Johnj Conley News Today

John J. Conley, S.J., is a Jesuit of the Maryland Province and a regular columnist for America. He is the current Francis J. Knott Chair of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola University, Maryland.

(AP images/CNS photo) The year began with Pope Francis slapping the hand of a pilgrim who grabbed him and would not let go as he tried to walk through St. Peter’s Square on New Year’s Eve. The human reaction of the pope is what passed as viral news, worthy of spirited debate, in early January. We had no idea what we were in for. Here at America, as at pretty much every news outlet in the United States, the year 2020 was dominated by three huge, intersecting stories, each of them with reper...