Anti-Asian hate crimes targeting Asian Americans rose 150 percent in America’s largest cities last year. At the same time, overall hate crimes decreased, according to new data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University. There were 122 hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in 16 of the country’s most Read more
Never in our lives have we experienced such a global phenomenon. For the first time in the history of the world, all of humanity, informed by the unprecedented reach of digital technology, has come together, focused on the same existential threat, consumed by the same fears and uncertainties, eagerly anticipating the same, as yet unrealized, Read more
The advertisement for a student-loan company features a picture of a nun in a veil with the legend “If you’re a nun, then you’re probably not a student.” The movie “Jeffrey” includes a trash-talking priest sexually propositioning a man in a church sacristy. One can readily venture into novelty stores and buy a “Boxing Nun” Read more
As a bad Catholic, I need to make a confession. I no longer pay attention to mass shootings. If I see a headline in the newspaper or online, I skip over to another story. If it comes up on my NPR podcast, I touch the arrow that advances me to the next story. If it Read more
Catholics are moving away from President Trump. In the latest Quinnipiac poll (which thankfully includes a set of questions about religion), 55% of Catholics say they will definitely not vote for Trump in 2020, as opposed to 32% who say they definitely will vote for him and 12% who say they’d consider it. Even if Read more
Dear brothers in Christ, shepherds, fellow pilgrims, We address you as you approach this year’s national meeting in Baltimore because we know there is nowhere left to hide. It’s over. All the manipulations and contortions of the past 33 years, all the attempts to deflect and equivocate — all of it has brought the church, Read more
Contrary to what you may sometimes hear, school shootings are not unique to the United States. Germany, for instance, went through a string of devastating attacks between 2002 and 2009. Between 1996 and 2008, major school shootings also occurred in Finland and Scotland, among other places. But in Europe, there hasn’t been a major high-casualty Read more
The crowning jewel of “America’s Catholic church”—that is, of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception—was finally unveiled and blessed yesterday. The ceremony presided over by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington and the director of the Board of Trustees of the Shrine, symbolically marked the completion of the largest Catholic Read more
Remember the game of chicken? It’s a foolishly high-stakes challenge in which two drivers risking death, drive on a collision course towards each other until one of the drivers chooses to swerve away. Since neither driver wants to be called “chicken,” meaning coward, they both push the decision to swerve away to the last possible Read more
LISBON — On a broken-down set of steps, a 37-year-old fisherman named Mario mixed heroin and cocaine and carefully prepared a hypodermic needle. “It’s hard to find a vein,” he said, but he finally found one in his forearm and injected himself with the brown liquid. Blood trickled from his arm and pooled on the Read more