Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: It will surprise some people that if you break down the religious left by denomination, the largest single group is Catholics, with fully a quarter of those who are liberal and churchgoing, followed by mainline Protestants.

Distinctly Catholic: While Congress fought over impeachment and we almost went to war with Iran, you'd be forgiven for missing the news about Homeland Security sharing information with the Census Bureau.

Distinctly Catholic: The court can help by revoking a lower court decision that reorganized the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico, which could have the effect of unfreezing funds involved in litigation.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: A must-read interview about the Holocaust Museum; Bloomberg focuses on Florida; U.S. languages mapped; dogs, cats and religion.

Distinctly Catholic: Whatever consequences the killing of Soleimani has on the Mideast, you can bet some Democrats will so bungle their response that Trump's decision will end up helping him in the Midwest.

Roundup of political news and commentary: How Democrats can treat pro-life voters; neoliberalism is dead; the tax code is great for giant corporations; here's a way Donald Trump is not for religious freedom

Distinctly Catholic: U.S. bishops should condemn the practice of CatholicVote.org and their crass use of the decision to attend Mass as a source of political information that contradicts our American and our Catholic traditions.

Distinctly Catholic: What should we be looking for in the life of the church this year? What issues and personalities will likely change the trajectory of ecclesial history?

Distinctly Catholic: These are the big U.S. political stories to watch for as the new year unfolds, and the biggest might not even be the Senate impeachment trial.

Distinctly Catholic: Center on Budget Policy and Priorities deserves applause; universities are removed from ordinary Catholic life, too; checking the media's "centrist bias"; SEALs from Edward Gallagher's platoon speak out

Distinctly Catholic: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. It is the end of the year, a time for looking back and looking forward. Today, I look back at some of the mistakes I made this past year and ask forgiveness for them.

Distinctly Catholic: We are betwixt Christmas and New Year's and, as a nation, we are betwixt what was and what will be, and what will be could hardly be less determinate.   

A roundup of political news and commentary: The owners of the famous Mayor Peter wine cave speak out; White House press secretary says the president is "under attack"; rural Kentucky gets broadband internet; more people dying at home rather than in hospitals

Distinctly Catholic: Democratic voters, who will be making up their minds in January, are looking for a leader, someone with the confidence and the smarts to take on Trump.

Distinctly Catholic: Pope Francis' acts — removing the pontifical secret in sex abuse cases, and raising the age for what constitutes child pornography — disprove the verdicts on last February's abuse summit.

A roundup of political news and commentary: The U.S. under the Trump administration has more in common with post-Netanyahu Israel than the Brexit-era U.K.; health care, labor unions and aid to Puerto Rico are reasons to vote Democrat

Distinctly Catholic: Forget about whether Labour went too far left; the undeniable lesson of the U.K. election for Americans is that it is a truly bad idea to waffle on the most pressing issue of the day.

A roundup of political news and commentary: Conservative wave in the United Kingdom has parallels to the "too woke" left in the United States; atheists aren't yet "it" in our political arena; read Molly Worthen; U.S. Rep. Justin Amash gets my vote

Distinctly Catholic: It requires spiritual discipline to avoid the consumerism that has truly taken the Christ out of Christmas and replaced him with Mammon. In wrapping paper.

Distinctly Catholic: Mendacity has long been a feature of public and especially political life; this week, however, has been a banner week for big institutional lies, partisan lying, and self-serving claims from the stump that are demonstrably impossible.