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Griffin Oleynick

@griffino.bsky.social
474 followers 261 following 242 posts

Associate Editor at Commonweal Magazine

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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Excellent on the savagery of executions under Trump from @dominicpreziosi.bsky.social www.commonwealmagazine.org/preziosi-dea...
commonwealmagazine.org
Gleeful Executioners
In the United States, our highest-profile leaders relish killing condemned prisoners. Only a truly unhealthy society could permit such brutality.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Great piece by Santiago Ramos on a figure I knew nothing about: www.commonwealmagazine.org/ramos-santia...
commonwealmagazine.org
An Efficacious Love
To understand the legend of Fr. Camilo Torres, imagine Fulton Sheen, Martin Luther King, and Jimmy Hoffa all rolled into one.
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Anthony Domestico @tonydomestico.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Another incredible lineup for the Durst Distinguished Lecture Series at SUNY Purchase: Harriet Clark, Kaveh Akbar, @victorlavalle.bsky.social, and Dan Chiasson. All events are free and open to the public. www.purchase.edu/academics/sc...
purchase.edu
Durst Distinguished Lectures
Durst Distinguished Lectures in the School of Humanities at Purchase College State University of New York
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @ocasio-cortez.house.gov · 12/09/2026
Shana Tovah to all those celebrating Rosh Hashanah in NY-14 and across the globe! We are wishing you and your loved ones a new year filled with peace, joy, and sweet blessings! 🍎🍯
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Here Below Books @herebelow.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Pausing the countdown to sweater season for a sneak peek at what's coming this spring from #HereBelowBooks 💫
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Bishop Barron, maybe just state the matter concretely: a man has died, and you, a priest and a bishop, might say something kind.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This is a great piece. Measured, thoughtful, and insightful. I read it with great consolation. A good reminder to put people, especially vulnerable people, ahead of our politics and ideologies. Christ said “feed my lambs,” not “bolster my claims.”
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I remember attending this, and being shocked about that accusation.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 11/07/2026
It’s easy to blame vaccine skepticism on ignorance or scientific misinformation. But what if we took time to listen to some Americans’ sincere fears about vaccines? A NEW EPISODE of the Commonweal podcast: www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/anti...
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Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 10/07/2026
"The tattoo should have been the end of it," writes @moiradonegan.bsky.social. "But if the pro-Platner pundit class appeared to find his misogyny refreshing, there’s not much evidence that actual voters did."
theguardian.com
Why was the pundit class so quick to defend Graham Platner? | Moira Donegan
To some of Platner’s most influential backers his swaggering, reckless and casually brutish masculinity was understood not as a liability, but as a virtue
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 29/06/2026
In ‘Agnus Dei,’ Massimiliano Camaiti follows the nuns tasked with raising lambs for a Vatican blessing. The documentary is subtly Christlike: humble, meek, and pure. A review by @griffino.bsky.social:
commonwealmagazine.org
Feed My Lambs
In 'Agnus Dei,' Massimiliano Camaiti follows the nuns tasked with raising lambs for a Vatican blessing. The documentary is subtly Christlike: humble, meek, and pure.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Go see it before it closes—last weekend!
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Excited to post the latest episode of the @commonwealmagazine.org podcast! Chicana artist Sandy Rodriguez speaks with @avilacosnahan.bsky.social and me about her shows in NYC and LA, and mapmaking as a form of resistance. www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/subv...
commonwealmagazine.org
Subversive Cartography
Some look at land and see property. Sandry Rodriguez imagines land rising up as a partner in resistance.
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Antonio Spadaro @antoniospadaro.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Pope Leo and the ‘Babel Syndrome. ‘Magnifica humanitas’ challenges Silicon Valley’s Promethean pretensions. My take in @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/spadaro-leo-...
commonwealmagazine.org
Pope Leo and the ‘Babel Syndrome’
What Leo XIII did for wages and the right of association, Leo XIV does for the human person in the era of the algorithm.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Humanism wasn’t a reaction “against” the Church or religiosity, it was as much a retrieval and revitalization of Christianity as it was a rehabilitation of human dignity. Also Father Petrarch annoys me but he had a point about interiority, and his humanism was no more secular than Augustine’s.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
I found this in negative reviews of the show, especially in the New Yorker—it’s like, if you’re only looking for yourself and your own “taste” in art, why look at all? And then why bother writing about it?
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Basically what’s up with the distinction between Catholicism and humanism in the late Middle Ages / early middle and high Renaissance? It’s like, has anyone read Ficino or Pico?
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Dominic Preziosi @dominicpreziosi.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Also keep in mind that the Trump administration has killed nearly 200 people in boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. My latest at @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-boat-s...
commonwealmagazine.org
‘Simply Murder’
Donald Trump's killing spree at sea is indefensible on legal, ethical, and moral grounds.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
I will meet you in Italy!
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
On a lighter note, go see Raphael at @metmuseum.org And then see if you agree with me that he's way better than Leonardo and Michelangelo (and also Donatello but no duh) www.commonwealmagazine.org/oleynick-rap...
commonwealmagazine.org
Down to Earth
Raphael's art places us at the precise point where humanity and divinity converge.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Good reminder of the war crimes still being committed by Trump, Hegseth, et al outside the middle east by @dominicpreziosi.bsky.social www.commonwealmagazine.org/trump-boat-s...
commonwealmagazine.org
‘Simply Murder’
Donald Trump's killing spree at sea is indefensible on legal, ethical, and moral grounds.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 23/05/2026
"Such flagrant self-dealing is an obvious and outrageous abuse of presidential power." The Editors on a presidential smash and grab:
commonwealmagazine.org
A Presidential Smash and Grab
Trump is not only the most corrupt president in American history—he is more corrupt than all other corrupt presidents by orders of magnitude.
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Here Below Books @herebelow.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Attention is precious. The Internet Will Die, and So Will You (by John West) #HereBelowBooks #CoverReveal
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I've kinda just stopped worrying about Vance's distortions. Many cry "Lord, Lord." By Vance's fruit you know him.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Vance hasn't really "remade" anything in US Catholicism. He's just a lost guy in search of a father. Also his flawed theology is critiqued in @ncronline.bsky.social not the Register which is a...different beast : ) nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com
How J.D. Vance Remade the Catholic Right
A ‘postliberal’ ideology has taken hold in the Church — and broken with Pope Leo.
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James Martin, SJ @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
I was so happy to be invited to speak on the Commonweal Magazine podcast with Griffin Oleynick about my new book, "Work in Progress," about "humble work" and about humor. It was such a fun conversation, thanks to his great questions. www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/humb...
commonwealmagazine.org
Humble Work
Many of us have jobs we don’t enjoy. Fr. James Martin explains how we can make our work meaningful anyway.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
I spoke with @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social about his youthful indiscretions : ) www.commonwealmagazine.org/podcast/humb...
commonwealmagazine.org
Humble Work
Many of us have jobs we don’t enjoy. Fr. James Martin explains how we can make our work meaningful anyway.
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Matthew Shadle @matthewshadle.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The funniest thing happened this morning. I was listening to this episode on the drive to work and was so absorbed, I suddenly realized I didn’t know where I was. I had to use my GPS to find my way to work. “Reclaiming attention,” indeed.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
I think this is correct.
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
The Catholic bishops have just made crystal clear the reason that the pope is right and JD Vance is wrong: A just war can't be a war of choice, which this one clearly is. This is a crucial theological, political, and moral argument, and the clarity here is needed and powerful
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
excited for giant brain convert JD Vance to defend cutting off 11 mil from Catholic Charities, an organization whose name every practicing Catholic hears once a week
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
I wonder how it feels to be so wrong on doctrine that multiple authorities within the Church clarify exactly how and where you’re wrong Not wonder in an “I’d like to experience that feeling” way though
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Amigo de Frodo @bpdflores.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Public officials may opine about theology, as is their right. The Successor of Peter teaches. This is his office. If what he teaches doesn’t sound like what we want to hear, we should admit the likelihood that the problem is in what we want to hear, and not in what he teaches.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Sometimes I think all JD Vance really needs is a hug. People at ease with themselves don’t speak or behave this way. It doesn’t excuse him, at all, but Vance seems to absorbed a great deal of Trump’s scorn and abuse and humiliation. Vance carries a lot of shame, and it shows.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Exactly right. I keep thinking of the time Vance upbraided Zelensky for his apparent lack of gratitude. For Vance, reality and truth are inadmissible. Thus figures like Zelensky or Pope Leo must be humiliated, emasculated, marginalized. Sic semper tyrannis—except Vance isn't even that.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
But then again very few of them read anyway so there you have it.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Very few of them have read or care about the Middle Ages. : (
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Massimo Faggioli @massimofaggioli.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I mean I'd rather an IRS official just like showed up at my door demanding tribute. Would take far less time, and even if he or she beat me it would probably be less painful.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I know it was subject to all kinds of abuses, but maybe the ancient Roman system of tax collection was kind of convenient?
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I called the IRS today to ask how to pay a tiny tax penalty from 2024. The agent said she didn't know, and told me to look up the rules online. I asked, could I could pay over the phone? No. Could I pay by check? No, well yes, but it's another 10% penalty. Where's a publican when ya need one?
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Mollie Wilson O'Reilly @mollieoreilly.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Ed Martin picked a great week to publish a theological appreciation of Trump's "solemnity and seriousness" in the application of clemency. "Through the breadth and depth of his pardons, President Donald J. Trump shows mercy unlike any other." Hope he sees this, bro!
chroniclesmagazine.org
Understanding Mercy in the Trump Era - Chronicles
Just as God’s mercy draws us deeper into His divine nature, pardon has the power to make its givers and receivers more fully human.
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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV declares the Iran War is “unjust” and “is not resolving anything.” After suggesting Trump is committing war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure, he called on Americans to contact Congress to help end the war.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 07/04/2026
"The community must also reckon with our own demons." Claudia Avila Cosnahan on charting a path forward after the Casar Chavez revelations:
commonwealmagazine.org
‘Our Latino People’
The farmworkers’ movement was never meant to be about one man, but the people—all the people. After the Cesar Chavez revelations, that must remain our ideal.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 03/04/2026
NEW: Recently ordained Jesuit priest Fr. Doug Jones joins the Commonweal podcast from Beirut to speak about the growing humanitarian crisis amid Israel's siege on Lebanon. 'My First War'
commonwealmagazine.org
‘My First War’
Recently ordained Jesuit priest Fr. Doug Jones joins us from Beirut to speak about the growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Amazing film.
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Griffin Oleynick @griffino.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Good piece, and helpful. When this kind of abuse happened to me in 2015, canon law didn't recognize it as an offense. But my superiors, the local bishop, and priests and religious did. Vos Estis was very consoling, even if I didn't use it to seek redress. Its promulgation made me feel less alone.
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Michael J. O'Loughlin @mikeoloughlin.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
An open letter from a former priest chronicling his search for justice: "Dear Pope Leo: After a senior priest harassed me, I learned that justice is elusive" www.ncronline.org/news/dear-po...
ncronline.org
Dear Pope Leo: After a senior priest harassed me, I learned that justice is elusive
In an open letter to the pope, Jonathan Ficara recounts how, on the night before his ordination, he encountered a glimpse of how the church can fail to act justly, an experience that would ultimately ...
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Anthony Domestico @tonydomestico.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Tomorrow!
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Amigo de Frodo @bpdflores.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
It is presumption to think we see and understand Christ well enough. We do not. We impose our pettiness and prejudices on him and say we have seen enough, and then say how wonderful it is that he is like us. Blind guides. We should admit our blindness and weep to be able to see.
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