Elizabeth Bruenig writes: Opponents of gun control know that the stories of ordinary people whose lives have been destroyed have a particular strength in democratic contexts, which is why so many have been quick to slander the students who have spoken up. That smear campaign, coupled with the remarkably ill-conceived proposal from President Trump that… Read More Why the Parkland Students Should Go on Strike

Last week, the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University hosted The Francis Factor at Five Years: Reflection and Dialogue. The event featured a talk by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ, the editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, followed by a panel of Greg Erlandson, the director and editor-in-chief of Catholic… Read More The Francis Factor at Five

Meghan Clark writes: Unpredictability is perhaps the linchpin of President Trump’s negotiating style and social media plan. He brags about it, and his base appreciates it as a mark of authenticity. Yet as I traveled around East Africa, I found that his unpredictability and crass belittling of others is fostering an existential anxiety among those… Read More Trump’s Presidency is Fostering Anxiety in Africa

via USCCB: Late last week, the Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to move forward with debate on legislation to provide relief to Dreamers. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB President; Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB Vice President; and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Chairman of the USCCB Committee… Read More US Bishops Announce National Call-in Day for Dreamers

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami writes: Victims of usury are often the working poor and elderly on fixed incomes who when faced with a financial emergency seek a short-term loan….legal forms of usury survive, in a form of predatory banking, known as “payday loans.” Payday loans appear (and are marketed as) simple and straightforward help… Read More Archbishop Wenski: Regulate Payday Loans, Address the Sin of Usury

Christopher Hale writes: This “Ash Wednesday Valentine’s Day” gives us an opportunity to reconsider what love is, and what love is not. For a Christian, the rock band Boston got it right in 1976: Love is “more than a feeling.” We doubt the authenticity of the Kay Jewelers, empty-shelled love that marks the bourgeois celebration… Read More Ash Wednesday Valentine’s Day Can Remind Us of the True Nature of Love