True justice requires being true to your emotions Our faith calls us to include our whole being in our moral and spiritual lives. Prior to my work in the peace and justice arena, I focused much of my academic attention on moral psychology, which attends to the emotional and psychological aspects of the moral life. Although […]
We owe it to clerical abuse survivors to read the whole story How one woman faces the shock and scandal of clerical sex abuse in the diocese where she grew up. On a beautiful day in the early summer of 2018, I was puttering around my apartment and getting ready for a parish visit. I […]
A new documentary shows the enduring power of ‘Peanuts’ A heart-warming film about Charles Schulz and his life’s work is also a call to come together. There’s a touching scene toward the end of the new documentary Who Are You, Charlie Brown? where Charles Schulz, the creator of the beloved Peanuts characters, is being interviewed by Al Roker. The […]
Our Catholic faith demands that we confront Islamophobia The Holy Spirit is present in our Muslim friends, says Jordan Denari Duffner. In 2016 Pope Francis made headlines when he answered a journalist’s question with a pointed reply: “It is not right to identify Islam with violence. This is not right and this is not true.” […]
Photos of human tragedy reflect the suffering face of God In the pictures of people fleeing from Afghanistan comes a difficult reminder that we are all made in the image of God. In the days following the fall of the Afghan government in mid-August, I found myself riveted by the photojournalism coming out of Kabul—desperate people […]
A Catholic laywoman seeks justice at her alma maters Use your voice to hold Catholic institutions accountable to the values they espouse. “I attended Mother McAuley as a white student from Mount Greenwood. Issues surrounding race didn’t affect me. Today, I have Hispanic daughters who attend McAuley 30 years later. They see the school and […]
At My Grandma’s House, support for Alaskan youth in crisis In the face of physical and emotional isolation, one Catholic laywoman is helping young adults heal from trauma. In 2010 a series of deaths by suicide began in the interior Alaskan villages surrounding Tanana, a community of approximately 200 people, most of whom are Athabascan […]
‘Be a good example’ is infuriatingly good advice Lessons can be learned from watching those we respect fail and try again. As the eldest of four brothers, a still-haunting refrain was pounded into my head by my parents throughout my childhood: “Be a good example.” I hated this phrase. It was an unassailable call to […]
What does the church teach about the death penalty? All lives are sacred and worthy of a chance for repentance and reconciliation. From 2015–2020, 136 people were executed by state or federal government in the United States. Even if judgments of their guilt were correct, is death an acceptable punishment? The Catholic Church today says […]
