Audrey Clare Farley

"Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World"
Miriam Ticktin
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

These Watery Works Offer Sharks, Thrills and Magic

My first piece for the @nytimes.com Book Review considers two middle grade novels which are distinct in scope and motivation but aligned in their depictions of rites of passage achieved through the recognition of adult solipsism and corruption.

Here’s a gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/b...

Man accused of murdering priest is ‘Trump fan who wants to make church great again’ Gary Hermesch, charged with first degree murder over the fatal shooting of Father Arul Sarasala, reportedly wrote to his local paper in praise of the president

Reminder that a MAGA supporter who wanted to “make the Church great again” shot and killed a priest back in April and people just seem to have forgotten about it.

“Not *those* lives.”

“Many Americans know someone who is trans or who has a transgender loved one and wants them to be treated with kindness.” Please walk though my son’s middle school and listen to the slurs they hurl at their trans peers.

Contributor: In an era that celebrates cruelty, embrace subversive kindness Americans were once revolted by the aesthetics of fascism, but many now appear to be entertained.

"Pope Francis put it poetically when he wrote that we must resist 'the temptation to build a culture of walls'...for those 'who raise walls will end up as slaves within the very walls they have built.'" www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Joe Biden Is the Least of Democrats’ Problems Some commentators say the former president’s age and acuity will be a litmus test for 2028 candidates. They are embarrassingly wrong.

I wrote about 2028 litmus tests

newrepublic.com/post/195644/...

The challenges facing the first-ever American pope The world's 1.4 billion Catholics have a new pope, Leo XIV. But the church he now leads is far from unified. What does the global Catholic church want from a new pope -- and can he deliver it?

Here's the link to my discussion from "On Point" at @npr.org today about the Global Catholic church with a side bar on how JD Vance knows evangelical theology, but not Catholic theology.
www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...

And yet, it's a poor way to defend democracy when we insist somebody should've saved the voters from themselves.

The Grand Spectacle of Pope Week Robert Francis Prevost’s election to the papacy has captivated audiences at the Vatican and online alike. How did the Pope become a pop-cultural symbol?

"What many of us want is a sense of leadership that is actually moral at the base. That's why Pope Francis had so many admirers who were not Catholic, and that's why it was so moving...so crazily radical...to hear Pope Leo begin with...'peace be with all of you.'"
www.newyorker.com/podcast/crit...

Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine, a Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages in Sunday appeal Pope Leo XIV has called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with the release of hostages and delivery of humanitarian aid in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff.

BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine, a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza in his first Sunday noon appeal.

In retrospect, it really seems like this dynamic did, in fact, matter.

Totally get those who argued conclaves are more complicated than simple math (and Leo’s election, a shocker, proves as much), but kinda seems like this was a major factor after all. religionnews.com/2025/04/21/t...

What a joy to speak about Pope Leo XIV on @cnn.com's The Lead with @jaketapper.bsky.social this evening! Jake surprised me by adding a wonderful plug for my book Father Ed: The Story of Bill W.'s Spiritual Sponsor. See the clip on my Dawn Patrol blog: dawneden.blogspot.com/2025/05/i-sp...

It goes both ways!

Pope Francis, groundbreaking Jesuit pontiff, dies aged 88 Death of 267th head of Catholic church triggers period of global mourning and Vatican conclave of cardinals to elect successor

In March 2013, I was at the gym doing squats when my friend Susan (a Muslim) texted me to tell me the new pope was a Jesuit. I told her she must mean Jesuit-educated. She said I was the incorrect one.

How wrong I was, and what an incredible pope he was.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Praise God for the life & ministry of Francis.

When he was announced in 2013 then-Abp Wilton Gregory, giving analysis on ABC, wept at hearing "Bergoglio." The anchor said, you seem to know something we don't.

Abp Gregory said, "You don't know what you just got."

We do now. Rest, Holy Father.

I have chosen a day within the coming week to skip a meal so I can fast and pray for the safe return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to his wife, their 5-year-old child, & his two stepchildren. Here is a link to a Google Form I have created to help you do the same: forms.gle/MwUkUWJGfDeo... (1 of 3)

Guest column | Words aren’t enough to describe grief, but they can still be a refuge For all its agonies and loneliness, grief continually asserts itself as a creative force.

My latest piece for @washingtonpost.com's Book World is an essay on grief literature, drawing significantly on Lauren Markham's Immemorial (a beautiful book), with some forays into Roland Barthes, and a bit about a tree that I think might remember my late mother.

Here's a gift link: wapo.st/4cqRvrD

The Catholics Who Have to Worship Somewhere Else How the Latin Mass split the Church

The great tragedy of my life was to have been catechized by twenty-somethings (charismatics) so hostile to Vatican II, so ignorant about "tradition," and so sure of their persecution. I feel sorry for the children. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Cheap eggs, the motherfreaking price of "cheap eggs"...

Oh? 👀

'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts The Trump administration cut a clause from federal contracting rules that had been on the books since the 1960s: Companies are no longer explicitly prohibited from having segregated facilities.

A few weeks ago, I argued in the Post that the Trump administration was ushering in a new era of re-segregation.

Now, here we are.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

The trads tried to fast-track him to his death, but this bad boy still hangs in churches and schools across the world.

Review: The future of Catholic theology departments in colleges and universities Massimo Faggioli's new book asks the question: "What is [theology’s] intrinsic value if it is not rooted somehow to the ongoing development of the life of the church as a community of disciples attemp...

thanks ⁦‪@americamag‬⁩ for this nice review of my book on theology and universities (Orbis Books, November 2024)
“The future of Catholic theology departments in colleges and universities”
www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture...

While rural people only make up about 20% of the overall US population, they make up about 44% of the military.

I wish my people would look around and see how much disdain the Republicans show the military and veterans. They lie to you. They hate you. Wake up, friends.

“How important it is to dream together….By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there.” #FratelliTutti

I will speak on March 19 at Fairfield University
"Catholics and Antisemitism: Reading Nostra Aetate in 2025"

Planes are crashing because Trump and Musk wanted to cut their own taxes even more.

Say it over and over and over again until it sinks into people's brains and they correctly associate every crash with two billionaires who never fly commercial.

Defend Disability Rights - Protect Section 504 Rehabilitation Act Text SIGN POELII to 50409 to send this to your officials.

Mom of a kid with an IEP and high school teacher for 504 plan supports. I have a resist bot to contact your governors and state legislators. Please sign and share. #dosomething #resist #CripTheVote resist.bot/petitions/PO...