Michael Sean Winters

Pope Francis' reforms are rooted in Vatican II and the Gospels, so why do his critics see him as a revolutionary? asks columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The Vatican, for the third time, reiterated what it said on the Latin Mass. Roma locuta est. Let's hope the kids in the back of the room who were playing spitball and not paying attention will finally get the message.

San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy elaborated on his recent comments about inclusion. But his critics are not happy about the inclusion that is at the heart of the synodal process, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Lent is not about "doing something positive," says columnist Michael Sean Winters. We need to practice the self-emptying that Jesus modeled.

For Francis, mercy is not a response to those who fail at church teaching, it is the crux of the church's teaching, says columnist Michael Sean Winters. 

As the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, columnist Michael Sean Winters surveys the human suffering and prays for peace in a land long besieged by Russia.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of Francis' pontificate, columnist Michael Sean Winters reflects on his pastoral style.

A series of free online lectures about synodality from Boston College provides a valuable resource for the church, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Joe Biden's economic policies are the most progressive we have seen in decades — and the most consistent with Catholic social teaching, says columnist Michael Sean Winters. They were highlighted in the State of the Union speech.

The videos of the killing of Tyre Nichols and the beating of Paul Pelosi expose the horror of evil in all its rawness: the brutality of it, the indifference of the perpetrators, the senselessness.

NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters speaks to Steven Nabieu Rogers of the Africa Faith & Justice Network about Pope Francis' visit to Congo and how ample resources in Africa often turn into the curse of powerlessness and poverty.

A letter from two Vatican officials gives the bishops — and us — a primer on ecclesiology, to clarify the bishops' role in the process and how they can best lead and guide it, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

It's hard to take the GOP seriously, with Reps. George Santos' and Marjorie Taylor Greene's shenanigans, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters sees evidence of an inflection point in Francis' pontificate, as conservative criticisms of the pope increasingly ring hollow and Francis seems to be increasing the pace of change.

Despite differences between the Trump and Biden discoveries, some voters will simply conclude that all politicians are corrupt or incompetent. That hurts a party that believes government can do good things.

Our Catholic faith has something to say about how to address economic inequality, but it's a voice not always heard at the World Economic Forum, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters is concerned about "intellectual fads" at Catholic institutions of higher education.

Pell, and those who are picking up his mantle, think they — and only they — have the solution to what ails the church and the world. But that hubris has hurt the church's credibility, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters takes a look back at Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize speech and considers nonviolence's challenges to just war theory.
 

Cardinal George Pell's legacy as a lion defending the church is not a match for these times, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.