Michael Sean Winters

President Donald Trump will be in Dallas today speaking at the annual convention of the National Rifle Association, the organization that has sought to democratize gun violence.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Trump's mock acceptance speech; Hawking's wrestling with metaphysical questions; McElroy talks poverty and peace; U.S. bishops announce Religious Freedom Week

Distinctly Catholic: Not once has Paul Ryan wrestled sufficiently with his Catholic faith's social teachings when his ideology or his politics demand he stick to his libertarian precepts.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: First Amendment Defense Act; Young people moving toward pro-choice; Save the Catholic University of America website; George Mason University students file lawsuit

Distinctly Catholic: I conclude my review of Maura Jane Farrelly's Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620-1860, with a look at Farrelly's careful examination of anti-Catholicism in the Colonies and Britain during the revolutionary era.

Distinctly Catholic: Maura Jane Farrelly's book Anti-Catholicism in America, 1620-1860 deserves high praise for its extensive research and careful analysis.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Conspiracy theories surround Pope Francis; A podcast with Cardinal Joseph Tobin on immigration; Starbucks to confront racism

Distinctly Catholic: Archbishop Chaput published at First Things a letter he received from a young father. The letter seemed to hit all the right buttons, and I do mean right.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: LifeSiteNews talks Pope Francis; a plea to lessen Puerto Rico debt; conservative and liberal corruption; ethicists on Syria.

Distinctly Catholic: The natural home for religiously-based ideological disposition in the U.S. used to be the Democratic Party, but for the past three decades, the religious right has been the face of Christianity in American public life. Both parties seem unable to restore health to politics.

Distinctly Catholic: San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy's April 18 lecture at Loyola University Chicago opens the debate about how the church should engage politics. He is calling for an approach in which Catholics remember to put their faith first, as the ground of a virtue ethics.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: A look into EWTN's world; April 17 was tax day, and tax reforms are in the news again; Catholic University of America cutting faculty positions

Distinctly Catholic: There is something to the conservative criticism that while people thought the court was above politics, in fact the court has always been made up of politicians who happen to wear robes.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Another bad review of Ross Douthat's book; America magazine gets Syria wrong; shout-out to Eunice Kennedy Shriver; what real charity is (it's not welfare)

Distinctly Catholic: It has been a long time since I have seen a news story about the situation in Puerto Rico, and it seems many are willing to forget about the plight of thousands of people on an island saddled with debt.

Ryan had a reputation as a wonk, someone who understood policy and wanted to understand it. But for all his talk about accomplishing a great deal as Speaker, he knows Congress has accomplished very little that commends itself to the electorate.

Distinctly Catholic: We don't know how President Trump will respond to the chemical weapon attack in Syria, but the character of the response will not resolve the moral conundrum the Syrian situation poses in the first place.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: A Catholic blogosphere rising star; Pope Francis' authenticity; a takedown of Jordan Peterson and revived masculinity

Distinctly Catholic: Pope Francis' new apostolic exhortation is an encouraging effort to urge all Christians on. Yet some passages appear directed at specific audiences or events in the recent life of the church.

Distinctly Catholic: As Michael Gerson pointed out, the chaos that surrounds this presidency, the multiple story lines, the glaring conflicts, the various brushes with the law, all reflect the president's confidence in his own judgment.