James Keenan

Commentary: The problem didn't begin with Biden. Whatever words on Communion the bishops come up with in November will not address the deeper wound, the loss of moral authority they brought upon themselves.

Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty has signed onto a letter urging Congress to pass legislation to end the federal death penalty, and to oppose executions scheduled before Biden's inauguration.

Distinctly Catholic: 2020 taught us we never know what unforeseen events will enlighten or becloud all else. We can discern major themes that will shape 2021, but just before the year's end, a new one emerges.

Commentary: Pope John Paul II's actions in the McCarrick report warrant condemnation today. Yet the report establishes that what he did was not extraordinary at the time; it was expected within the culture.

It is noteworthy that a lay organization can fill a hotel ballroom in Washington with a mix of people, including members of the hierarchy, for frank dialogue about the church and the abuse crisis.

Your thoughts: Two recent NCR Connections columns by executive editor Tom Roberts highlighted thoughts on the culture of clericalism by a Jesuit priest and a former Dominican priest.

NCR Connections: Jesuit Fr. James Keenan really wants to turn the whole deal on its head. "Hierarchicalism," he writes, "and its lack of accountability and ability to act with impunity will be harder to dismantle than clericalism and in fact will guarantee the survival of clericalism, for the former is the father and promoter of the second." He proposes an alternative "culture of vulnerability as a path to a "servant priesthood" and a "servant episcopacy."

Grace at the Margins: It's rare that a paper at an academic conference is received like a hit song at a rock concert. But such was the case at the Catholic Theological Society of America's 74th annual convention.