Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: For several years now, I have been fretting about the disappearance of the holy season of Advent. In faith, we believe that Jesus will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.

Distinctly Catholic: Trump's eagerness to blame someone, anyone, for every difficulty is a unique characteristic in the history of the presidency for being so devoid of complexity.

Just as we would be shocked to learn that Catholic hospitals were performing morally objectionable procedures, many of us are profoundly disturbed to learn enormous compensation is being showered on the executives of Catholic healthcare companies. 

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Tensions in Bosnia; "Trump judges" and "Obama judges"; extremist fringe vs. Canadian church agencies; holding out for a (political) hero.

Distinctly Catholic: You could have a field day comparing what George Weigel wrote about national bishops' conferences during John Paul II's pontificate to what he writes now.  

Distinctly Catholic: It is obvious that Pope Francis "gets" the evil of sex abuse.  But I suspect the pope does not understand the media culture in which the U.S. church operates. In this regard, I suspect he is like many U.S. bishops.

Distinctly Catholic: We all make mistakes. But I fear that a significant part of the Catholic media is engaged in a willful effort to spread falsehoods in the interest of partisan ecclesial objectives.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: More lessons from the midterms; the Pelosi fight; debt proposals for Puerto Rico get worse; counting white evangelicals.

Distinctly Catholic: Jesuit Fr. Mark Massa's new book examines Humanae Vitae's place in the "regular series of ruptures, rejections, and reinventions" of Catholic theology.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Viganò ordered to give money back to family members; pro-life Democrats exist; more on the midterms; Robert Shine makes my point.

Distinctly Catholic: I think this is the question the pope wants them to ask: Whence your credibility as a bishop? While there will always be some ministers who are clueless, how could a culture form that such patterns of evil behavior covering up the crimes of the perpetrators were so widespread?

Distinctly Catholic: Conservative bishops did not say they wanted to focus on homosexuality as a cause of clergy sex abuse, but they hinted at it. Francis supporters did not defend the pope's decision to delay a vote. Today was shadow boxing.

Distinctly Catholic: The Holy See insists the U.S. bishops not vote on any action items regarding the clergy sex abuse crisis, pending the February meeting of the presidents of all episcopal conferences. What is going on? 

Distinctly Catholic: At this week's U.S. bishops' meeting, prelates will discern their response to the abuse scandal. This means a choice between two competing theories about what led to the crisis.

Distinctly Catholic: Some profound issues of democratic legitimacy were highlighted on Tuesday, and it is far from clear that our country and its Constitution will prove capable of withstanding the questions those issues raise.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Partisan fights loom; Catholic masculinity; how to scare centrist voters; wrongly universalizing the Tree of Life tragedy

Distinctly Catholic: If the Democrats muster the courage to elect new leaders to be the face of the party, and they adopt a big tent on social issues, they might even win some of the rural districts they continued to lose last night.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: NCR to host a briefing for reporters ahead of bishops' meeting; what ballot measure are up for vote; how abortion plays a role in the attitude of voters

Distinctly Catholic: Last week, Sr. Carol Keehan announced her retirement as president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, effective June 30, 2019. There can be no real replacing Sister Carol.

Distinctly Catholic: At meetings of the U.S. bishops' conference, one of the staples is the election of new committee chairs and other officers. This year, the bishops must elect a new treasurer, and one of the most interesting contests is for the chairmanship of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.