Check out these recent articles from around the web:

7 Ways Thomas Merton Changed the World by James Martin, SJ: “Did Thomas Merton change the world? Maybe not. Did he change my life? Definitely. Could he change yours? Open his books and see.”

Portraits Of Auschwitz Survivors by Jon Premosch: “About 1.5 million people, most of them Jews, were killed at the Nazi camp, which has became a symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II, this ravaged Europe. The camp was liberated by Soviet Red Army troops on Jan. 27, 1945, and about 200,000 camp inmates survived.”

When Pope Francis rips ‘proselytism,’ who’s he talking about? by John Allen: “The bottom line is that when this Latin American pope rips into ‘proselytism’ and ‘competition,’ Catholic evangelists in the United States or Europe probably aren’t at the top of his mind.”

In Praise of Conservatism by Michael Sean Winters: “Let’s not be afraid to criticize the ideas of those with whom we disagree, but let’s not dismiss an entire strain of important political and philosophic thought. Our country and our culture and our Church all benefit when there are thoughtful conservatives and thoughtful liberals doing their work, including the work of learning one from another.”

Koched up. by Grant Gallicho: “You can’t drop a few Catholic-friendly terms–human dignity, subsidiarity, the common good–into a blender with Ayn Rand’s philosophy and produce something that flows easily into the Catholic tradition. If that is what students of this Catholic business school are being fed, then they’re not getting their money’s worth. Although the Kochs may be getting theirs.”

Why Marching for Life Should Be a Way of Life by Daniel Darling: “I sense a fresh energy in the prolife movement. We eagerly await legislation that enshrines the full dignity of the unborn into law, yet we are coming to grips with the full weight of the Christian concept of the Imago Dei. We march for the unborn, but we are also learning to see the image of God in other marginalized people: the immigrant, the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and the daily victims of violence.”

San Francisco’s Bishop Robert McElroy: Francis’ vision restores inclusion to church by Monica Clark: “McElroy lamented what he called a ‘bifurcation’ in the U.S. into two primary camps: anti-abortion or anti-poverty, often reflected in the positions of the Republican and Democratic parties. ‘Church teaching spans all of this,’ he said.”

The Economic Benefits of Paid Parental Leave by Claire Cain Miller: “Economists have found that with paid leave, more people take time off, particularly low-income parents who may have taken no leave or dropped out of the work force after the birth. Paid leave raises the probability that mothers return to employment later, and then work more hours and earn higher wages. Paid leave does not necessarily help businesses — but it does not seem to hurt them, either.”