Michael Sean Winters

Michael Sean Winters: This was supposed to be the summer when the U.S. defeated the COVID-19 virus. But we have not defeated it. Therein is the cultural lesson for the American psyche that our Catholic faith can impart.

Michael Sean Winters: New book by minister counselor for economic affairs at the French embassy to the United States provides an optimistic view of the latent strengths of U.S. democracy. Will Americans find within themselves the intellectual and moral resources to mount such a revival?

Distinctly Catholic: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the anti-abortion bill into law in May, has spent most of his tenure and all of the summer showing that fetal heartbeats are the only heartbeats he cares about.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: No more Trump, no more gorging on news; Biden and Afghanistan; MSW defends the faith and Pope Francis; a Verdi flash mob; tune in for Labor Day Mass.

Distinctly Catholic: This week the U.S. ended its longest war. The tragedy of the Afghan war, and the tragedy that may accompany the Afghan peace, both point to the need for renewed theological reflection on our just war tradition.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Religion, Latinos and the GOP; right-wing virtue signaling; China's reach in Tonga; Harvard's atheist chaplain; beauty of churches and turbines.

Distinctly Catholic: Given the unwillingness of Republicans to resist Donald Trump's anti-democratic schemes, President Joe Biden's approval rating may be key to preserving our democracy.

Distinctly Catholic: Republicans used to complain about activist judges. Not anymore, as the Supreme Court lets stand a ruling by a Catholic judge in Texas that orders Biden to restart Trump's Remain in Mexico policy.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Jason Berry gets overdue recognition; David Von Drehle looks at next month's California recall election; and volcanic eruptions in Iceland.

Distinctly Catholic: There is nearly nothing about the Catholic Church in the U.S. that prepares us to engage synodality with the kind of fulsome embrace it requires. We all have a lot of work to do.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Science backs up the benefits of dog cuddling; compare today's divisions to those of the fourth century; school board fights over diversity education.

Michael Sean Winters: Organized labor and the Catholic Church have enjoyed a long and important relationship. As the AFL-CIO chooses Liz Shuler to lead its 11 million members, the alliance has never been more needed — both by the church and by the unions.

Distinctly Catholic: The individualistic approach to COVID-19 vaccines has plagued the center's analysis: the idea that a conscience need only wrestle with its own concerns, and not also consider what is owed to others.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: The GOP scrubs its website of praise for Trump's peace deal with the Taliban; Mark Silk on Ben and Jerry's boycott; Thomas Levergood loved the church's intellectual tradition.

Distinctly Catholic: While the earth shook in Haiti, on the other side of the globe, tremors of a different sort were striking Afghanistan, a country that has been beset by war for the past 20 years.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Washington Post's deep dive into demographics; California may have enough water after all; Texas' political system "on fire"; #MeToo dialogue with Titian.

Michael Sean Winters: If you wondered whether or not Pope Francis was right to suppress the traditional Latin Mass, you only have to listen to his critics to realize that he was. Schism has been in the air along with the incense.

The infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this week contains good policy. It also delivers on President Joe Biden's campaign promise of bipartisan efforts and helps convince voters that government can still work for the common good.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: St. Louis' archbishop teaches what the church teaches; Delta variant in rural America; more Latin Mass reaction; the plight of young women in Afghanistan.

Distinctly Catholic: A prominent center for Catholic thought and the bishops of an entire state chose the culture wars over Catholic theology, in a way that will likely cause serious illness or death to anyone foolish enough to follow their bad advice.