Greta Gerwig wrote and directed the award-winning “Lady Bird”—a movie set in a Catholic high school in Sacramento. In a number of interviews, Gerwig has explained the influence of her own experience at a Catholic high school and how it shaped the film. At America, Eloise Blondiau writes: Although this is a film saturated in… Read More Greta Gerwig on ‘Lady Bird’: What if Someone Made a Movie that Showed the Beautiful Things About Catholic Schools?

Christopher White writes: Henri Nouwen is among my favorite writers on the spiritual life, so it was a particular delight to read Love, Henri – a collection of over 100 previously unpublished letters to close friends, admirers, and colleagues. Nouwen’s prolific writings have rightly landed him among the ranks of the Church’s most influential communicators, yet… Read More The Best Books I Read in 2017

Elizabeth Bruenig writes: Whatever virtues Trump and his administration are aiming for, mercy isn’t among them. Mercy, after all, is a quality of the strong; in his repeated attacks on those with the very least, Trump is most obviously weak. While many of us were absorbed in the holidays, the Trump administration relaxed Medicare’s penalty… Read More Trump the Merciless

Bishop Mark Seitz writes: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must decide by Jan. 8 whether to extend or end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 and allows people whose countries have experienced natural disasters, armed conflicts or exceptional situations to remain temporarily in the United… Read More Bishop Seitz: Ending TPS for El Salvador Would Put Children’s Lives at Risk

Millennial’s Elizabeth Bruenig is now a columnist at the Washington Post. In her first column, she writes: Christmas is back, and better than ever: Haven’t you heard? “People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again,” President Trump declared on Twitter on Christmas Eve, with an unmistakable note of triumph. As has been widely pointed… Read More The War on the Poor Matters More than the ‘War on Christmas’

Michael Gerson writes: People who have recently lost a parent — or a spouse, or a friend, or (God forbid) a child — are easily ambushed by sorrow at this time of year. Psychologists have a term for it: “holiday effects.” A smell, a taste, a quality of light can cause grief to come in… Read More The Radicalism and Hope of Christmas