Michael Sean Winters

Synodality is "the most consequential development in ecclesiology since the close of Vatican II," says columnist Michael Sean Winters. So he's perplexed why it isn't even mentioned on the agenda for the U.S. bishops' upcoming meeting.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters reflects on what the Gettysburg Address can mean to Americans today, when the threats to democracy are internal, not external.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' focus on censorship and xenophobia — not to mention this apparent dislike of Disney — does not have columnist Michael Sean Winters thinking he is a leading contender for the Republican nomination for president.

Catholic and other groups have joined forces to support a bill in New York state that could alleviate suffering for some of the poorest nations, reports columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The video of the ecclesial gathering on synodality in March at Boston College captures important aspects that his own prose only hinted at, like liturgy and conviviality, writes columnist Michael Sean Winters.

If the Democrats don't change from "inside the Beltway" thinking, the alternative is too grim for columnist Michael Sean Winters to contemplate.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters has his satire hat on for this column praising Catholic conspiracy theorist Taylor Marshall's campaign for president.

Because Pope Francis is so at ease during meetings with local Jesuits when he travels, he often reveals much about himself and his papacy, says NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Congress and the White House have until the end of the month to raise the debt ceiling. Michael Sean Winters says that while neither party is blameless, today's GOP depends on people who are fundamentally irresponsible.

If columnist Michael Sean Winters had his way, colleges and universities would do away with outside graduation speakers altogether.

In the second of Michael Sean Winters' two-part review of The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, he praises the book's treatment of the council itself and its reception.
 

A new comprehensive reference book on the Second Vatican Council is an antidote to sectarian and extreme caricatures of the council, says Michael Sean Winters in the first of a two-part review.

When political structures seem incapable of addressing the anxiety of gun violence, an interfaith service in Louisville gives hope to columnist Michael Sean Winters.

On the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, columnist Michael Sean Winters reports on a series of lectures on the dangers of neoliberalism.

The Board of Selectmen in the town of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, granted permission to hold a LGBTQ pride event, but there was a catch: "The event was only permitted so long as organizers removed a drag show performance from the celebration." Boors, such boors.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters is saying a prayer of thanksgiving to the patron saint of journalists after news about two TV broadcasters' exits this week. Good riddance, he says. 

At sundown tomorrow, Israel will begin celebrating its 75th anniversary as an independent nation in the modern era. It is a day to celebrate the only democracy in the region, writes columnist Michael Sean Winters.

In a talk at Sacred Heart University, Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin demonstrated a "formation" in synodality, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is the most "whole life" politician in the U.S., says columnist Michael Sean Winters. Ron DeSantis? Not so much.

The document from the North American continental group is rooted in Vatican II and will help manage expectations for the synod process, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.