Part sculpture, part landmark, it is unclear what purpose the structure plays in the public sphere.

Pete Holmes discovers a new meaning to Christ’s words “Go and do likewise,” not as a moralistic command, but as a call to an awakening, a conversion, the practice Catholic tradition calls the “imitation of Christ.”

Catherine Osborne has produced a significant study of changing tastes in the construction of American Catholic churches between 1925 and 1975.

The lunar landing was the seminal event of a decade that began with promise and ended with sorrow.

Kristen Arnett’s novel is about intimacy and wanting what is forbidden, about childhood and family, about absent parents and absent lovers, and about the secondhand self-destruction that can be wrought by ignoring cries of the heart.

Today’s public theologians can be found working alongside the most vulnerable members of society, contributing their deep understanding of Scripture, theology, history, ethics, liturgy and ministry in the real lives of communities.

“Throughout the history of the Society, the Jesuits have been key players in astronomy,” said Robert Macke, S.J., a specialist in meteorites who works at the Vatican Observatory in Rome. Jesuit contributions to astronomy are significant enough that 34 craters on the moon and several asteroids are named after them.

We know of at least 4,000 planets outside our solar system, writes the astronomer Samantha Lawler, but we will not be visiting any of them soon—nor do we know if any are inhabitable. Exploring space teaches us the fragility of Earth.

Even if the Supreme Court were willing, judicial oversight would not be a panacea for gerrymandering.

In an online survey, America asked members of its “U.S. Politics Catholic Discussion Group” on Facebook and other readers for their thoughts on the debates.

Although slavery as an institution no longer exists, forms of forced labor persist in the country.

As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit considers the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Catholic Health Association voiced its support for the act, declaring access to health care a basic human right.

The tumult in Catalonia continues. Many Catalans wonder what the future holds for their community. Among them is a rabble-rousing Benedictine nun, Sister Teresa Forcades, one of the most recognizable voices within Catalonia’s independence movement.

Vincent Lambert, who suffered serious brain damage more than 10 years ago, died after years of court battles.

“American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel” is about like-minded liberal Christians joining forces in a ruthlessly Republican landscape where people talk more religion than they practice.

What is the source of the tensions and conflicts we have in the church today? I believe the reason for the uneasiness is the pope’s emphasis on mission.

Science fiction writers continue to turn to religious characters, imagery and ideas to sort things out.

Opening the Vatican tombs of a princess and a duchess July 11 in a search for the remains of a young Italian woman missing for more than 30 years, the Vatican found no human remains at all.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network joined three other organizations in filing a lawsuit against the federal government over a memo that the groups say changes the rules retroactively for unaccompanied immigrant minors seeking asylum.

Catholic Community Services in the Tucson Diocese has reached a tentative agreement with Pima County to turn an unused juvenile detention facility into a temporary shelter for asylum-seekers.