People pause to view a memorial marker to the unknown enslaved people buried at St. Peter Claver Parish's cemetery in St. Inigoes, Md., after Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington blessed the memorial Nov. 26, 2022. At least 24 parishes in the archdiocese have requested that memorial to honor formerly enslaved people buried in their cemeteries. (CNS/Catholic Standard/Ashley Barnas)

Pope's slavery apology draws praise as Jesuit slaveholding legacy turns to reconciliation

News

"I think it's a positive step, but it's a very limited step, especially when dealing with something that's so complicated and complex in a single paragraph," said Fr. Bryan Massingale.

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Bishop Barron and the American founding: A tale of unnecessary confusion

Michael Sean Winters

Catholic sisters push Palantir on human rights as faith leaders rally in New York

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In Focus

In AI encyclical, Pope Leo warns of tech, data center threats to creation

In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo said, "Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice."

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Most Read Stories

Attendees at the Women's Ordination Conference's 50th anniversary celebration wave multi-colored stoles Friday, May 22, 2026, in Detroit. (NCR photo/Dan Stockman)

#1
Women's ordination movement has always been about 'more than ordination'

At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Women's Ordination Conference, attendees dared to celebrate the Catholic Church's commitment to synodality and the bit of hope it brings them that women could someday be ordained priests. 

ByDan Stockman
Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile while riding around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience May 27, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)
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#2
Will the church conform to its own teaching?

We are all still digesting Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and wondering what difference it will make. What are the next steps in implementing the vision of Catholic social doctrine?

ByMichael Sean Winters
Ian McKellen stars as Gandalf in a scene from the movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," an adaptation of the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Pope Leo turns to the words of Gandalf in the newly released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. (CNS/courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

#3
Pope Leo quoted Gandalf in 'Magnifica Humanitas' — are we listening?

As we witness the rise of AI and the spread of violence and hatred across the globe, we can draw wisdom from both a fictional wizard and a very real pope.

ByEric Clayton

#4
Pope Leo calls to 'disarm' AI in major document, warns of technologic threats to humanity

#5
Pope Leo calls for 'openness' to church reform that respects tradition

#6
Pope Leo picks EWTN News president Maria Montserrat Alvarado to lead Vatican communications

Opinion

Bishop Barron and the American founding: A tale of unnecessary confusion

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In 'Magnifica Humanitas,' Pope Leo proposes synodality to the whole world

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Sr. Susan Rose Francois of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace poses next to the sign outside the family and detainee support tent in front of Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. (Courtesy of Eyes on ICE NJ/Joseph O'Leary)

Magnificent humanity and shared responsibility at Delaney Hall

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For more than a year, a network of community leaders has provided public witness, solidarity and mutual aid in support of detained immigrant neighbors and their families at the ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey.

Magnificent humanity and shared responsibility at Delaney Hall

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Podcast: 'We need people of good faith to be engaged,' says John Dominic Crossan

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Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile while riding around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience May 27, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Will the church conform to its own teaching?

NCR Voices

We are all still digesting Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and wondering what difference it will make. What are the next steps in implementing the vision of Catholic social doctrine?

Vatican

Pope Leo urges Catholic universities to instill passion for the truth found in Christ

Pope Leo XIV told Catholic university leaders on June 3 that they have a responsibility to instill in their students a passion for "not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself."

Vatican News

A church at a crossroads: Spain's Catholics look to Pope Leo for encouragement

As Pope Leo XIV prepares for his June 6–12 apostolic visit to Spain, Church leaders say he will encounter a Catholic community at a pivotal moment. While the number of Spaniards identifying as Catholic has declined in recent decades, many observers point to signs of renewed interest among young people. 

ByPaulina Guzik, OSV News
Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News Inc., the EWTN Global Catholic Network, is pictured in an undated photo. (OSV News/courtesy EWTN Global Catholic Network)
Vatican News

Pope Leo picks EWTN News president Maria Montserrat Alvarado to lead Vatican communications

Alvarado was named the dicastery's prefect on June 2 in a surprising move given the U.S.-based TV network's previous public flare-ups with Pope Francis. She will begin in the role Nov. 1.

ByJustin McLellan

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can't wait for Pope Leo's visit

Church leaders and some experts see the success of youth movements and the surge in adult baptisms as signs that some young people are showing new interest in the church, while also challenging it to embrace a more inclusive message.

ByGiovanna Dell'orto, Associated Press

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A poster of slain environmentalist Juan López hangs in his home as a state-assigned bodyguard watches over the López family, in Tocoa, Honduras, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP photo/Moises Castillo)

New arrests made in murder of Catholic activist in Honduras

"This is an important step toward justice for Juan, and we're hopeful that we're getting closer to the true masterminds who ordered and paid for this crime," Fr. Carlos Orellana said.

In AI encyclical, Pope Leo warns of tech, data center threats to creation

In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo said, "Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice."

ByBrian Roewe

Facing soaring fuel and fertilizer prices, Catholic farmers lean on faith

The American Farm Bureau Federation's April 14 report noted, "Rising input costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East are adding strain to an already challenging farm economy."

ByKimberley Heatherington, OSV News

Peru's Catholic Church holds a symbolic ceremony in apology for Indigenous land dispossession

After years of allegations of land dispossession by now-dissolved Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a symbolic reparation ceremony for the Indigenous people whose land was taken away was held on Saturday.

ByThe Associated Press

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Pope Leo meets families of youth lost to illegal toxic waste dumping in Italy's 'Land of Fires'

US young adults concerned by climate change, skeptical on action, Sacred Heart U survey finds

Mount Cristo Rey, in path of Trump's border wall, sits on land of New Mexico diocese

Culture

Kate Bowler new book
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Kate Bowler on unexpected joy, even in the midst of pain

In the midst of a devastating cancer diagnosis, Kate Bowler also found experiences of joy. Now she's written a book about it.

Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in "Pressure" (Focus Features)

'Pressure' star Brendan Fraser on leadership, humility and playing Eisenhower

Brendan Fraser talks about his role as General Eisenhower in the new movie "Pressure," which finds him tormented by the decision over whether to deploy troops on D-Day.

ByZachary Lee
Pope Francis celebrates Mass marking the feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 6, 2018. Author Bruce Feiler tells the story of his visit to the basilica in the first chapter of his new book A Time to Gather. (CNS/Paul Haring)

New book makes case for the importance of ritual

In his new book A Time To Gather: How Ritual Created the World — and How It Can Save Us, Bruce Feiler argues for the importance of ritual, insisting that "doing is believing."

ByJeromiah Taylor
Through archival material and reenactments by present-day city residents of Rijeka, Croatia, director Igor Bezinovic wields fresh ingenuity depicting the 1919 occupation of Fiume by the Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio in "Fiume o morte!" (Icarus Films)

With dark humor, 'Fiume o morte!' is a cinematic resuscitation of public memory

Director Igor Bezinovic's film "Fiume o morte!" turns our attention to the 1919 occupation of a city by the charismatic poet Gabriele D'Annunzio — keeping him ridiculous at every turn.

ByJose Solís

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For Mother's Day, a new book redeems the holy labor of motherhood

The new Italian documentary film "Agnus Dei" follows the Benedictine sisters in Rome who care for two lambs whose wool becomes part of a papal vestment — a centuries-old tradition. The lambs' principal caretaker is Sr. Vincenza Portaluri, shown here with the animals. (Riccardo Ghilardi)

Inside a Benedictine monastery, nuns raise lambs whose wool is for the pope

A new Italian documentary, "Agnus Dei," follows the Benedictine sisters who care for two lambs whose wool becomes part of a vestment for the pope and archbishops — a centuries-old tradition.

A nun distributes Communion during Mass outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Graces in Ituri, Congo, May 24, 2026, amid a resurgence of Ebola involving the Bundibugyo strain, a rarer variant of the virus with no approved vaccine currently available. (OSV News/Reuters)

Faith under siege: Religious sisters confront Ebola in eastern Congo's war zone

As Ebola spreads through eastern Congo's war-ravaged communities, religious sisters confront fear and deepening suffering while struggling to protect displaced families living in overcrowded churches and camps.

ByDoreen Ajiambo
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sisters' convent shares food and resources for poor and marginalized families in Dedza, Malawi. (Courtesy of Jacinta Chiwayu)
Columns

From village to village, we share food and pray with suffering Malawians

In Malawi, families have been left without food after recent years of drought and cyclones. Responding with a traveling feeding program, Presentation Sisters have become more deeply aware of communities' struggles.

By
Sr. Dr. Uzoma Maria-Joannes poses for a photo outside Holy Family Hospital and Maternity in Owerri, Nigeria. (John Chukwu)

Q&A with Sr. Dr. Uzoma Maria-Joannes, caring for vulnerable pregnant teens in Nigeria

Maria-Joannes, as both a Holy Family Sister of the Needy and an obstetrician-gynecologist, combines faith and medicine in her work with pregnant teenagers, abandoned children and other vulnerable groups.

By

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