Kids growing up in California spend their 4th grade history classes learning about the history of their state—from its inception as a Spanish colony to the Bear Flag Revolt to becoming the modern-day 8th largest economy in the world. A major part of the curriculum is devoted to the Spanish Mission system—a system of 21… Read More A Bittersweet Canonization: Junipero Serra and His Mixed Legacy
In theory, the Catholic commitment to human rights should be just that: catholic (universal). We should mourn the Sunni child set on fire at his school by Bashar al-Assad’s forces just as much as the Christian child in Syria executed by Daesh (ISIS). The hundreds of attacks on schools by the Taliban should sicken us… Read More Millennial of the Year 2014: Father Bernard Kinvi
As a Ph.D. candidate in political science, I have been offered the opportunity to teach my own introductory courses. This past semester, I had the pleasure of teaching Introduction to Political Theory; it is a course that I have taught before, but every class is different because the individual students are different. However, one thing… Read More Torture and the Utilitarian Default
After weeks of anticipation, the frenzy of shopping for gifts and making travel arrangements, and all the excitement of the big day, Christmas has once again come and gone. For many, Christmas’s passing is cause for major consternation. Each year, millions of people fall into depression in the weeks following Christmas and New Year’s. It… Read More Why Christmas Matters the Other 364 Days of the Year
This post by Henry Longbottom, SJ is also featured on The Jesuit Post. The word emanating from Vatican corridors is that we can expect to see the long awaited environment-themed encyclical at some point during 2015. The exact date has not been disclosed, but it could coincide with Francis’ apostolic visit to the Philippines in January,… Read More Pope Francis’ Ecology Encyclical: What Can We Expect?
This post by Eric Immel, SJ is also featured on The Jesuit Post. There’s a book for everything. Everyone Poops is a seminal tale that comforts children when they start to realize that their bodies produce smelly, tummy-turning gifts for their parents. Other books teach us where our belly buttons are, how bulldozers and cranes rest… Read More Born in Love: On Advent and Adoption
Over the past several weeks, Pope Francis has made explicit reference to the challenge of climate change with respect to nutrition, migration and the United Nations international treaty negotiations. Given that Francis’ ecological encyclical is expected to be published in the next several months, these remarks make it seem increasingly likely that the pope will… Read More Preparing for the Storm: Anticipating and Countering the Likely Attacks on Pope Francis and His Environmental Encyclical
Millennial 