Commonweal Confronts the Century: Liberal Convictions, Catholic Tradition

by Peter Steinfels (editor), Paul Baumann, Patrick Jordan

For 75 years, Commonweal magazine has sought to bring Catholic faith & modern life--especially the experience of American freedom & diversity--into fruitful contact. Now Commonweal Confronts the Century not only marks the anniversary of this journal, it also traces the ways in which the Catholic intellectual tradition has struggled with modernity, democratic institutions & American culture while remaining faithful to its heritage. Collected here are many of the most provocative essays it's published by a number of the century's most distinguished thinkers. Together they confront controversial issues of continuing relevance within both the Catholic Church & American society in general. In the pages of Commonweal, liberal Catholics have carried on a dialog about American culture & politics, the arts, religious pluralism, domestic upheaval, war & peace, liberal freedoms, & moral & sexual sensibilities. Here's a feast of argument, observation & good writing that will appeal to both the religiously informed & the intellectually curious. Highlights include: Dorothy Day on poverty; Graham Greene on his religious conversion; Thomas Merton on nuclear war; Jean Bethke Elshtain on gay marriage; Daniel Callahan on health care etc.

416 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1999

About the author

Peter F. Steinfels (born in 1941) is an American journalist and educator best known for his writings on religious topics.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, and a lifelong Roman Catholic, Steinfels earned his Ph.D from Columbia University and joined the staff of the journal Commonweal in 1964. He served as a visiting professor at Notre Dame in 1994-95 and then as visiting professor at Georgetown University from 1997 to 2001. He currently writes a biweekly column, called "Beliefs", for the religion section of the New York Times.

He is a professor at Fordham University and co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture. Steinfels has also written several books, including The Neoconservatives: The Men Who Are Changing America's Politics (ISBN 0-671-41384-8) and A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America (ISBN 0-684-83663-7).