catholicism

On Ireland’s Painful Emergence into the Modern World

On Ireland’s Painful Emergence into the Modern World

Fintan O’Toole’s lucid history of Ireland, We Don’t Know Ourselves, is a vivid telling of how his country’s culture of silence and repression was broken open.

How Catholicism Shaped Sting’s Creative Vision

How Catholicism Shaped Sting’s Creative Vision

In Sting and Religion, Evyatar Marienberg explores links between the rock icon’s Catholic upbringing and the religious themes in his lyrics.

Artist Ria Brodell Offers an Enlightened View on Holy Cards (and History) with ‘Butch Heroes’

Artist Ria Brodell Offers an Enlightened View on Holy Cards (and History) with ‘Butch Heroes’

While it's unlikely that you will ever come across an acknowledged gay, lesbian, or transgender person featured on an official holy card, it's quite possible that some individuals thus pictured snuck in under the radar, so to speak. Ria Brodell's Butch Heroes brings that tragic oversight to light.

How Do You Pin Down the Concept of Purgatory?

How Do You Pin Down the Concept of Purgatory?

Heaven Can Wait surveys the impact of an otherworldly state on the earthly condition.
The Heart That Refused to Burn Steadfastly Holds Its Secrets Close: Joan of Arc

The Heart That Refused to Burn Steadfastly Holds Its Secrets Close: Joan of Arc

Kathryn Harrison's longtime fascination with the Catholic Church finds its ultimate expression, and biggest challenge, in this biography of Joan of Arc.

‘If Nuns Ruled the World’ Fails to Engage Religion

Beyond the Beard and the Birdbath: André Vauchez’s ‘Francis of Assisi’

A Wolf Leashed Upon the World: ‘The Borgias: The Second Season’

The Surprises that Quiet Epiphanies Can Present to the Attentive Wanderer: Jim Gavin’s ‘Middle Men’

Do they Know We’re in Darkness?: ‘We Have a Pope’

Something Rare: Ernest Hemingway’s Mystic Communion