Carmen Nanko-Fernández

Theology en la Plaza: The leaked draft of the U.S. bishops' Eucharist teaching demonstrates, in a number of ways, how disconnected the U.S. hierarchy has become from the real questions of these troubling times.

Theology en la Plaza: Minimizing the anxieties of Catholics around their return to churches while inadequately addressing the prophylactic need for masks in congregational environments where vaccination statuses remain unknown is beyond irresponsible.

Theology en la Plaza: With a fan's enthusiasm, Pope Francis has produced what might be understood as a "canon within a canon" when it comes to sports and his ongoing development of a theology of encounter.

Theology en la Plaza: In a pandemic, social friendship begins with wearing masks. In a political transition, healing requires admission of loss. We owe a sacred obligation to the dead and the living.

Theology en la Plaza: Following World War II, the Assumption affirmed the goodness of the body and offered an alternative vision for a shared destiny. On this 70th anniversary, amid our own troubled times, is it worth considering what the Assumption may have to offer, or is it an esoteric antique, a day of obligation?

Theology en la Plaza: We write because the confluence of twin epidemics, COVID-19 and the ongoing plague of racism, place vulnerable communities at particular risk. Escribimos porque as Latin@s our communities are formed and shaped both by the richness of African diasporic roots and people as well as by anti-blackness that for too long remains under addressed en nuestra casa.

Theology en la Plaza: How do we shift to an understanding of isolation as "an active, communal undertaking," as opposed to a "suffering passively endured by a solitary individual"?

Theology en la Plaza: In solidarity with the peoples of Amazonia, motivated by the Spirit's wild ways, may we have the power to remember, the humility to learn and the courage to act.

Theology en la Plaza: American Dirt is as much about México and immigration as The Godfather is about Italian American culture and family. Why does it take a fictional, atypical migrant's plight to shake up "regular people"?

The timelessness of El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz's pastoral letter calling out white supremacy cannot be underestimated. However, commentators on the letter should also recognize that for over four decades Latin@́ theologians have articulated the urgent matters that are at stake in the borderlands. 

Theology en la Plaza: We write en conjunto, united in prophetic rage and graced by the resilience of nuestra gente, paying critical attention to the role of the incendiary language that fueled the latest destructive incarnation of hate in El Paso.

The role of sneakers as "canvases for political commentary and projection" have been on display this summer in ways that underscore contested relationships with identity and reflect the signs of these our troubled times.  

For Pope Francis, mercy is not a noun, it's verb. To locate God-talk in the messiness of nuestras vidas cotidianas, to articulate it in the complicated hybrid languages of street and home, to mercify in ever expansive borderlands is the business of theology.

When the Boston Red Sox visited the White House last week, a majority of black and Latino players refused to attend as an act of resistance. The resulting optics of an overwhelmingly white team only amplified baseball's history of racism and exploitation of migrant labor.

As our border crisis swirls out of control, where are our Romeros? The inability of U.S. Catholic Church leadership to function as a prophetic voice in this time of national scandal is rooted, in part, in an enduring failure to address abuse within "our own house." 

When it comes to competencies, pastoral preparation and theological education for ministry in Latin@ contexts, too often rich and complex worlds of meaning are overlooked or ignored, and important ways of being Latin@ are reduced to decorative accent pieces.

Theology en la Plaza: While the resumption of baseball was often interpreted as a return to the comfort of the ordinary, Easter celebrates the disruption of complacency.