A Generous Life and Death

 

 

 

Ripening: Aging with Grace

A Generous Life and Death 

Friday, November 6, 2026

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Drawing on the wisdom of Henri Nouwen, Father Ron Rolheiser explores the opportunity to give one’s life, and even one’s death, away for the sake of others:  

In one of his last books, Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring, Henri Nouwen says that at a certain point in our lives, the question is no longer “What can I still do so that my life makes a contribution?” Rather, it becomes “How can I live now so that my death will be an optimal blessing to my family, the church, and the world?” and the central question should not be “How much time still remains?” but rather “How can I prepare now so that my dying will be a new way for me to leave a warm, nurturing, and blessing spirit behind for those who have loved me and whom I have loved?” [1] 

Posted inVatican Dispatch

Pope Leo calls for universal health care ‘in every society’ in first address in Uruguay

by Gerard O’Connell November 6, 2026

Pope Leo XIV speaks during a welcome ceremony with Uruguay's President Yamandu Orsi at Independence Square in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 6, 2026. Credit: OSV News photo/Martin Varela Umpierrez, Reuters

Soon after arriving in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, on the afternoon of Nov. 6, Pope Leo XIV issued a clarion call for universal health care not only in this small Latin American republic but also “in every society.”

From a platform erected in Independence Square, the city’s main square, the pope addressed an audience that included Uruguay’s civil and religious authorities, members of the business world, representatives of its civil society and the diplomatic corps.

Recalling his own recent cancer diagnosis and hospitalization in Rome that put his visit at risk (though on the plane he said he never doubted that the trip would go ahead), Leo drew attention to the fact that “sickness, disability, physical pain, loss of autonomy, poverty, unemployment or social exclusion can make it especially necessary that others offer help.”

Posted inVatican Dispatch

Pope Leo meets with President Milei, urges dialogue, on his first day in Argentina

by Gerard O’Connell November 8, 2026

Pope Leo XIV speaks with Argentine President Javier Milei as the pontiff addresses civil authorities and diplomats at Palacio Libertad, Centro Cultural Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 8, 2026, during his Nov. 6-17 apostolic journey to Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. Credit: OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters

Pope Leo got off to a great start on his arrival in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8. Tens of thousands of Argentinians turned out to welcome and cheer him, but the high point of the welcome came when he delivered a powerful speech at the Palacio di Libertad, in which he addressed head on critical socio-economic and political issues in this highly polarized majority Catholic country of 46 million people.

Does the election of Abdul El-Sayed mark a break with the politics of distraction?

‘None of This Matters’

Does the election of Abdul El-Sayed mark a break with the politics of distraction?

Alexander Stern

November 7, 2026

Politics

Election 2026

Donald Trump

Please email comments to letters@commonwealmagazine.org.

Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed at an election-night rally in Detroit, November 4, 2026 (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)

When someone does something inconceivably wrong and destructive—like, say, leading Theranos or endorsing Republican Mike Rogers for Senate in Michigan—it’s hard not to resort to armchair psychology. In Nathan Fielder’s new documentary sensation You Can See Everything, there is a suggestion that because Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, seems not to understand Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine, she might not really understand how badly she was lying for years about her fraudulent company (it’s as much of a stretch as it sounds). Similarly, when Haley Stevens abruptly switched her endorsement from now senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed to Rogers, bafflement led to a lot of breathless speculation. Was she in thrall to her fiancé? Did El-Sayed hurt her feelings by disinviting her from a campaign event? Did Jimmy Fallon cause offense with a sketch about her and her awkward fiancé’s appearance on TMZ? Does she really believe El-Sayed is an antisemite?

What's the matter with Catholic voters?

 

Joe Ferullo

What's the matter with Catholic voters?

Guest Voices   ncr

In a blue tsunami that saw dramatic shifts among nearly every major voting category, one group decided to merely dip its toe in the water: Catholics, Joe Ferullo writes.

Podcast: 'Jesus doesn't win by violence, only by nonviolence,' says John Ashworth

 

November 9, 2026

Podcast: 'Jesus doesn't win by violence, only by nonviolence,' says John Ashworth

John Dear  ncr

 

An election and ‘humanating’

Trump’s midterm defeat raises an uncomfortable question: did Americans repudiate Trumpism or just high fuel prices, and what would it mean to truly “humanate,” to live by Christ’s selfless love?

William J Grimm

November 6, 2026

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Former US President Barack Obama (center) stands on stage with Democratic candidates Abdul El-Sayed (left) and Jocelyn Benson at a campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo: Facebook/Democrats)

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My mother was strongly committed to voting in every election. In sickness or in health, in rain or shine, Mom always went to the local polling place to vote.

She once mentioned that in all her years of voting, she had only voted for a candidate once, Harry Truman for president in 1948. In every other election, she cast a vote against one or more of the candidates, a vote that counted for another.

Posted inVatican Dispatch

Pope Leo calls for universal health care ‘in every society’ in first address in Uruguay

by Gerard O’Connell November 6, 2026

Pope Leo XIV speaks during a welcome ceremony with Uruguay's President Yamandu Orsi at Independence Square in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 6, 2026. Credit: OSV News photo/Martin Varela Umpierrez, Reuters

Soon after arriving in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, on the afternoon of Nov. 6, Pope Leo XIV issued a clarion call for universal health care not only in this small Latin American republic but also “in every society.”

From a platform erected in Independence Square, the city’s main square, the pope addressed an audience that included Uruguay’s civil and religious authorities, members of the business world, representatives of its civil society and the diplomatic corps.