Analysis Archives

Statistical analysis seeks context for Pa. grand jury report

Dec 9, 2018

A new statistical analysis seeks to contextualize data about child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania, four months after a grand jury report detailed hundreds of abuse allegations in six of the state’s dioceses, spanning nearly eight decades.

By Catholic News Agency

France once again testing ground for politics in the West

Apr 25, 2017

When France returns to the polls on May 7 to elect a new president, they face a choice between two outsiders. One – Marine Le Pen – offers a protectionist, nativist response to the crisis of globalization. The other – Emmanuel Macron – seeks a new, deeper engagement with the European Union, making globalization work for France.

By Austen Ivereigh

Bishops counter Rouen attack with promise to build ‘civilization of love’

Jul 26, 2016

The peculiar horror of yesterday’s slaying of an elderly French priest by Islamist teenagers was designed to tempt Christians into responding with their own violence. But Pope Francis and the French bishops insisted on peace, love, and dialogue.

By Austen Ivereigh

Abuse scandal shows ‘Hour of Laity’ must include accountability

Jun 3, 2016

The scandal surrounding the founder of a powerful Catholic movement in Peru illustrates that “lay empowerment” in the Church without accountability is still a form of window-dressing.

By John L. Allen Jr.

In meeting with Jains, Pope Francis keeps on leading by addition

Jun 1, 2016

When Francis and a group of Jains met Wednesday morning, it was about friends getting together, but it was also what master strategists do – leading by addition, not subtraction.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Memo to the 2016 debates: Here’s your ISIS question

May 31, 2016

When Trump and Clinton square off, here’s a question: “Do you recognize the U.S. has a clear strategic interest in supporting Christians and other minority communities in the Middle East?”

By John L. Allen Jr.

Poland this summer won’t get the pope it wants, but the one it needs

May 29, 2016

World Youth Day is sort of the Olympic Games of the Catholic Church, by far the largest regular global gathering of its kind. Charmingly, despite its name, “World Youth Day” is actually a week-long event, and routinely draws crowds in the millions. The 2016 edition is set for Krakow, Poland,

By John L. Allen Jr.

The Church is hooked on Filipinos, so their drama is ours too

May 26, 2016

For Catholics pretty much anyplace in the early 21st century, here’s a fact of life we might as well name out loud: Catholicism, for all intents and purposes, is hooked on Filipinos.

By John L. Allen Jr.