Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: Cardinal Timothy Dolan's recent, ill-advised op-ed in The Wall Street Journal does nothing to unite Catholics​ polarized by political divisions.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Admiring the youngsters marching for gun control; Rex Tillerson has complaints about Washington; the haunting, pleading Lamentations of Jeremiah.

Distinctly Catholic: CNN's series descends into the muck, as it must, with Sixtus IV and Alexander VI. But the era's contrast of moral squalor and great art makes a point about Incarnation.

Distinctly Catholic: I do not think Dan Lipinski and Conor Lamb are one pole of the party and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren the other. All four talk about solidarity as the principal value in creating the politics that matters most to them.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Responding to and reviewing Ross Douthat; profiles in cowardice from Republicans; where are the bishops as Pope Francis is attacked?

Distinctly Catholic: I come to bury Ross Douthat, not to praise him — for his facts in To Change the Church are nonsense, his arguments tendentious, and his thesis so absurd it is shocking that this book was published at all.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Koch brothers and Latinos just arriving in the U.S.; the nation's mayors; neo-liberalism cannot be baptized; 'Francis Derangement Syndrome'

Distinctly Catholic: Those who complain about the hierarchy, and especially those who complain about the lack of power sharing in the church, need to watch this episode. Whenever a pope or cardinal or king has aspired to power over the church, he has undercut the spiritual foundations of the papacy and the mission entrusted to the church by Jesus Christ.

Distinctly Catholic: It remains to be seen if Democrats will learn the lessons to be drawn from this congressional race. But Republicans are right to be worried.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Why the Parkland High School students were so articulate; Radically addressing income inequality; More coverage of Cardinal Tobin on workers

Distinctly Catholic: Bishop Robert Barron's approach, sharp with criticisms of the ambient culture, many of those criticisms warranted — has this worked in the past 40 years?

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Immigration advocates are defending their community; Bernie Sanders' winning message; the latest from the anti-Francis crowd; a way to help still-struggling Puerto Rico.

Distinctly Catholic: Mistakes mar the first episode of "Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History." But there's enough insight into the "authenticating voice" that began with Peter to keep me watching.

Distinctly Catholic: Whatever is going on in conservative circles, if you had been at Seton Hall for Richard Trumka's talk, you would have seen how working-class folk feel about the pope.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Reactions to Cardinal Wuerl's pastoral plan; Israel deporting Africans; Democrats mobilize for governors' races but need to break with the left on cultural issues

Distinctly Catholic: The book was published by the Independent Institute, a self-described think tank, but, as this book demonstrates, it would be better described as a factory for libertarian propaganda.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Using the Supreme Court to attack unions; Mick Mulvaney's potshots at Elizabeth Warren; more anti-Francis sentiment

Distinctly Catholic: It is time for the ranting against Amoris Laetitia to stop. Throughout the pastoral plan, the cardinal cites beautiful and challenging passages, reminding us not to rely on what the pundits have to say about it.

Distinctly Catholic: It's more than a shame that U.S. State Department's Office of Religion and Global Affairs has been largely dismantled under the Trump administration. The need to analyze the role of religion in diplomacy is obvious.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Catholics should not reject environmental concern; anti-Semitism rising in Poland; it's not fake news; Milwaukee laundromat cleans for the homeless