Michael Sean Winters

President Donald Trump's ignorance of history keeps him from acknowledging the high cost that was paid in the last century because "America First" prejudices kept our nation from defending Western civilization in Europe until it was almost too late. 

Michael Sean Winters reviews Catholic Fundamentalism in America, which highlights the degree to which various groups of arch-Catholics have lost sight of foundational Catholic ecclesiology and practice.

Fundamentalism is a quintessentially American form of religious expression, but one we associate almost exclusively with Protestantism. In a groundbreaking new book, Jesuit Fr. Mark Massa looks at the Catholic side.

Memorial Day is no longer really about memory, at least not for most of us. God willing, there will be no more wars, but as long as there are, the whole nation should fight them. Class distinctions should not matter.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem incorrectly defined "habeas corpus," a cornerstone of jurisprudence in Western civilization.

This "big beautiful bill" is big, but it isn't beautiful. It is unfair, cutting programs that help struggling families, to provide tax cuts to rich people who don't even need it.

Pope Leo XIV is the first member of the Augustinian order to be elected pope. How the Augustinian influence shapes his pontificate will be a major consideration for us all. We saw it in Leo's sermon at his inaugural Mass May 18.

Of course, we are all eager to learn more about the new pope, but this effort to attach significance to things that may be ephemeral or accidental is a fool's errand.

We now know why Pope Leo XIV chose the name he did. 

Augustinian Cardinal Robert Prevost was the least American among the American cardinals, having spent most of his ministry in Peru and Rome. The cardinals clearly wanted someone committed to Pope Francis' reform agenda and someone with a demonstrated record for effective management.

For the Catholic, liberation comes through communion, writes Michael Sean Winters. The pope is the guarantor of that communion, a communion that stretches across all national boundaries and across the centuries, too.

Everything outside the Sistine Chapel is, now, pure conjecture and everything inside is up to the cardinals and the Holy Spirit, writes NCR's Michael Sean Winters.  

We may be stuck with labels drawn from the political world. But the cardinals who enter the conclave tomorrow need to select a new pope who recognizes how those labels distort, writes Michael Sean Winters.

For those tuning in late, there will be a conclave starting Wednesday, May 7, to elect the new pope. My columns have focused on some of the deeper issues, and insights drawn from history, to make sense of this secretive and momentous event.

As different as a papal election is from every other kind of election in the modern world, each conclave nonetheless has an internal dynamic that is revealed in the voting, writes columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The cardinals will elect a person next week, not a platform. So, while they are discussing issues facing the church and the world, they are also assessing each other's personalities and character.

The next pope must, like Pope Francis, recognize the great sin of indifference in our time, and relentlessly give voice to those who do not matter in the eyes of high finance or power politics.

More than anything, the church needs a pastor like Pope Francis who is committed to the synodal process to keep the balance between renewal and the wellsprings of tradition, says NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The axiom "he who enters the conclave a pope, leaves a cardinal" is as wrong as it is ubiquitous. TV commentators repeat it ad nauseam. A review of the last century of conclaves illustrates why it is wrong, and much else!

The cardinals will want to find a new pope committed to Francis' vision of a church. The real question is whether the majority will want someone who is charismatic like Francis, or someone who is more of a manager.