Michael Sean Winters

Distinctly Catholic: If the steps they announced are any indication, the bishops have a long way to go before their efforts will heal the church from the abuse scandals and earn back people's confidence.

Distinctly Catholic: In Self-Evident Truths, historian Richard Brown deftly catalogs the shift that led to the triumph of white supremacist views in the first half of the 19th century.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Millennials form unions; reading the midterm tea leaves; "Saint Benedict XVI"; politics and Puerto Rico's death toll.

Distinctly Catholic: In Self-Evident Truths, Richard Brown's examination of how religious equality manifested itself in the years after the Revolution is especially fascinating.

The sex abuse crisis has exposed a real sickness in the church, and some combination of structural, cultural and spiritual renewal will be needed. 

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: The state of evangelical churches; Carl Anderson urges Knights to support Kavanaugh; Bishop Finn gets a pass in Missouri.

Distinctly Catholic: Fixated on money, the American church has become dull to the Gospel for the simple reason that it is good news for the poor and we are no longer poor.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Catholic reformers of questionable credentials; the Supreme Court and the Kavanaugh hearings; racist robocalls in Florida.

Distinctly Catholic: One of the things that is so shocking about the latest opposition to Pope Francis is the degree to which bishops, who have taken an oath of fidelity to Peter and his successors, have trashed Francis.

Distinctly Catholic: Originalism as understood today in academic law reviews is not as originalist as it pretended to be in the 1970s and as it still purports to be in the public square.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Ayanna Pressley's victory; citizens denied passports; Viganò and red hats; no unionizing for angels or public sector workers.

Distinctly Catholic: Kevin Walsh chided me for not knowing what I was talking about when it came to originalism. I plead guilty, and examine two essays he commended for a more nuanced originalism.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Key players in the attack on Pope Francis; why Cardinal Müller was sacked as doctrinal prefect; a $29 billion tax windfall.

Distinctly Catholic: Let's admit it was a huge mistake for Pope Benedict XVI to get rid of the headache Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò was at the Vatican by making him America's headache, and let's thank Francis for preserving the dignity of the papacy.

Distinctly Catholic: Not since the battle over Americanism has there been a real fear that part of the U.S. Church could slip into schism. Regrettably, the bishops who came out in support of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò are all only too comfortable with the EWTN agenda.

Distinctly Catholic: Bella figura represented the ecclesial equivalent of the "decent respect for the opinions of mankind" of which the Declaration of Independence speaks. She also created rules of ecclesial engagement. These have died recently, victim to the cancer of power.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Perspectives on Viganò; a candidate's take on taking a knee in the NFL; benefits of a Trump endorsement; China in Africa.

Distinctly Catholic: Archbishop Charles Chaput appears on the conservative Hugh Hewitt show from time to time, and reading the transcripts is a penitential act. They show that he doesn't understand why people would be embarrassed to be identified with the Catholic Church.

Distinctly Catholic: Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano is a trafficker in conspiracy theories who mixes fact, fiction and venom to produce something explosive but also suspicious.

Distinctly Catholic: Why does George conclude that it is sex that is the "poison in the bloodstream of the Church" and not the sin of pride of the bishops who covered it up?