Michael Sean Winters

After the consistory that included a new U.S. cardinal, columnist Michael Sean Winters thinks the U.S. church's future is looking brighter than it has in a long time.

While Michael Sean Winters is in Rome for the consistory, he's still keeping his eye on the political scene back home.

The consistory for the creation of 20 new cardinals on Aug. 27 showed that Pope Francis is firmly in control of the global church, and shows no signs of slowing down. It is clear as day that his vision for the Catholic Church is taking root.

Cardinal-designate Robert McElroy is one of the nation's leading experts on John Courtney Murray, says Michael Sean Winters, who can't think of a better time for a new cardinal with expertise in religious liberty issues.

In advance of this week's consistory, columnist Michael Sean Winters highlights a number of Rome's titular churches with connections to U.S. cardinals.

The war in Ukraine is no longer leading the nightly news, but the people of Ukraine are still fighting for the values that put the light into Enlightenment, and they deserve all the help we can muster.

Catholic Leonard Leo's new Marble Freedom Trust just received a $1.6 billion donation, but the whole thing stinks, says political columnist Michael Sean Winters.

There are signs the Democrats might not get shellacked in this autumn's midterm elections, but don't count on that.

After losing her primary contest, Congresswoman Liz Cheney is hinting that she may consider a presidential bid, a both interesting and potentially dangerous idea.

After the defeat of Liz Cheney, Michael Sean Winters says this isn't your grandfather's Republican Party anymore. Also, Tish Harrison Warren on the distorting way religion appears, and is made to appear, in media culture.

Michael Sean Winters: In Canada, the number of people who end their lives through euthanasia is growing significantly, and the country has few safeguards in place. Americans should think twice before adopting similar laws.

As the midterm elections approach, politics is heating up. Michael Sean Winters rounds up news about GOP spin on IRS funding, Sen. Sinema's Wall Street loophole, election deniers and more.  

A recent criticism of synodality by a longtime critic of Pope Francis only shows the degree to which conservatives fear the process may change the church.

Republicans claim the FBI's search of Trump's estate shows the U.S. has become a banana republic. They are right, but this isn't the Justice Department's fault.

Did you read that column in The New York Times about conservative hipster Catholics? Michael Sean Winters did. Also: A pro-life win in Connecticut; Spanish flu and the post-COVID-19 landscape; Republicans vs. the FBI.

The annual gathering of conservative Catholics is full of whine and wine, notes columnist Michael Sean Winters. This year's doom-and-gloom preaching was offset by the excitement at the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision.

Links: Comments on The New York Times' piece on Biden and abortion, a Democratic Ohio Senate candidate's strategy, a Mass marking the 101st anniversary of a priest killed by the KKK, and more.

The Catholic Church spent millions in a losing effort to get Kansas voters to strip abortion rights from that state's constitution. The voters overwhelmingly choose not to do so. How should the church move forward?

Bishops need to approach "Laudato Si' " not only as teachers of the faith but as managers of physical plants with too-high utility bills. Installing solar panels with union labor is a twofer.

"A church that does not develop its thinking in an ecclesial way is a church that goes backward," the pope said on the flight from Canada to Rome. His talk during vespers in Quebec explains what he meant.