Catholic Church Archives - Public Seminar

Higher Ed

“God Is Dead”

And other memories of coming of age gay and Catholic in the sixties

October 12, 2022 • by John D’Emilio

I was flabbergasted. The idea that someone not only didn’t believe in God but also had grown up without God was something I couldn’t take in. All I could think was, “Wow. Without God, he’d never have to worry about whether he was going to hell, whether he’d make it ...

Activism

A Halloween Uprising and Poland’s General Strike Over Abortion

A new generation of women rises up against an unholy – and sexist – alliance of church and state

November 6, 2020 • by Elzbieta Matynia

Poland’s Halloween has always been a solemn national holiday with pagan roots called All Souls Day, known long ago as Forefathers’ Eve, and immediately followed on November 1 by All Saints Day. Normally, it’s a contemplative period of reconnecting with those who are not with us anymore, whether grandparents, veterans, or ...

A Halloween Uprising and Poland’s General Strike Over Abortion

Europe & Central Asia

How Poland Ruined its 1989

A liberal democratic dream too good to be true

October 24, 2019 • by Irena Grudzińska-Gross

The first half of 1989 in Poland was amazing -- delivering early and decisive blows to the Berlin wall, which fell later that year. From February to April 4th, the representatives of the Polish government negotiated with the Solidarity oppositional groups; in June, in partially free elections, the communist government ...

Feature

Statues for Predators

Poland struggles with the entanglements of the Catholic Church and Solidarity

March 13, 2019 • by Maria Bucur

Less than two years ago, the Charlottesville alt-right march and various other white nationalist rallies threw into renewed spotlight the racist aspects of the politics of commemoration in the United States. Communities across the country, from Baltimore to New Orleans, began to assess more openly and more critically the value ...

Feature

The Abortion Debate in Argentina

Or how men, priests, and the ignorant subjugate women

September 17, 2018 • by Emmanuel Guerisoli

In the very early hours of August 9, the Argentinean Senate missed a historic opportunity to become the first Catholic-majoritarian country in the global south to legalize voluntary abortion. Instead, the upper chamber’s total rejection of abortion revealed three dynamics that prevent women from acquiring full citizenship rights, and which ...

Feature

John McCain, The Catholic Church, and The Latest Panic Over Loneliness

Past Present Bonus Episode 144

September 4, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the life and legacy of Senator John McCain, the recent scandals in the Catholic Church, and the latest panic over loneliness. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Senator John McCain, a leading light of the Republican Party, died last ...