Engaged Spirituality: Stories of Religious Resilience, Inspiration and Pursuing the Common Good
Edited by Ken Chitwood (Bloomsbury, 2026) Read More
This is my archive
Why The Pope Matters In A World Of Rivalries
“Da pope” is more than an interesting novelty. At a time when our country and world are as divided as Cubs and Sox fans, Pope Leo XIV has the potential to lead us away from our rivalries. Read More
Churches Come Together for Good Friday in Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach church community gathers for community-wide Stations of the Cross hosted by the newly formed Peninsula Faith Leaders. Read More
A Year of Crisis and Opportunity: 2024 Trends in Religion and Society
In CRCC’s annual trends post last year, we wrote about surviving, if not thriving. We write this year’s trends with a special place in our hearts for CRCC’s senior editor Nick Street, who took a significant role in compiling these trends each year, always balancing a sense of cynicism and optimism. Read More
After Thay: Plum Village Reckons With the Loss of Its Founder
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote more than one hundred books, and his teachings on mindfulness, engaged Buddhism, and interbeing (his word for interconnectedness) have been influential within and beyond Buddhism. His legacy can also be seen in the formal lunch—monastic and lay students together seeking to embody what he taught. Read More
Conflict and Congregations: How Churches Respond to Politics and the Pandemic
As the 2022 midterm elections approach, little can be predicted—except, perhaps, that they will further cement the deep divides in our country. Those divides often extend into religious congregations. Read More
Brother Chân Pháp Dung: Where the Search for Simplicity Leads
Pháp Dung (the name he was given upon ordination) is among a unique set of people—those whose spirituality has led them to eschew material consumption. As part of the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s global project on engaged spirituality, a team of journalists and researchers have interviewed 80 exemplary individuals committed to making the world a better place. For a significant number of these people, living simply is more than enough, it is a source of freedom. Read More
Teachers Turn to Mindfulness After a Stressful Pandemic Year
Between virtual classes, Salunga would turn away from the screen, breathing to decompress his eyes, mind and body, a mindfulness technique he first learned in a retreat he had attended while getting his teacher’s certification 20 years ago. Read More
Voices of Women and People of Color Must Be Part of Catholic Social Teaching Discussion
I have often heard John Carr, formerly of the U.S. bishops' conference and now Georgetown University, say that Catholics do not have a natural political home in either party. The flip side is that they might be able to offer a third way, Carr and other scholars say in the article. Both the left and right can find something to like — and dislike — in Catholic social teaching. Read More
Mindfulness in a time of Dis-ease: Breathing through Cancer, COVID & Climate Change
2020 has been the year of the breath. The coronavirus pandemic stole the breath of more than 300,000 Americans, while the suffocation of one man under the knee of a police officer sparked protests across the country. Widespread wildfires choked the air across the West Coast and around the world. On an everyday level, it is hard to ignore your breath each time you choose to don a mask, or not. Read More
