Michael Sean Winters

Michael Sean Winters is the author of Left At the Altar: How Democrats Lost The Catholics And How Catholics Can Save The Democrats (Basic Books, 2008). His biography of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, God's Right Hand: How Jerry Falwell Made God a Republican and Baptized the American Right was published by Harper One in January 2012 to critical acclaim. 

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Then-President Donald Trump speaks at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, held that year in Oxon, Maryland. (Flickr/Trump White House Archived/Tia Dufour)

Buckle up for a scary ride, as CPAC comes to Orlando this week

Michael Sean Winters: If you thought the roller coaster in Space Mountain at Walt Disney World was scary, just wait until you see the speakers' list at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.

A wooden statue of a pregnant woman, often referred to as "Pachamama," is pictured in the Church of St. Mary in Traspontina as part of exhibits on the Amazon region during the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in Rome Oct. 18, 2019. (CNS/Paul Haring)

Links: Pachamama and COVID, Wisconsin Republicans, and the Ottawa convoy

Michael Sean Winters: Crisis editor-in-chief thinks Pachamama caused pandemic; how another conspiracy is ripping apart Wisconsin Republicans; why the possible invasion of Ukraine is qualitatively different from past wars.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., holds a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., July 15, 2021, about expanded child tax credit payments. (CNS/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Annett's 'Cathonomics' should be required reading in Catholic business schools

Michael Sean Winters: Anthony Annett's new Cathonomics may be the best book on Catholic social teaching out there. Every Catholic business school should make it required reading.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., listen during an Oct. 19 meeting of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Republican National Committee voted Feb. 4 to censure Cheney and Kinzinger.

Backlash to RNC censure reveals fractures in Trump's GOP influence

When the RNC called the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the Capitol "legitimate political discourse," many Republican leaders said "Enough!" Could this be the Trumpian straw that will break the GOP camel's back?

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

Links: Latina voters and the GOP; synodality at Catholic universities; and Lake Placid's Olympic legacy

Michael Sean Winters: Many immigrants still believe in the American Dream; Catholic universities give space for voices to be heard; Republicans' false allegations about voter fraud

Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, speaks during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 13, 2019, in Baltimore. Pope Francis named Fabre as the new archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky. (CNS)

Selection of Archbishop-designate Fabre brings US church closer to Francis' pastoral vision

Michael Sean Winters: The appointment of Shelton Fabre as the next archbishop of Louisville makes sense, and strengthens those who want to take up the pastoral challenges posed by Pope Francis.

A believer attends a liturgy at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 26. (CNS/Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Links: A free Ukraine; appalling Blackhawks comments; legislating curriculum

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Coming of age with a free and independent Ukraine; Russian disinformation; Rocky Wirtz and the hubris of nonclerical hierarchies; in defense of schadenfreude.

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., speaks at a campaign event in this Jan. 12, 2019, file photo. (AP/John Locher)

Abortion debate in Nevada presages more confusion

Michael Sean Winters: U.S. Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada's pro-choice view is not in line with the church's teaching on the inviolability of human life.

Workers are silhouetted Oct. 29, 2020, at the Thaiwoo ski resort near skiing venues of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Chongli, a popular ski resort town in China. The venue is one of many in the Beijing area that will host the Olympic Winter Games Feb. 4-20.

Olympics bring out the best, and the worst, of human nature

Cheering for Nathan Chen and Mikaela Shiffrin at the Beijing Olympics is only remote cooperation with the nefarious Chinese regime. But the IOC needs to go to confession for awarding the Games to an autocratic regime.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, is pictured in a file photo. (CNS/Simon Caldwell)

Links: Puerto Rican development; Dems and redistricting; Cardinal Bo of Myanmar

Michael Sean Winters: Gobbling up properties in Puerto Rico; an immigrant turns dislike for Italian pizza into thriving restaurant business; Republican races in Texas heat up.

Cardinals and bishops attend Pope Francis' celebration of a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 10, 2021, to open the process that will lead up to the assembly of the world Synod of Bishops in 2023. (CNS/Reuters/Remo Casilli)

American Catholics need to shed some habits to get in the synodal spirit

Michael Sean Winters: If our conservative friends are keeping the synod at arm's length, there is a real opportunity for our liberal friends to be heard. Certainly, in my lifetime, there has never been such an opportunity for the Catholic left to be heard. 

Retired Pope Benedict XVI smiles at Germany's Munich Airport before his departure to Rome June 22, 2020. (CNS/Reuters/Sven Hoppe)

Links: Benedict and pedophile clergy; Fr. Martin on COVID-19 schadenfreude

Michael Sean Winters: David Gibson provides balanced analysis of allegations against Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI; James Martin warns about taking delight in others' suffering; the Post reports on a smart Dem tactic in Ohio.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces at the White House in Washington Jan. 27 that he will retire at the end of the court's current term. (CNS/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

President Biden, replace Justice Breyer with someone who has experience outside the courtroom

Michael Sean Winters: Appointing someone who has experienced the law outside of a classroom or a courtroom would add something to the court's deliberations that does not currently exist.

A service member with the Ukrainian armed forces walks past combat positions near a line of separation from Russian-backed rebels near Horlivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine Jan. 22. (CNS/Reuters/Anna Kudriavtseva)

We should pray for peace in Ukraine — and avoid the moral danger of being a bystander

Michael Sean Winters: The writer Timothy Snyder's words resonate as we watch Russia inch toward war with Ukraine: Beware the moral danger of being a bystander.

Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz, aka Big Papi, at bat for the Boston Red Sox in 2009 (Wikimedia Commons/Parkerjh)

Links: Clean Water Act at risk; Hall of Famer memories; another reason to love librarians

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Vaccine misinformation in San Francisco; Supreme Court case could weaken the Clean Water Act; Ohio's midterm elections; the unemerged Democratic majority.

A Puerto Rican flag flies on an empty beach at Condado Beach May 21, 2020, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP/Carlos Giusti, File)

Religious leaders critical to success of Puerto Rico debt restructuring

Michael Sean Winters: A federal bankruptcy court finalized the largest public debt restructuring deal in Puerto Rico’s history. Thanks to religious leaders, the plan includes protections for programs that help the poor and for workers' pensions.

A woman wearing a protective mask walks past the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic logo Jan. 18. The Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing will be held Feb. 4-20 and March 4-13. (CNS/Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

Links: Dorothy Day's canonization controversies; money in politics; smog over the Olympics

Michael Sean Winters: Millionaires flood Senate races with campaign contributions; Garvey's attack on scientism is ridiculous; the International Olympic Committee overlooked this hurdle for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, speaks from the floor during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 11, 2019, in Baltimore. (CNS/Bob Roller)

More Catholics behaving badly: Making Jesus weep!

Michael Sean Winters: Regrettably, more in sadness than in anger and with a heavy heart, it is time for another installment of Catholics Behaving Badly.

March for Life participants kneel in prayer alongside an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in front of the Supreme Court building Jan. 24, 2011, in Washington. (CNS/Reuters/Jim Young)

Clinging to a consistent ethic of life remains a moral imperative

Michael Sean Winters: The politics of abortion are in great flux. But liberal Catholics should cling to the consistent ethic of life, the only intellectually and morally serious ground upon which to stand when assessing the morality of abortion.

A registered nurse in Little Rock, Arkansas, checks on a COVID-19 patient Aug. 16, 2021, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. (CNS/Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Links: EWTN radio affiliate offensive on MLK; greed in US health care; 'Is a Schism on the Horizon?'

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Host David Gray disparages the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; the U.S. health care crisis is being caused by greed, nurses say; Jan. 26 panel to discuss Pope Francis and schism.

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