Pope Francis of Carhartt
The media has labored to stress the humility of the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church. But somehow they missed his taste for Burt Reynolds movies, and other signs of holy humbleness.
religion
A collection of 57 issues
Papal Haze
Even as the Roman Catholic world prepares to welcome its 267th leader, the papacy remains mysterious and misunderstood. It's time to explore the world of popes!
Everyone Popes
Former Pope Benedict XVI has left the Vatican, returning to his former life. But even with the church's retirement package, how can private citizenship compare? A poem for Mr. Ratzinger.
Heaven Can Wait
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, advice for a lovelorn atheist who wants to know if a Christian could love him back.
Getting by on Allenby Street
For the middle-class residents of Tel Aviv, housing is either too expensive or difficult to find. On one city street, apartments are plentiful but—for more than one reason—not the kind you’d like to see.
Burn All the Liars
An unfinished autobiography and a 1980s biopic turned Frances Farmer, one of the great golden-era stars, into a lobotomized zombie. The main trouble: Frances Farmer wasn’t lobotomized. An investigation to set one of Hollywood’s most convoluted stories straight.
Address Unknown
In New York’s St. John the Divine Cathedral, a letter to a dead man, tucked under a plaque near his ashes, offers the first and only clue in a mystery about faith.
Marriage, Israeli Style
For Israelis of a certain age, marriage beckons. But in this cradle of so many religions, a tangle of ancient rules and modern laws makes things surprisingly complicated.
Inferno
As Texas burns, prayers are answered in the form of a feathered-haired governor. It’s a good thing he already knows how to beat down the devil.
Beirut, Texas
Political candidates who want to burn down Washington, DC, perhaps should see what a country looks like with no effective government.