Michael Sean Winters

Michael Sean Winters is the author of Left At the Altar: How Democrats Lost The Catholics And How Catholics Can Save The Democrats (Basic Books, 2008). His biography of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, God's Right Hand: How Jerry Falwell Made God a Republican and Baptized the American Right was published by Harper One in January 2012 to critical acclaim. 

By this Author

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone is seen outside St. Augustine Church in South San Francisco Oct. 16, 2020. (CNS/Catholic San Francisco/Dennis Callahan)

With his Communion ban, Cordileone harms the church more than Pelosi does

Michael Sean Winters: San Francisco's Salvatore Cordileone is a bomb thrower of an archbishop and he has thrown a bomb all right. But the real damage will not be done to the halls of government.

A man reviews his ballot at a polling station in Nesconset, New York, on Election Day Nov. 6, 2018. (CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Links: Assessing the midterms; voter turnout; Southern Baptists' abuse crisis

Michael Sean Winters: A powerful analysis of the Southern Baptist Convention's report on cover-up of sexual abuse allegations; the Post examines what is driving the midterms; does Donald Trump's endorsement matter?

Cardinal Mario Grech, center, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and other Vatican officials lead an online listening session with 30 people who have disabilities May 19. The meeting was part of the process in preparation for the Synod of Bishops.

Seek the openness of synodality, not the barrenness of ideology

The synodal process benefits from embracing a Catholic worldview rather than ideology. The ability to resist ideology is absolutely necessary if the synodal process is to create a more vibrant and faithful church.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, gestures to the cheering crowd during his primary night election party May 17 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. (AP photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Pennsylvania bishops should speak out about Mastriano's Christian nationalism

Michael Sean Winters: Pennsylvania bishops should teach their flock that Catholic theology does not traffic in the often hateful, sometimes lunatic, ideas that Doug Mastriano claims are part of his divinely inspired platform.

The Valletta City Gate in Malta (Wikimedia Commons/Didi8600)

Links: Student debt relief; the Afghan withdrawal; a disinformation homily

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Bad analogy for student debt forgiveness; damning report on the U.S. leaving Afghanistan; Kremlin disinformation from the pulpit; architectural beauty.

By closing Catholic News Service, bishops show they've lost interest in civic engagement

Michael Sean Winters: The decision by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to close down Catholic News Service was terrible in terms of lowering the standards of Catholic journalism. It was terrible, also, because of its ecclesial significance, which strikes at a deeper issue for the nation's bishops. 

A doctor holds a stethoscope in this illustration photo. (CNS/Reuters/Regis Duvignau)

Links: Abortion extremism; culture war primary; new solar farm

Michael Sean Winters: On abortion, the left is as beholden to the culture wars as the right, or more so; DeSantis 'crushing' Hawley; European leaders begin making overtures to the Kremlin; and another great awakening?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seen in this Conroe, Texas, Jan. 29, 2022, file photo, responded to the recent baby formula shortage by ratcheting up the culture war rhetoric, denounce giving formula to the children of undocumented migrants.

More Catholics behaving badly: Texas Gov. Abbott, CUA's business school dean

In his latest in an occasional feature, Michael Sean Winters looks at Catholics behaving badly, those who give our religion a bad name and unwittingly create more "nones."

Abortion demonstrators in Washington are seen May 3 outside the U.S. Supreme Court, after the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. (CNS)

However the court decides, America will be fiercely divided on abortion for decades

Michael Sean Winters: The leak of an opinion overturning Roe v. Wade set off culture war extremism. Both sides are driven by special interest groups to adopt all-or-nothing solutions, but most Americans want compromise.

Pope Francis preaches about the dignity of labor and justice for workers during his morning Mass on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker May 1, 2020, in the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Links: Ohio Senate race; sustainable energy in Puerto Rico; church and labor

Michael Sean Winters: There is new life in the relationship of labor and the Catholic Church; Silas House judges J.D. Vance as "dangerous"; Ohio’s Senate race may reveal if Democrats can still win working-class voters.

Pope Francis is pushed in a wheelchair by his aide, Sandro Mariotti, as he leaves an audience with students and professors of Rome's Pontifical Institute of Liturgy at St. Anselm, May 7 at the Vatican. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis highlights danger of staid liturgies that 'deny Vatican Council II'

Michael Sean Winters: While the U.S. bishops are planning a eucharistic revival, Pope Francis reminds us all that the liturgy must build up the unity of the church, and never serve as a source of division.

(Unsplash/Christian Wiediger)

Links: Amazon union firings; mixed feelings on Roe v. Wade; independent voters

Michael Sean Winters: We need to find different places for books and coffee; Tish Harrison Warren writes about the mixed feelings of many in the pro-life and whole-life movement; win the independents to win.

The "Tower of Faces" is a three-story permanent exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. It highlights the pre-war Jewish community of the Eisiskes, Lithuaniua, where nearly 4,500 Jews were killed.

In Eva Fleischner's essays, the Shoah speaks to us across the decades

A book of essays by the late Eva Fleischner, a pioneering Catholic scholar of the Shoah, challenges us to never forget the Holocaust and take responsibility for each other so such inhumanity never happens again.

Msgr. George Higgins, center, smiles after receiving the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Bill Clinton in 2000. He was recognized for his lifelong commitment to workers' rights. (CNS)

Remembering labor priest George Higgins and passing the torch to a new generation

A special Mass and a panel discussion will recall the legacy of Msgr. George Higgins, longtime chaplain to the AFL-CIO. The events highlight some rising stars bringing new energy to the Catholic-labor alliance.

A man prays during a commemoration ceremony for the victims of a massacre of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine, in this Sept. 29, 2021, file photo. (CNS/Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Links: Rebutting Rand Paul; GOP Ohio Senate primary; college debt forgiveness

Michael Sean Winters: Holocaust memorial embroiled in the Ukraine war; midterm politics; beautiful, sustainable architecture and more

A line of voters wraps around Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Atlanta during midterm elections Nov. 6, 2018. (CNS/Reuters/Lawrence Bryant)

What role will religion play in the midterm primaries?

Michael Sean Winters: While the dynamics are different in each party, religion is likely to play a role in determining the outcomes in both the Democratic and Republican races in the midterm primary season.

A worker carries a ballot box as he prepares the polling station in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, France, April 6, for the April 10 presidential election.

Links: Polarization in education; elections in Slovenia and France

Columnist Michael Sean Winters shares links about the elections in Slovenia and France, polarization in education in Tennessee, and more.

Voters line up prior to casting their ballots at a polling station in Nesconset, New York, on Election Day Nov. 6, 2018. (CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz)

What kind of Democratic and Republican parties will emerge from the primary season?

Michael Sean Winters: Texas held its primary elections in March, but for the rest of the U.S., primary season begins in May. The results in these midterm primaries over the next few months will achieve two things.

Centrist candidate and French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and far-right contender Marine Le Pen pose before a televised debate April 20 in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, outside Paris. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

French election won't hinge on Catholics, but left-leaning voters

Michael Sean Winters: There's no more "Catholic bloc" among French voters, but Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen are looking for votes wherever they can find them. Catholics loom more in French history than in today's electorate.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren embrace July 31, 2021, in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Bush spent the night there to highlight the midnight expiration of a pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential evictions. (CNS)

Links: Sen. Warren on midterms; a pro-life former Democrat; Texas border politics

Michael Sean Winters: Elizabeth Warren urges Dems to pass needed legislation to avoid being clobbered in the midterms; report on A.J. Oliver, who was pushed out as a Democratic committee chair due to his pro-life views.

Advertisement