Students attend a postcard writing party hosted by St. Carol Coston fellows Chase Tuller and Anthony Miranda at John Carroll University in Cleveland, October 2026. (Courtesy of Chase Tuller and Anthony Miranda)

'A lot more fire': Students at Catholic colleges find new energy before midterm elections

News

As the midterms approach, young organizers at six Catholic universities around the U.S. described a tension, ranging from deep anxiety about the country's direction to a growing desire to participate.

The Latest

German Protestant sisters' decades-long health ministry continues in Pakistan

Who do you see? How will you vote?

What's really spooky about Halloween

Michael Sean Winters

Editors' Choice

In Focus

Voting is a sacred right and duty, no matter where you live

If you do not live in a competitive district, the temptation is to stay home and not vote.

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Most Read Stories

Marine One, carrying President Donald Trump, lifts off from the South Lawn at the White House Oct. 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

#1
White House names 12 bishops who prayed with Trump, defends president's record

The White House identified the 12 Catholic bishops who met and prayed with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office less than two weeks before the midterm elections, while defending his record with Catholic Americans.

ByCamillo Barone
Archbishop Jeffrey Grob concelebrates Mass with the presbyterate during his installation as the 12th archbishop of the Milwaukee Archdiocese Jan. 14, 2025. (OSV News/Catholic Herald/Andy Gilicinski)

#2
Milwaukee archbishop who prayed with Trump apologizes, says bishops were 'manipulated'

Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob expressed "sincere regret" for participating in what he said was "a political photo opportunity" orchestrated by the White House.

ByJeromiah Taylor

#3
Priest in Ecuador, 53, struck and killed by falling crucifix during Mass

A priest in Ecuador was struck and killed by a falling crucifix while celebrating Mass, a tragedy captured during a livestream of the service on Oct. 17.

ByDavid Agren, OSV News

#4
Ahead of elections, White House shares video of Catholic bishops praying over Trump

#5
Editorial: Bishops' prayer for Trump may have been sincere. For Trump, it was pure politics.

#6
My encounter with JD Vance: Can being attentive to a graced moment create change?

Opinion

My encounter with JD Vance: Can being attentive to a graced moment create change?

Voices of Sisters

US bishops are at a crossroads as they head into their fall assembly

NCR Voices
Members of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons participate in a procession during a vigil in New York City Aug. 9, 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Podcast: 'Action is the antidote to a sense of helplessness,' says anti-nuclear leader

Guest Voices

On this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," John Dear hosts Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

Bishop John Dolan: What it means to be human in the age of AI

Guest Voices

Your letters: Synodality in the seminary, Sheen relics, abortion and empathy

Letters to the Editor
SpaceX's Starship lifts off for its fifth integrated flight test Oct. 13, 2024. (Wikimedia Commons/Steve Jurvetson)

Leo's encyclical is a north star for new space race — and alien encounters, too

Guest Voices

Many today are looking to Pope Leo's Magnifica Humanitas for ethical guidance and hope in a world increasingly saturated with AI. That same document can offer guidance and hope for humanity's new ventures into space. 

Vatican

Villanova's Adrianna Hahn (31) competes for a rebound with Notre Dame's Kristina Nelson (21) during a second-round game in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament Sunday, March 18, 2018, in South Bend, Indiana. (AP photo/Robert Franklin)

Villanova and Notre Dame bring college basketball to Rome. Dinner is on the line.

The Nov. 1 matchup in Rome between Villanova and Notre Dame will open the NCAA men's and women's basketball seasons. The congregations that founded and run the two universities have placed a wager on the outcome.

Pope Leo XIV's Argentina visit brings renewed scrutiny of clergy abuse scandals

Pope Leo XIV's visit to Argentina comes amid allegations of sexual abuse and other crimes involving Catholic clergy and lay members, with survivors demanding stronger action from the Vatican against those accused or convicted.

ByAlmudena Calatrava , Associated Press
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, speaks during a news conference at the Vatican, on Jan. 18, 2024. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

Election cycle will influence when pope heads to US, top Vatican diplomat says

The first U.S.-born pope is very much looking forward to eventually visiting his native country even as he prepares to head to Latin America — his seventh papal trip abroad after his election a year and a half ago, the Vatican foreign minister said.

ByCarol Glatz, OSV News

Pope Leo to offer 12 public Masses in November, including in a Rome cemetery

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate 12 public Masses during the month of November, starting with an All Souls' Day Mass at Rome's largest cemetery. The Vatican released the pope's liturgical calendar Oct. 27, one day after doctors confirmed he is fit to undertake his Nov. 6-17 journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

ByCourtney Mares, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Ahead of Rome tipoff, basketball powerhouse Villanova embraces 'Pope Leo effect'

Vatican News

Pope Leo's doctors confirm his visit to Latin America two weeks after lung surgery

New Vatican document cautions against ‘triumphalism’ over rise in baptisms

EarthBeat

The people who participated in the Sept. 26 walk in San Francisco Angulo, El Salvador, called for the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, ecology and the environment. (Lissette Lemus)

Religious orders in El Salvador seek to protect community from mega-prison’s pollution

At event tied to Season of Creation, Catholic sisters and Franciscan friars in El Salvador support a rural community fighting water contamination and a landfill near CECOT, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates. 

At Cadillac Mountain, a missing Wabanaki marker and the fight over what national parks should tell

Some of the signs removed from Acadia were developed over years of partnerships with organizations including Friends of Acadia, the Schoodic Institute and the Native Plant Trust — with consultation from citizens of the Wabanaki Nations.

ByJessie Wardarski, Associated Press
Carolina wren (Wikimedia Commons/Melissa McMasters)
Soul Seeing

In praise of a wild, unfettered God

There is beauty in the fact that we do not serve a God who grants us wishes like a genie, writes Alli Bobzien. Our God is wild and free.

ByAlli Bobzien
The Teton mountains reflect on Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park in Moran, Wyoming, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP photo/Amber Baesler, File)

In midterms, Catholic voters must keep national parks in mind

Attacks on the National Park Service are just tip of the iceberg of ecological sins, and a specifically Catholic issue.

ByStephanie J. Peddicord

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NCR Voices

When it comes to creation, we need to be more pious

Sustainability award bearing Pope Leo's name spotlights his own environmental record

Guest Voices

President Trump is both attacking green energy and helping it

Culture

Descendants and Jesuits find a path toward healing through 'What We Inherit'

Bringing long-overlooked stories of enslavement to light, the traveling exhibit "What We Inherit: Truth, Repair, and a Promise to the Future" challenges visitors to reckon with history while embracing the possibility of healing, accountability, and a more hopeful future.

Franciscan friar Sidival Fila’s "Senza Titolo 14 serie SINDONI" summons the spirit of his order with its subtle ecological message. The artwork is featured in the "ART CUT: Exercises in Empathy: Accompaniment" exhibition on display at the Burns Library at Boston College through November 15. (Michael Centore)

Catholic Universities Art Triennial exhibit brings imaginative empathy to Boston

The exhibition "ART CUT: Exercises in Empathy: Accompaniment" on display at Boston College through Nov. 15 is part of the international Catholic Universities Art Triennial.

ByMichael Centore
A panel on "Emergency" by Rebecca Solnit hangs on the book shelves of the English and American literature Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, in Paris, France, Nov. 05, 2020. (AP photo/Francois Mori)
Book Reviews

Rebecca Solnit says an old world is dying

Sonit's latest book, The Beginning Comes After the End, probes the scale of change through a trek into moral darkness that ends in a song of hope. 

ByJason Berry
Chris Pratt Vatican

Actor Chris Pratt joins Pope Leo in new documentary about St. Peter's long-lost remains

In a new documentary produced in collaboration with the Vatican, actor Chris Pratt and Pope Leo XIV venture into the secret catacombs under St. Peter’s Basilica, exploring how the long-lost remains of the first apostle were found.

ByClaire Giangravé, Religion News Service

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Rome reporter's new memoir sheds light on why Vatican reform remains tricky

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New book carries Ignatian prayer into myths and fairy tales

Book Reviews

'The Shack' author Paul Young returns with a sequel set on Death Row

An election worker puts up a sign at a polling station in McLean, Va. (OSV News/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
Voices of Sisters

Who do you see? How will you vote?

"The life of Christ and the life of the prophets call me to take his spirit with me into my work and my political choices forever," writes Sr. Emily TeKolste.

Protestant German sisters of the Sisterhood of Christ Bearers Sr. Annette Dimigen and Sr. Chris Schmotzer manage the Rawalpindi Leprosy Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Both have spent decades working with leprosy patients in the South Asian country. (Anee Muskan)

German Protestant sisters' decades-long health ministry continues in Pakistan

Founded in 1904, the Rawalpindi Leprosy Hospital is currently managed by Sr. Annette Dimigen and Sr. Chris Schmotzer, Protestant German sisters of the Sisterhood of Christ Bearers.

By
Fans cheer during a watch party at American Family Field after the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of baseball's World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP/Ross Harried)
Voices of Sisters

Milwaukee Brewers fever: Baseball brings a weary city together

Neighbors greet each other with "Did you see the game?" instead of ignoring each other. There is something to be said about standing on the sidewalk with complete strangers cheering yourself voiceless to celebrate.

By
The people who participated in the Sept. 26 walk in San Francisco Angulo, El Salvador, called for the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, ecology and the environment. (Lissette Lemus)

Religious orders in El Salvador seek to protect community from mega-prison’s pollution

At event tied to Season of Creation, Catholic sisters and Franciscan friars in El Salvador support a rural community fighting water contamination and a landfill near CECOT, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates. 

ByRhina Guidos

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Kenyan sister gives street children chance for dignified lives

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Q&A with Sr. Dr. Margaret Ogunkuade on bringing healthcare to Nigeria's rural communities