Read more about it here!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/news/heidi-s...
November 4, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
Some professional news!

I have so much respect for their leadership and team and look forward to contributing to their excellent content.
Please join us in welcoming the great @heidischlumpf.bsky.social to Commonweal! We’re delighted to announce that Heidi will be coming on board as Senior Correspondent.

Read more about it here!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/news/heidi-s...
November 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
More reasons to read Commonweal every day, folks.
Please join us in welcoming the great @heidischlumpf.bsky.social to Commonweal! We’re delighted to announce that Heidi will be coming on board as Senior Correspondent.

Read more about it here!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/news/heidi-s...
November 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Please join us in welcoming the great @heidischlumpf.bsky.social to Commonweal! We’re delighted to announce that Heidi will be coming on board as Senior Correspondent.

Read more about it here!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/news/heidi-s...
November 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
Very happy to share the news that @heidischlumpf.bsky.social joins @commonweal.bsky.social today as senior correspondent. Welcome Heidi! We're thrilled to have her as a colleague. Read all about it here.
www.commonwealmagazine.org/news/heidi-s...
Heidi Schlumpf Joins 'Commonweal'
With three decades of experience covering religion, politics, and issues of social and cultural import, the award-winning journalist and columnist will help expand the magazine's regular coverage of t...
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
THIS THURSDAY: 'Why Write?'

Film critic @alissawilkinson.bsky.social will be in conversation with poet Micheal O’Siadhail at Columbia's Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary.

RSVP here!
events.columbia.edu/go/Commonwea...
November 3, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Paul Thomas Anderson’s strength as a director resides in the way he pays lavish attention to the surface of things. That quality makes him as good a candidate as any to adapt Thomas Pynchon.

Rand Richards Cooper reviews 'One Battle After Another':
www.commonwealmagazine.org/cooper-paul-...
No Stretch
Paul Thomas Anderson’s strength as a director resides in the way he pays lavish attention to the surface of things. That quality makes him as good a candidate as any to adapt Thomas Pynchon.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 3, 2025 at 1:34 PM
"Most English kings never even saw the pope, and it’s not clear if those who did ever prayed with him."

@austeni.bsky.social on the real significance of an English king praying with the pope:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/ivereigh-leo...
Something Wholly New
In Rome, Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III met not so much to restore a tradition as to inaugurate a new one.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 2, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
St. John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church — as of this morning
"John Henry Newman held the view—radical at the time—that the spread of truth in our world depends on 'personal influence.'"

Brett Beasly on how the newest Doctor of the Church would see our post-truth age:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/newman-churc...
John Henry Newman, Influencer
The example of John Henry Newman—the newest Doctor of the Church—can be a balm for our beleaguered and battle-worn digital age.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM
"John Henry Newman held the view—radical at the time—that the spread of truth in our world depends on 'personal influence.'"

Brett Beasly on how the newest Doctor of the Church would see our post-truth age:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/newman-churc...
John Henry Newman, Influencer
The example of John Henry Newman—the newest Doctor of the Church—can be a balm for our beleaguered and battle-worn digital age.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
November 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Commonweal
My October column for @commonweal.bsky.social on Hester Kaplan's "Twice Born" and a new genre: the critic's daughter's memoir.

www.commonwealmagazine.org/domestico-cr...
Do Critics Make Good Parents?
How does the life of the critic, which demands both vulnerability and authority, translate into the life of the father?
www.commonwealmagazine.org
October 31, 2025 at 1:14 PM
"Horror can startle or scare us into perplexed wonder at the nature of existence."

This Halloween, read Steven Knepper on theology, horror, and transcendence:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/more-gore
More than Gore
Horror movies can unsettle us and stir us to think about the world—and about God, as Ryan Duns shows in 'Theology of Horror.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Commonweal
I reviewed Luca Guadagnino's rock-brained, self-satisfied, ever-so-promising After the Hunt for @commonweal.bsky.social www.commonwealmagazine.org/rubsam-after...
Triggered Yet?
'After the Hunt' is a superficial film about profound matters. It confronts our perilous cultural moment and then buckles at the knees.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
A conversation with Brandon Taylor about his new novel, "Minor Black Figures," and lots of Catholic stuff for @commonweal.bsky.social

www.commonwealmagazine.org/learning-zola
Learning from Zola
Brandon Taylor's latest novel, 'Minor Black Figures,' examines why we make art and what it means to be 'real.'
www.commonwealmagazine.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
Great stuff from the writers you love in the Nov issue of @commonweal.bsky.social - @mollieoreilly.bsky.social on the perils of praising a senator's humane approach to immigration, @tonydomestico.bsky.social w/ an interview of Brandon Taylor & @alexwstern.bsky.social on our endangered inner life
The November issue is here! Feat:
- Lauren Kane on St. Godric
- Alexander Stern on technology and deculturation
- An interview with Brandon Taylor
- The Editors on Leo & care for the poor
And more!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
October 29, 2025 at 6:12 PM
The November issue is here! Feat:
- Lauren Kane on St. Godric
- Alexander Stern on technology and deculturation
- An interview with Brandon Taylor
- The Editors on Leo & care for the poor
And more!
www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2025-...
October 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
"Rather than simply adhere to 'correct' opinions, academics often strive for provisional knowledge that is open to both confirmation and critique."

Charles McNamara on Socrates, Charlie Kirk, and genuine education:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/gladiator-ga...
The Gladiator & the Gadfly
Heated political debates make for good content, but a good education requires patient deliberation and reflective free-thinking.
www.commonwealmagazine.org
October 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Commonweal
something new (and good) by @mollieoreilly.bsky.social for @commonweal.bsky.social
If you know what I mean when I say "The Cupich-Durbin affair," you might like this bit of angry satire I wrote for Commonweal!
"We will keep our eyes fixed on the prize, which used to be overturning Roe v. Wade. Now, it’s a little less concrete."

@mollieoreilly.bsky.social delivers a missive from Concerned Catholics for Consistency in Messaging:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/oreilly-moll...
October 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Commonweal
If you know what I mean when I say "The Cupich-Durbin affair," you might like this bit of angry satire I wrote for Commonweal!
October 27, 2025 at 3:33 PM