Perspectives
Articles, essays, and reflections from progressive Catholic voices.
To contribute to Perspectives or submit an article, contact cta@cta-usa.org.
Don’t Cling to Hatred. Live with Compassion.
CTA member Tiffani Castro reflects on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and encourages Catholics to remember the teachings of Jesus. “I won’t have my faith and my values…be twisted, manipulated, and used for hatred and evil,” she writes.
Catholic Groups Behind Mifepristone Ban Are Part of Century-Long Tradition
For Religion Dispatches, CTA communications coordinator and Vision Council member Lauren Barbato looks into the Catholic physicians’ group behind the legal challenge to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
Clinic Escorting: The New Catholic Sidewalk Ministry?
CTA member Emily Harrison and communications coordinator Lauren Barbato reflect on their experiences with anti-abortion harassment as clinic escorts and the importance of challenging Catholic-led “sidewalk counseling” ministries.
U.S. Catholic: The Catholics Who Refuse to Leave
For queer, trans, and Indigenous Catholics, the church is still home. Teresa Coda interviews four millennial Catholics, including a former CTA board member, about why they choose to stay in the church in spite of its history of discrimination, violence, trauma, and sex negativity.
Sacred Necessity
Interim Executive Director Lauren Barbato reflects on the 2022 midterm elections, violence, and abortion. She writes that it’s time for Catholics to take sacred, necessary action.
Surveillance, Suspicion, Criminalization: The Dangers of Post-Roe America
Lauren Barbato: "We haven’t been ushered into an era free from abortion, but an era of increasing, unrestrained suspicion, surveillance, and criminalization of pregnant people. How far will we, as Catholics, allow the pro-life movement to continue down this road?"
As Catholic bishops punish dissent, Rosemary Radford Ruether’s life and legacy show the way forward
Lauren Barbato in Religion Dispatches: “At a time when Roe will likely fall, and Catholics have substantial representation in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches, the choice to remain silent carries almost as high stakes as the choice to dissent.”
America: I’m a 25-year-old Catholic who ran for public office. But don’t call me a politician.
On election night, I marked the conclusion of my months-long campaign for local office in the community where I grew up.