Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: Anger over the nomination controversy may still motivate voters, but Democrats should be sowing doubts about Trump's elitism in working-class precincts.

Distinctly Catholic: Cardinal Donald Wuerl was a link between the two scandals involving Theodore McCarrick and the Pennsylvania grand jury report. With his resignation, Wuerl is the last of his kind.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: "Principled Entrepreneurship;" lessons to learn from winning union elections; Tokyo 2020 Olympics goes over budget

Distinctly Catholic: Pope Francis' order to investigate files on the McCarrick case signals that episcopal accountability, which has been the missing link in changing the clerical culture, is coming to the Catholic Church.

Distinctly Catholic: Two stories last week justified my caution about an increased role for the laity as a means to heal the church. The stories showed the ugly power of money that lay leadership entails.

Distinctly Catholic: I have a modest proposal. Let's give the country a break from leadership by folks who came from the Ivy Leagues.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Why Ben Wittes wouldn't vote to confirm Kavanaugh; pope's popularity drops; double lives of House Republicans

Distinctly Catholic: Judge Brett Kavanaugh called last week's hearing "a national disgrace." On cable news, moderate voices fretted that the U.S. had never been in such dire straits. Bosh.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Kavanaugh's interpretation; Fr. Z's condemnation; gay bashing from the Catholic right; analysis about the pope's China deal

Distinctly Catholic: Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput is headed to Rome as a delegate to the Synod of Bishops on young people. He is not entirely happy to be attending the event.

Distinctly Catholic: It is far from clear that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will ever make it on to the U.S. Supreme Court, but going forward, he will be the standard. Women are pushing back, and it will alter our political, social and cultural landscape.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Representative's six siblings campaign for his opponent; historical fallacy of originalism; data on why some among working class vote Republican

Distinctly Catholic: This moment of the church's sex abuse scandal requires a moral reckoning that must be honest about the legacy of St. Pope John Paul II.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Troubling pieces about Kavanaugh; Poll reveals voting complacency; Puerto Rico is still rebuilding; alarming study on global warming

Distinctly Catholic: If the steps they announced are any indication, the bishops have a long way to go before their efforts will heal the church from the abuse scandals and earn back people's confidence.

Distinctly Catholic: In Self-Evident Truths, historian Richard Brown deftly catalogs the shift that led to the triumph of white supremacist views in the first half of the 19th century.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Millennials form unions; reading the midterm tea leaves; "Saint Benedict XVI"; politics and Puerto Rico's death toll.

Distinctly Catholic: In Self-Evident Truths, Richard Brown's examination of how religious equality manifested itself in the years after the Revolution is especially fascinating.

The sex abuse crisis has exposed a real sickness in the church, and some combination of structural, cultural and spiritual renewal will be needed. 

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: The state of evangelical churches; Carl Anderson urges Knights to support Kavanaugh; Bishop Finn gets a pass in Missouri.