“More than half a century ago, men of science and men of faith gathered together to unlock the mysteries of female fertility. The answer: urine from the brides of Christ. And lo, those nuns gaveth.”
Catholic Church
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring notable stories by Antonia Cundy, Adrian Walker, Evan Allen, Elizabeth Koh, Andrew Ryan, Kristin Nelson, Brendan McCarthy, Frederick Kaufman, Lygia Navarro, and Judith Hannah Weiss.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Judgment of São Miguel
“But so many had turned away from his church that soon, demographers say, if not already, Brazil would for the first time no longer be majority-Catholic.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Taken Under Fascism, Spain’s ‘Stolen Babies’ Are Learning the Truth
“Thousands of Spanish children were taken from hospitals and sold to wealthy Catholic families. This is Ana Belén Pintado’s story.”
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, profile, Quote Posts, Quotes, Technology
A Young Cartographer’s Mission to Map the Catholic Church — and Fight Climate Change
“The role of the cartographer isn’t just data analytics,” says Molly Burhans, an activist mapping the land assets of the Catholic Church. “It’s also storytelling.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How a Young Activist Is Helping Pope Francis Battle Climate Change
“Molly Burhans wants the Catholic Church to put its assets—which include farms, forests, oil wells, and millions of acres of land—to better use. But, first, she has to map them.”
Posted inCrime, Culture, Quote Posts, Quotes
Murder in the Name of Drug Prevention
Filipinos are reckoning with their presidents’ violent approach to the drug trade.
Posted inCulture, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
To Protect Children from Sexual Abuse, the Catholic Church Must Eliminate the Clergy
One ex-priest shows how the clergy lies at the root of the Catholic Church’s problems.
Posted inCurrent Events, Highlight, Quotes
How Do You Shepherd If You’ve Never Had a Sheep?
“You couldn’t have a particular friendship with a man, because you might end up being homosexual. And you couldn’t have a friendship with a woman, because you might end up falling in love.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
We Saw Nuns Kill Children: The Ghosts of St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage
A wide-ranging piece of investigative journalism — the result of four years of research — on widespread abuse and in some cases, the killing of children at St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage in Vermont and other orphanages, in the 20th century.