On homosexuality, many Christians get the Bible wrong

 

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On homosexuality, many Christians get the Bible wrong

Posted by Bwcarchives on Feb 25, 2013

On homosexuality, many Christians get the Bible wrong

By Adam Hamilton

Homosexuality is one of the most divisive issues within churches and across our country today. The issue has become, for some, a litmus test on fidelity to God and the scriptures. The divide is not just between the progressives and conservatives. It is also a generational divide, with younger Christians generally seeing this issue differently than older Christians.

Posted inPodcasts

Cardinal Czerny on the spirituality of social justice: ‘Keep it simple and keep it close’

by Maggi Van Dorn November 2, 202

“What makes situations depressing is the feeling of helplessness in front of them,” Cardinal Michael Czerny said about living out the church’s social teachings on this week’s episode of “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.” We can all relate to this predicament, that is, reading the news, learning of a great tragedy or real injustice—the kind of social problems that have roots like tentacles—and feeling completely helpless. It can be extremely tempting to bury our heads in the sand or, as I prefer, a pillow. And if we are constantly inundated with these stories, as is so often the case when scrolling social media, the problems become ever more numerous, intractable and depressing. So instead of inspiring moral valor or action, we can become either numb to or paralyzed by this distressing cavalcade of social and environmental problems.  

Catholic voters and the “blue tsunami”

 

Split Down the Middle Again

Catholic voters and the “blue tsunami”

Heidi Schlumpf

November 6, 2026

Election 2026

Please email comments to letters@commonwealmagazine.org.

Voters cast their ballots on Election Day at William C. Goudy Technology Academy in Chicago November 3, 2026 (OSV News photo/Octavio Jones, Reuters).

Catholic voters contributed to the blue wave in the midterm elections, but their shift toward the Democratic Party could hardly be called a tsunami. Exit polls indicated that Catholic voters overall were evenly split, with 50 percent voting Democratic and 49 percent opting for Republican candidates. This return to a divided Catholic electorate seems more like a course correction after Catholics, especially white Catholics, moved significantly toward Donald Trump in 2024. Latino voters also seemed to have gotten buyer’s remorse after shifting toward the GOP in 2024, and their move back toward the Democratic Party in the midterms was more dramatic. But observers caution that most Latino voters, especially young ones, still feel politically homeless. Still, the election results both reflect and possibly may predict some changes in the Church’s priorities and Americans’ perception of it. They also may signal an opening for the Democratic Party to make more overtures to Catholic voters in the future.

 

Culture

For post-election season, 2 new Catholic books tackle polarization

Jeannine M. Pitas   ncr

Weeks after surgery, Leo begins longest trip yet, calls for accessible healthcare

 

Vatican News

Weeks after surgery, Leo begins longest trip yet, calls for accessible healthcare

Vatican

• ncr

  Justin McLellan

Posted inDispatches

What a Democratic Congress can (and can’t) do on immigration

by Will Martino November 5, 2026

The sun rises behind the U.S. Capitol in Washington Nov. 4, 2026, the morning after the U.S. midterm elections. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, which many analysts saw as a decisive rebuke of Republican governance in Washington. (OSV News photo/Eric Lee, Reuters)

Few issues strike an American nerve like immigration. Fewer galvanize the U.S. bishops to such a fervent and morally resolute response.

Tuesday’s blue wave—flipping Senate seats in Republican strongholds like Texas, Iowa and South Carolina—returned the Senate and the House of Representatives to the Democrats, who take control in January.

 

Vienna archbishop backs women’s leadership and end to mandatory celibacy

Natalie K. Watson

05 November 2026, The Tablet

Archbishop Josef Grünwidl succeeded Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in the Archdiocese of Vienna in January.

APA / Alamy

Archbishop Josef Grünwidl said many women are already involved not just in pastoral ministry, education and schools but also in leadership: ‘I myself have appointed women to the bishop’s council – one of the most important committees.’

The Archbishop of Vienna said the office of general secretary of the Austrian bishops’ conference should be open to baptised laypeople.

Under current statutes the office – currently vacant – must be held by a priest or bishop, but Archbishop Josef Grünwidl said he hoped to see this requirement lifted soon.

“We will change this, but it won’t happen so fast, as this change of statutes has to be approved by Rome,” he told ORF radio’s Ö1Mittagsjounal programme last week.

What should the Democrats do now?

 

NCR Voices

Opinion

What should the Democrats do now?

Michael Sean Winters   ncr