Author: Conor Kelly

In recent days, much has been made of the president’s horrific suggestion (via Twitter, of course) that four American citizens, elected members of the House of Representatives, should “go back” to where they came from. This remarkable cheapening of our political discourse—which was already at a remarkable low—indicates that questions of identity and exclusion will be at the heart of our national consciousness during the 2020 campaign, especially if the pundits are correct and stoking racial divisions is a central plank of Trump’s reelection strategy. Regardless of whether this issue becomes the central question of the next 13 months...

The astounding allegations made front-page headlines in all the national newspapers: “Actresses, Business Leaders and Other Wealthy Parents Charged in U.S. College Entry Fraud;” “Federal Prosecutors Charge Dozens in College admissions Cheating Scheme;” etc. I have to say, I mostly heard (and offered) cynical responses to this college admissions cheating scandal. It’s regrettable, we all agreed, but hardly surprising. People with money grease the wheels of power all the time. Isn’t that what money (at least very large piles of it) is for? In a word, no. Especially not in the context of Catholic moral theology. We would do...

In many ways, the work on this blog aligns with my primary focus as a moral theologian: how the Catholic faith can shape our decisions not just in moments of profound moral crisis, but in the very rigmarole of ordinary life. Our two most recent posts offer a clear case in point. Lorraine Cuddeback-Gedeon posted a series of questions that sought to put the larger emphases of the Catholic tradition in conversation the last week’s controversy du jour. On the same day, Miguel Romero discussed some of the parameters he uses to ground the dialogue between faith and contemporary...

There is a general sense of agreement, or at least a culturally enshrined assumption, that the stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas might just be the busiest time of the year. Much of this, undoubtedly, has to do with the commercialization of Christmas, which is beginning to affect not only Thanksgiving but also Halloween, it seems. Surely the march from Black Friday and Small Business Saturday to Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday is not helping the sense of overwhelming obligation that most people seem to share during this “gap” between the holidays. And yet this gap is not...

In some ways, it is a breath of fresh air to realize that the synod of bishops can gather in Rome without much fanfare. This says something about the ways we are embracing the vision of collegiality that has been a hallmark of Pope Francis’s leadership, for we can say it’s just another day at the office, so to speak. Nevertheless, I still find it striking that the 2018 Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment is receiving much less attention than the 2014-2015 synods on the Family. I don’t think the shift is entirely illustrative of a new...