The April issue is here! Feat.: - @susanbreynolds.bsky.social on Easter and cynicism - @alexwstern.bsky.social on AI - A conversation between Patti Smith and @antoniospadaro.bsky.social - @heidischlumpf.bsky.social on women's ordination And more! www.commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-...

I wrote about Wittgenstein and whether AI can mean @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein...

Dame Mullally’s participation in Becket Camino represents a sign of ecumenism as she prepares to become the first woman to lead the Church of England. Analysis from Vanessa R. Corcoran: www.commonwealmagazine.org/canterbury-a...

"To really understand language, LLMs would have to be capable of being born." @alexwstern.bsky.social on AI, Wittgenstein, and our crisis of meaning: www.commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein...

"Ann Lee's truest testament was the Shaker community’s practice of care across the boundaries of kinship, gender, and race." Vincent Miller reflects on 'The Testament of Ann Lee':

"The basis of Schopenhauer’s ethics was a kind of solidarity of the suffering." @mortenhoijensen.bsky.social reviews a new consideration of the oft-misunderstood German philosopher: www.commonwealmagazine.org/Schopenhauer...

"There is no question that Rome and the pope are supporting—quietly but clearly—the individual voices prophetically calling out Trumpism. The question is whether these individual voices will be joined by others, or remain a (shrinking) minority faction."

“The violent collapse of our two-decade mission in Afghanistan has made it clear to me that the Church needs to recover a theology of sin & a penitential practice capable of accounting for the trauma of war.”Philip Porter in @commonwealmagazine.org from 2023 www.commonwealmagazine.org/war-penance

"Jesus called, and still calls, women to discipleship. Women first proclaimed the Resurrection." Commonweal readers respond to Paul Baumann's essay on women's ordination:

When I met a fourteen-year-old Harrison Ford, I was sure he wouldn’t amount to much. Peter Steinfels: 'Wrong About Harry'

If we wish to meet God in silence, we must seek to help liberate those whom our society has unjustly silenced. William Crozier on learning about silence from Poor Clare sisters:

"There will no longer be monks singing the Salve Regina as night closes in on the valley around St. Benedict’s. Prayers for peace will be replaced by schemes for war." Evan Bednarz on the sale of a Trappist monastery to a billionaire war profiteer:

"The airing of grief is, paraphrasing Walter Brueggemann, an act of bold faith that refuses to accept the world as it is." Joe Rubio reflects on the raising of Lazarus for the fifth Sunday of Lent:

"Homan offers a uniformed-services, God-and-country conservatism that many American Catholics can identify with." @paulbmoses.bsky.social on the Catholic faith of Trump's 'border czar':

In 2016, I became a Trappist novice at St. Benedict’s Monastery. Now, this place of peace is being purchased by a zealot for war: Palantir CEO Alex Karp. An essay by Evan Bednarz:

Listen: @jonathansheehan.bsky.social speaks with Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor for @commonwealmagazine.org's Of this World podcast about his new book On the Altar, Christian sacrifice, and what the language of sacrifice still offers us today:

"The carelessness, cruelty, and incompetence that characterize everything this administration does are tragically on display in what Trump calls his 'little excursion' in Iran." NEW from the Editors:

"The bishops’ support for immigrants began long before Homan took up his Catechism as a schoolboy." @paulbmoses.bsky.social: 'The Gospel According to Tom Homan'

Highly recommend this outstanding piece about a personal faith journey through relationship.

In recent weeks, Paul Baumann’s essay on women’s ordination and the ritual logic of the priesthood has generated passionate reactions from Commonweal readers. Here, we’re sharing some of your sharpest letters—and a response from Baumann.

Almost exactly ten years after I had first considered becoming Catholic for intellectual reasons, I became one for interpersonal reasons. @jonathanrheaps.bsky.social reflects on liberal and postliberal conversion:

No objective, no planning, and with little thought for consequences: Trump's unjust war of whim alienates allies and further degrades the moral standing of the U.S. New from the editors @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-war-ir...

Excellent editorial on the unforced error that is the global tragedy unleashed by the unstable, dangerous, and incompetent USA political administration. Important and necessary read, provides clarity.

Trump has made the world less stable, alienated our allies, and further degraded the moral standing of the United States. The Editors on a war of whim in Iran: www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-war-ir...

When I met a fourteen-year-old Harrison Ford, I was sure he wouldn’t amount to much. Peter Steinfels on his memories of a future movie star:

"What 'Nobody Wants This' does most artfully is tell the story of a 'convert for marriage' from the convert’s perspective." Nava Grant on the dilemmas of Jewish conversion:

Paul Thomas Anderson’s strength as a director resides in the way he pays lavish attention to the surface of things. Rand Richards Cooper on 'One Battle After Another':

Many U.S. bishops remain unwilling to call out Trump’s authoritarianism. They would be wise to draw lessons from the Church’s history with Italian Fascism. The latest from @massimofaggioli.bsky.social:

"My father was sold at the age fourteen. His father, my grandfather, received six pounds—about thirty dollars." For St. Patrick's Day, John Rodden remembers the rural Ireland of his parents' youth:

I reviewed Gore’s book in @commonwealmagazine.org: www.commonwealmagazine.org/c-suite-cler...

From 2025: The work of Jürgen Habermas suggests that secular modernity, which is threatening to spin out of control, needs its sister religion now more than ever. 'Hope in a Post-Secular Age'

This past year, I’ve learned there’s an edge to Christ’s light—even a harshness, like the pain in your ears when you’ve been roused by a shrieking infant. @griffino.bsky.social writes a reflection for the fourth Sunday of Lent:

Are Christians prepared to answer the challenge offered by Jürgen Habermas? In 2025, Bill Rehg essayed on the late German philosopher and the meaning of hope in a post-secular age:

"Phil Andrew is the kind of guy you want in your corner during a crisis." @heidischlumpf.bsky.social reports on Andrew's campaign against fear in Illinois's ninth congressional district:

The war on Iran is yet another reminder that the world will never be safe until the United States accepts and abides by international law. Analysis of Trump's criminal war by George Scialabba:

"For this Puerto Rican artist, baseball is not only culturally embedded both at home and in diaspora; it is resistance performed, worn, and retold." @cnankofernandez.bsky.social on Bad Bunny, imperialism, and the World Baseball Classic:

Really thoughtful and interesting piece on the "all American game" by @cnankofernandez.bsky.social now at @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/baseball-wor...

"As we read these lines out loud, I could sense the mood among the sisters changing. They clearly felt Bonaventure had crossed a line." William Crozier essays on silence, oppression, and learning from Poor Clares:

"By the time hatred has become too powerful to ignore, it may also be too powerful to defeat." Joshua L. Cherniss on the dark passions that threaten liberal democracy — and how they might be kept at bay:

Check out my new piece on Christian Democracy, which ends with a critique of JD Vance and postliberalism.

Keats tried to solve the problem of objectivity by destroying the boundaries between himself and his subjects. Peter Schwendener on the poet and the real world:

"Maybe there’s something satisfying in having a home overflowing with noise and color and sickness and growth and emotion." Kate Lucky reports on the families choosing to have lots and lots of kids: www.commonwealmagazine.org/large-famili...

"If we wish to meet God in silence, we must seek to help liberate those whom our society has unjustly silenced." William Crozier on learning about silence from a class of Poor Clares:

"AI is a loaded gun in the hands of children." Good piece in @commonweal.bsky.social by @johnslatteryphd.bsky.social

"A turn away from this imperial arrogance would be a conversion like no other in American history." George Scialabba writes on America's criminal war in Iran:

"It feels right that Donald Trump is the one to bring AI into the mainstream of war-making. Trump is susceptible to all forms of sycophancy, for which chatbots are infamous." @johnslatteryphd.bsky.social on Trump's AI war:

"Can I still keep using this Catholic education to understand the world if I’m no longer Catholic?" Jessica Swoboda essays on the questions raised by a Catholic humanities education:

I feel very tender and vulnerable about this being out in the world, but i'm also quite proud of it?

Thank you for this, @johnslatteryphd.bsky.social. www.commonwealmagazine.org/slattery-ai-...