Bill McCormick

2 weeks ago | firstthings.com | Bill McCormick

In choosing the name Leo XIV, our new Holy Father has set himself an urgent task: to diagnose the ills of our age and offer wisdom, as Pope Leo XIII did for his own time and beyond. As Russell Hittinger, the foremost contemporary scholar of Leo XIII, argues, Leo’s social teaching is in the service of “three necessary societies”: marriage and the family, polity, and the Church. They have necessary and enduring ends, and belonging to them is a key part of being human.

Oct 10, 2024 | americamagazine.org | Bill McCormick

Any argument about the political and ecclesial divisions of U.S. Catholics has a special burden: to make its account plausible, if not persuasive, across the divides it seeks to describe. This is no small thing. It is a sign of the virtue of Citizens Yet Strangers that it can draw reader and author alike into a conversation about the past, present and future of Catholicism in the United States.

Aug 23, 2024 | americamagazine.org | Bill McCormick

The appreciations for our second Catholic president show much nostalgia for the brand of Catholicism he represents, and despair or (at least concern) for what comes next. This is natural enough. Joseph R. Biden’s presidency represents an extraordinary moment for all U.S. Catholics and particularly for Catholics sympathetic to the Democrats, who have been stalwarts of the party since the New Deal.

Jul 12, 2024 | americamagazine.org | Reed Proctor |Bill McCormick

The release of the new live-action Netflix adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is an opportunity to ask what was so great about the original series, which aired from 2005 to 2008 on Nickelodeon. Our answer? Community. The first season of the Netflix show has many strengths. And with more seasons to come, it can still get better.

May 24, 2024 | americamagazine.org | Bill McCormick

Pope Francis greets Norah O'Donnell before an exclusive interview with the "CBS Evening News" anchor at the Vatican April 24, 2024, for an interview ahead of the Vatican's inaugural World Children's Day. (OSV News photo/courtesy CBS NEWS)It was the story that wasn’t. After initial excerpts from the Holy Father’s interview with “60 Minutes” circulated, commentators online objected that Pope Francis denigrated conservatives in a radical way. Except he didn’t.