Donald Trump is out of the White House and Covid-19 isn’t any longer within the headlines every day, but there was plenty of recent drama in 2022. Can anyone say it has been a slow news yr when Pope Francis said, “World War III has been declared,” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February? Or when the Supreme Court overturned probably the most divisive opinions in its history?
America had plenty of news to cover this yr, but our most generally read article was our exclusive interview with Pope Francis, released on Nov. 28, during which the pope discussed religious and political polarization, racism, Vatican-China relations, and church teaching on the ordination of girls. Five representatives of America Media met the pope at Santa Marta, the Vatican guest house where he resides, and as Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell reported, he was “sharp and humorous,” saying, “The Catholic unites the nice and the not-so-good. There is just one people of God.”
Our second most generally read article got here out of left field: John Miller’s feature story on “How America Sold Out Little League Baseball,” as the prices of participation have made it a “mostly white country-club sport for upper-class families.” Mr. Miller reminds us that Pope Francis has said that sports must be available for “the youth who live at the perimeters of society,” and though Catholic and regional organizations still offer an alternate, for-profit “pay-to-play” Little League teams are taking on.
The yr in review, month by month
Here’s a rundown of a few of the hottest articles on America’s website over the past 12 months, measured by each the variety of readers and the time they spent reading each article.
December 2021—Essentially the most widely read America story within the last month of 2021 was by Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell, starting in a way that has change into familiar during this papacy: “On the flight back from Athens to Rome, Pope Francis surprised journalists…” This time, Francis was answering questions on the resignation of the archbishop of Paris over accusations of sexual misconduct, saying “I accepted his resignation, not on the altar of truth but on the altar of hypocrisy.”
Also that month, America chief correspondent Kevin Clarke admitted, “I just don’t get the controversy over the standard Latin Mass”; Colleen Dulle, co-host of America’s “Contained in the Vatican” podcast, gave readers “An inside have a look at Dorothy Day’s contested canonization process”; and John W. Miller asked, “Is it time for Catholics to stop eating meat?”
January 2022—Speaking of meat, Jim McDermott, S.J., had a beef with the reboot of the classic British drama “All Creatures Great and Small,” calling it “lovely to look at—and deeply unfaithful” in its failure to acknowledge that “the meat that almost all of us happily eat has all the time come at the associated fee of the lives of creatures that we profess to like.”
A love for animals also figured into the furor over Pope Francis’ offhand remark lamenting when “dogs and cats take the place of kids” in modern families. Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis, hosts of America’s “Jesuitical” podcast, talked concerning the controversy, and the transcript of “What did Pope Francis actually say about having pets or kids?” clicked with readers—as did the column by then-America editor in chief Matt Malone, S.J., “Pope Francis was right about pets and children.”
Also in January, Father McDermott interviewed “Sister Jeannine Gramick on being censured by the Vatican, 50 years of ministry and her hopes for L.G.B.T. Catholics.” And we published one in every of our most generally shared editorials of the past few years, “Catholic leaders need to start out listening to those that have left religion behind.”
February 2022—Readers showed probably the most interest in Mr. O’Connell’s report on Pope Benedict asking for forgiveness in responding to a report on sexual abuse by clergy that occurred on his watch when he was the Archbishop of Munich. In other news from the Vatican, Pope Francis announced a major overhaul of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In america, Mr. Clarke reported on the political backlash to Catholic Charities and other faith-based organizations providing aid to migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border—the message from two nuns: “We don’t have any intention of stopping.”—and J.D. Long-García, America senior editor, reported on how the diocese of Monterey, Calif., is participating in the worldwide Synod on Synodality. And Ms. McKinless spoke with James Martin, S.J., about “Praying for peace in Ukraine—even when it feels useless.”
March 2022—Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated global news, and the historian Jane Sloan Peters explained how Our Lady of Fátima, a Marian apparition to child shepherds in Portugal in 1917, is relevant to Russian history and to the present conflict. (Hint: It has to do with prayers for the conversion of Communist Russia throughout the Cold War.)
The third month of the yr is noted within the offices of America for “March Madness,” and Sarah Vincent, an O’Hare fellow, made the case that “Saint Peter’s is that this yr’s Cinderella team” in the faculty basketball tournament (“but that’s not the one reason this tiny Jesuit school is inspiring”). And the theologian Bruce T. Morrill, S.J., offered a mirrored image for Ash Wednesday, specifically “Why so many Catholics need to get their ashes—even in the event that they rarely go to Mass.”
April 2022—In the ultimate days of Lent, readers were most taken by “The Easter Vigil is the longest liturgy of the yr. And it’s so, so value your time,” by Kerry Weber, an America executive editor. (“It’s a Mass that bears only a basic resemblance to typical Catholic weekend worship, but in breaking from that form it brings home the facility of the Resurrection anew.”)
Also, Father McDermott asked and answered, “Is Pope Francis prepping for doomsday within the church? I hope so.” Referring to the continued decline within the ordination of priests, Father McDermott asked, “What if Francis has spent the last nine years constructing an ark?”—that’s, a “non-clerical basis for authority that the church of the longer term goes to want to survive”? And America’s national correspondent, Michael O’Loughlin, reported on controversial remarks by Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican U.S. Representative from Georgia, during which she called U.S. bishops “satanic” and accused them of “destroying our nation” through their support of migrants.
May 2022—As noted above, Little League baseball was the subject of our most-viewed story in May. That was followed by our article on Pope Francis’ support for L.G.B.T. parish ministry, via a letter to Father Martin during which he said, “God doesn’t disown any of his children.” This same month, Father Martin announced the launch of Outreach, a web site that gives resources for L.G.B.T. Catholics.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco made news in May by announcing that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can be barred from Communion in her home diocese due to her support for abortion. The host of America’s “Gloria Purvis Podcast” interviewed Archbishop Cordileone, and the transcript of their discussion (during which he said, “the scandal here is that somebody who’s strongly advocating for something as evil as abortion and taking Communion creates confusion amongst people”) generated dozens of reader comments.
June 2022—Pope Francis’ blunt characterization of Russia’s attack against Ukraine—“World War III has been declared,” he said in an interview with the editors of European Jesuit publications—got probably the most attention from our readers. “Tragic scenarios are being reenacted,” the pope said, “and over again reciprocal extortionate demands made by a couple of potentates are stifling the voice of a humanity that cries out for peace.”
In one in every of the largest stories of the yr, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24 in a 6-to-3 decision, returning the problem of abortion restrictions to the states. Americahas covered the subject from a wide range of perspectives, but amongst probably the most widely read reactions were “I support overturning Roe. But pro-lifers need to know why so many Americans fear this decision,” first written in May (when there was a leak of the Supreme Court decision) by Sam Sawyer, S.J., now the editor in chief of America; and “We’d like to discuss ‘lifetime of the mother’ exceptions in abortion law,” by Jacqui Oesterblad.
July 2022—Have you ever created a portrait of yourself (or your cat) with a synthetic intelligence art generator yet? This summer, Stephen McNulty, an America editorial intern, took on a tougher task: “I asked an AI art generator to attract Catholicism in 20 other ways. Here’s what I learned.” The outcomes captured the imagination of our readers and impressed our author with their variety: “Some figures employ the styles and motifs of eastern Catholicisms, others depict the Holy City Jerusalem. Some filters draw us towards what appears to be the Eucharist, while others point to the Cross shining in the brilliant light of Heaven.”
Also in July, Father McDermott made a plea: “I’m a Catholic priest. But please don’t call me Father.” He explained, “we are going to all be so much higher off when fewer distinctions are made between us clergy and everybody else.” And Ricardo da Silva, S.J., an associate editor at America, used the occasion of Pope Francis’ trip to Canada (during which the pope apologized for the church’s past abuses of Indigenous peoples) to clarify the “doctrine of discovery,” which was developed through papal statements within the fifteenth century to justify colonization and even the enslavement of non-Christians.
August 2022—Valerie Schultz, a contract author and frequent contributor to America, struck a nerve with readers through her Faith in Focus essay “The key to aging—physically and spiritually—with grace.” Contemplating hip surgery, she concluded, “We will’t stop time, but we will befriend it, be kind to it, slightly than race against it…. We could have to slow our pace a bit on our walk to God’s finish line.”
Also that month: America’s newest class of O’Hare fellows profiled the 16 recent cardinals created by Pope Francis who’re eligible to vote in a papal conclave. And Father McDermott explained the “Lessons for evangelization from Britney Spears’s journey with the Catholic Church.” (“Pundits appeared to spend a variety of energy debating whether or not she had officially converted, but to my mind, they missed the purpose entirely. She had been to Mass and was glad enough concerning the experience to say it and kid around a bit.”)
September 2022—Pope John Paul I used to be beatified on Sept. 4, and plenty of readers desired to know more concerning the man who served because the leader of the Catholic Church for just 33 days in 1978. James T. Keane, a senior editor for America, provided a primer to the lifetime of the “smiling pope.”
As a recent school yr began, Mr. O’Loughlin reported on several topics of interest to readers, including the controversy over who will run the Newman Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus and the strain between students and older parishioners there; and “How Catholic schools are facing questions of gender identity.” Latest policies in primary and secondary schools “seek to make clear what is suitable with regards to gender identity and expression.”
October 2022—Who wouldn’t need to know “The ultimate secret of the Vatican’s Jesuit saint maker”? Kenneth L. Woodward, of the Lumen Christi Institute, recounted the lifetime of Kurt Peter Gumpel, S.J., who died this yr just shy of his 99th birthday. Father Gumpel “shepherded greater than 150 candidates through the sometimes byzantine process by which the Roman Catholic Church investigates, studies and judges those found worthy (or unworthy) of veneration as saints”—and he kept his circle of relatives history a secret from almost everyone who knew him.
In additional education news, Mr. Clarke reported on recent evidence that Catholic schools outperformed public and charter schools in the primary assessment of student achievement following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Finally, America Media premiered its groundbreaking feature documentary “People of God: How Catholic Parish Life is Changing in america,” which looks at parish life in 4 different parts of america at a time when churches are closing, there’s a shortage of priests and plenty of younger Catholics are leaving the religion.
November 2022—America’s exclusive interview with Pope Francis attracted probably the most readers for the month (and the yr), but No. 2 within the month before Christmas was Father McDermott’s story on the origin of the “Carol of the Bells”—and the way it pertains to the reason for independence for Ukraine. The story can be heard on the America podcast “Hark!”, which explores the fascinating stories behind our favourite Christmas songs.
Finally, November brought one other national election, and America analyzed the leads to several articles; in the most well-liked, Patrick T. Brown of the Ethics and Public Policy Center warned, “After its midterm failures, the pro-life movement must change its tactics—or it is going to die.”