Almost a Blasphemy For Vatican theologians, the imagined obsolescence of humanity is not a historical prospect to be welcomed or feared, but an intellectual error to be avoided.

"The Holy See’s theologians may be underestimating the eschatological character of these schools of thought."

@kevjg.bsky.social on the religious worldview of AI's boosters:

Not Just a Mistake, a Crime 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.

George Scialabba: Will America ever turn away from imperial arrogance?

John Updike’s writing attempted to capture what is ineffably precious and intangible about life. What will be lost if the culture forgets him?

Paul Baumann: 'Updike Redux'

The Christian in Politics We need Christian politicians who are guided by moral law, but realistic, who feel called not to judge the world, but to save it.

"As a general rule the inclination of the Christian should be to liberality."

Eugene McCarthy on the role of the Christian in political life (from 1954):

Get Conversion Therapy Out of the Church Conversion therapy is psychologically unhealthy and spiritually hazardous. Catholic bishops and organizations must stop supporting it.

.@heidischlumpf.bsky.social: It's time to get conversion therapy out of the Church.

Travel Advisory For Pope Leo to visit the United States under present circumstances would be far more scandalous than his simply staying away.

"Perhaps the reason Americans root for a visit from Leo is that they envision him giving our feckless leaders the talking-to they deserve. But if you listen, he’s doing that already." — @mollieoreilly.bsky.social

Choosing to Be Born God isn’t a subject of typical bar conversation, but the partial gospels sometimes found there reveal a desire to justify hope, to believe that suffering isn’t the final truth of our lives.

God isn’t a subject of typical bar conversation, but the partial gospels sometimes found there reveal a desire to justify hope, to believe that suffering isn’t the final truth of our lives.

A Last Word from David Mills:

Curb Your Enthusiasm A new biography of Arthur Schopenhauer reveals a more compassionate philosopher, whose ethics of solidarity is one we urgently need now.

Thoughtful review of my book by Morten Høi Jensen for @commonwealmagazine.org

“One of the virtues of Bather Woods’s biography is that it encourages us to follow Schopenhauer’s pessimism through to the kernel of compassion at its center.”

Get Conversion Therapy Out of the Church Conversion therapy is psychologically unhealthy and spiritually hazardous. Catholic bishops and organizations must stop supporting it.

The recent Supreme Court decision seems to give a green light to the discredited and dangerous practice of conversion therapy, which is actually prevalent and widespread in Catholic circles. My story:

www.commonwealmagazine.org/conversion-t...

Slouching Toward Beirut Just months after Pope Leo traveled to Lebanon with a message of peace, Israel has threatened to turn Beirut into another Gaza Strip.

"Once again, Lebanon is being made to pay the price for circumstances beyond its control."

Joseph Phillip Amar: Will the ceasefire with Iran survive Israel’s brutal attacks on Lebanon?
www.commonwealmagazine.org/amar-israel-...

Travel Advisory For Pope Leo to visit the United States under present circumstances would be far more scandalous than his simply staying away.

For Pope Leo to visit the United States under present circumstances would be far more scandalous than his simply staying away.

@mollieoreilly.bsky.social: 'Travel Advisory'

We got my mom a @commonwealmagazine.org subscription as a gift to mark the occasion of her being received btw

Welcome home, Jonathan’s mom!

Travel Advisory For Pope Leo to visit the United States under present circumstances would be far more scandalous than his simply staying away.

"Not many who stand next to Trump walk away with their dignity intact. Smart people avoid it altogether."

@mollieoreilly.bsky.social explains why Pope Leo should keep his distance from the United States:
www.commonwealmagazine.org/leo-trump-wa...

Travel Advisory For Pope Leo to visit the United States under present circumstances would be far more scandalous than his simply staying away.

Anyway, I don't want the pope to come here for a visit, actually.

The concern about “concentration of power” also seems to be at the heart of how the pope and his advisors are thinking about technology, as I explore here:

Ordinary Goodness The protagonists of Pope Leo’s favorite movies are ordinary people who, against all evidence, still believe in the possibility of goodness.

The protagonists of Pope Leo’s favorite movies are ordinary people who, against all evidence, still believe in the possibility of goodness.

@antoniospadaro.bsky.social on Leo and film:

The Rise of the Catholic Chatbot I’ve recently been experimenting with the Catholic AI chatbot Truthly. The experience of interacting with it is not unlike talking to some priests.

"If AI shouldn’t 'do your homework for you,' or do your thinking for you, why should it be playing any role in spiritual formation at all?"

Nathan Dufour Oglesby on Catholic evangelization in an age of artificial intelligence:

All the Way to the Abyss My time in the borderlands taught me that there is dignity in the deviant and the criminal. Even Judases need an advocate.

My time in the borderlands taught me that there is dignity in the deviant and the criminal. Even Judases need an advocate.

An essay by Pablo Christian Soenen:

A Call of the Heart This May, the Women's Ordination Conference will mark its fiftieth anniversary with another meeting in Detroit, where hundreds of Catholic women will gather to continue their fight for ordination.

"More than two-thirds of U.S. Catholics favor opening ordination to women."

@heidischlumpf.bsky.social reports on the women continuing the fight for ordination:

Chicago area peeps: I'll be doing this presentation at Old St. Pat's next Sunday evening. Would love to see some of you there. Register here:

osp.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/1...?

A Call of the Heart This May, the Women's Ordination Conference will mark its fiftieth anniversary with another meeting in Detroit, where hundreds of Catholic women will gather to continue their fight for ordination.

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of women have left Catholicism to pursue ordination in Protestant denominations."

@heidischlumpf.bsky.social reports on the fight for women's ordination:

Dying to Work Byung-Chul Han’s philosophy bridges the twentieth-century Catholic Worker worldview and the contemporary world.

"The radical forms of economic life Dorothy Day encouraged are the concrete and quotidian way Christians go about believing in the Resurrection."

Colin Miller on Byung-Chul Han and the legacy of the Catholic Worker:

Delivery Problems Why doesn't the government work anymore? Marc J. Dunkelman sits down with 'Commonweal' to discuss government procedure, progressive politics, and the "abundance movement."

Why doesn’t the government work anymore?

Marc J. Dunkelman sits down with ‘Commonweal’ to discuss government procedure, progressive politics, and the “abundance movement.”
www.commonwealmagazine.org/dunkelman-ma...

Almost a Blasphemy For Vatican theologians, the imagined obsolescence of humanity is not a historical prospect to be welcomed or feared, but an intellectual error to be avoided.

"We might invoke St. Thomas Aquinas as patron against 'AI slop.'"

@kevjg.bsky.social essays on artificial intelligence and Christian anthropology:

Caesar’s Time and Wonder Patti Smith on contemplation, family life, and protecting a sense of wonder.

“Those who truly love unsettle things. Because they can’t be used. They can’t be instrumentalized.”

@antoniospadaro.bsky.social in conversation with the great Patti Smith:

Almost a Blasphemy For Vatican theologians, the imagined obsolescence of humanity is not a historical prospect to be welcomed or feared, but an intellectual error to be avoided.

For Vatican theologians, the imagined obsolescence of humanity is not a historical prospect to be welcomed or feared, but an intellectual error to be avoided.

New from @kevjg.bsky.social:

Curb Your Enthusiasm A new biography of Arthur Schopenhauer reveals a more compassionate philosopher, whose ethics of solidarity is one we urgently need now.

A new biography of Arthur Schopenhauer reveals a more compassionate philosopher, whose ethics of solidarity is one we urgently need now.

Morten Høi Jensen reviews: