Dominican Srs. of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist Miriam Holzman (right) and John Dominic Rasmussen sit in the studio for "Dominican Sisters Open Mic" podcast in September 2026 (Courtesy of Openlight Media)

Podcast sisters, unfazed by attention, teach by talking about themselves

News

Sr. Miriam Holzman said she did not expect the internet response to "Dominican Sisters Open Mic," but it only confirms her belief that "Our God is a God of surprises."

The Latest

Trump administration again omits refugees fleeing religious persecution from US program

Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

Vatican history commission working to preserve truth in the AI age, says new US member

Jay Sorgi, OSV News

Pope Leo heads to Lourdes: What to know about one of Catholicism's most famous pilgrimage sites

Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV greets Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary general of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at Borgo Laudato Si' in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome July 29, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

In Focus

Catholic Church's culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks

Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church, writes Phyllis Zagano.

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A priest is seen in a file photo pouring wine into the chalice during the offertory of the liturgy of the Eucharist as he celebrates morning Mass. (OSV News/Bob Roller)

#1
Restricting the chalice is not tradition — it's a troubling innovation

As a few U.S. dioceses restrict access to the precious blood, they are promoting a "newer vision of Catholicism in which restriction of the fuller sign of the Eucharist has come to signify holiness," Karen E. Park writes. 

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Joseph Kelly and his wife, Alina Rudnicka, pose during a hike in the Polish Tatra mountains this summer. (Courtesy of Joseph Kelly)

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Practicing Augustinian spirituality in our marriage has brought unity amid differences

The Rule of St. Augustine makes sense within a monastery or convent. But does it work in marriage? This couple of 40 years says yes.

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Pope Leo XIV greets Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary general of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at Borgo Laudato Si' in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome July 29, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
Guest Voices

#3
Catholic Church's culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks

Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church, writes Phyllis Zagano.

ByPhyllis Zagano, Religion News Service

#4
Pope celebrates his 71st birthday but it's Vatican employees who get the gift

#5
LA nun champions second chances for those rebuilding their lives after prison

#6
Bishop Barron of Word on Fire fuels debate on empathy's role in society

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Bishop Barron swings and misses, again

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Pope Leo XIV greets Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary general of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at Borgo Laudato Si' in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome July 29, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

Catholic Church's culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks

Guest Voices

Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church, writes Phyllis Zagano.

Your letters: An eldercare center in India, San Francisco parish assessments and women deacons

Letters to the Editor

New Vatican document's use of 'ecological sin' vital to conversion

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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers closing remarks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas Sept. 10, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Evan Vucci)

Will Trump's effort to nationalize the midterm elections work or backfire?

NCR Voices

Trump believes that the only way the GOP can win the midterms is if they make it a referendum on his leadership. Democrats believe his approach is also their best strategy for winning back the House and the Senate.

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The Leo Chronicles: Infallible

The Leo Chronicles: Worried about AI, Brother Leo remembers some wisdom from Pope Francis.

US China race on AI
Vatican News

As the US and China race on AI, the Vatican presses for global safeguards

Pope Leo is quietly positioning the Vatican as a moral convener in the AI debate and a potential bridge between the rival superpowers.

ByClaire Giangravé, Religion News Service
A woman walks past a poster in front of the train station in Metz, France, Sept. 9, 2026, welcoming Pope Leo XIV ahead of his visit in the northeastern French city. (OSV News/Reuters/Ardee Napolitano)
Vatican News

What to watch for during Pope Leo's trip to France

With more than a million expected to see him in France, Pope Leo XIV is set to make quite the splash during his four-day trip to the country, long thought to be hostile to the realm of religion.

ByJustin McLellan

Pope Leo XIV will meet with the French abuse survivors as critics demand action

Pope Leo XIV, during his four-day visit to France beginning Friday, will meet privately with seven survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic personnel. The outcome will be closely watched by critics who say the church hasn't done enough to confront the problem.

BySylvie Corbet, Associated Press

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Pope Leo XIV to travel 19,000 miles on 14 flights during trip to Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay

Pope Leo XIV calls on Latin American bishops to lead from ground, not 'behind a desk'

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At Vatican conference, labor leader critiques AI execs who 'want to play God'

EarthBeat

Catholic nuns face ongoing loss, uncertainty after deadly Colombia earthquake

Catholic sisters in Colombia are grappling with damaged ministries, displaced residents and an uncertain recovery weeks after a deadly earthquake devastated parts of the country.

The Des Moines River is seen at Bentonsport, Iowa. (Dreamstime/Adam Wineke)
Soul Seeing

A river teaches me

Soul Seeing: Beloved Catholic writer Joyce Rupp reflects on the spiritual lessons she received by years of meditating with a river.

ByJoyce Rupp
A drone view shows children picking through washed-up garbage along the polluted Pasig River in Manila, Philippines on June 5, 2025. (OSV News/Reuters/Eloisa Lopez)
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New Vatican document's use of 'ecological sin' vital to conversion

Thanks to the International Theological Commission, Catholics can "name what is happening on an individual, communal and global level in a way that we couldn't before," Daniel P. Horan writes. 

ByDaniel P. Horan
An irrigation operation runs amid an onion crop on St. Elizabeth Farm in Momoi village in Lower Subukia, Nakuru County, Kenya. (Shadrack Omuka)

St. Elizabeth Demo Farm a beacon of sustainability in Kenyan nun's rural hometown

Sr. Victorina Wanjiru, a Catholic nun born and raised in Momoi village, manages St. Elizabeth Demo Farm, which teaches locals in the area of her hometown sustainable farming and eco-friendly income activities.

ByShadrack Omuka

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NM archbishop: Politicians must act with 'moral courage' to protect clean water

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Culture

Publications featuring the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen are displayed among other artifacts and memorabilia at the Sheen Museum on July 15, 2026, in Peoria, Ill. (AP/Jessie Wardarski)

How Fulton Sheen paved the way for American acceptance of Catholics

Without Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, would there have been a President John F. Kennedy? In a country historically skeptical of Catholicism, Sheen's TV homilies showed that Catholics were just as American as anyone else.

An interior view of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on October 9, 1962, two days before the opening of the Second Vatican Council (AP)
Book Reviews

Stephanie Sy-Quia's debut novel paints forbidden love against Vatican II backdrop

Book review: With its story of a romance between a priest and a theology teacher, Stephanie Sy-Quia's critically acclaimed novel, A Private Man, traces themes of inheritance and longing amid radical change.

ByMarissa Papula
Maggie Smith as the Reverend Mother and Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris Van Cartier in a still from the 1992 movie "Sister Act." (Newscom/Cover Images via ZUMA Press)

'Sister Act' and the gift of Blackness in the church

The 1992 comedy offers something worth considering: a reflection on what happens when a Black woman brings her culture, gifts and way of worship into a community that doesn't initially know what to do with them.

ByTulio Huggins, Black Catholic Messenger
Stephen Root, Matthew Rhys and Kate O'Flynn star in Apple TV's "Widow's Bay." In its first season, the mayor of a small town on a remote New England island hopes to turn his community into a tourist destination. But an ancient curse stands in the way. (Apple TV)

With 19 Emmy nods, 'Widow's Bay' gets the link between terror and togetherness

Apple TV's series is among the most critically acclaimed television shows of the year. Rebecca Bratten Weiss says Catholics could learn a few things from it.

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John Selemeni, left, and Stephen Ikuytwa tend to a crop of capsicum in a greenhouse managed by Sr. Christine Kagunye of the Assumption Sisters in Thika, a town on the outskirts of Nairobi. (Gitonga Njeru)

Sisters promote urban agriculture in Nairobi area and its informal settlements

Catholic sisters have encouraged vertical sack gardening across many of Nairobi's slums. They also oversee food plantations and greenhouse production in the area.

St. Joseph Sr. Bethany Welch paints with one of the transitional housing residents. (Courtesy of Cathie Meighan)

Q&A with Sr. Bethany Welch on adapting and reusing church property

A Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, Welch's work has been focused on urban revitalization, particularly on the adaptive reuse of church property, both before and after entering the order. "How do we steward those properties to serve the Gospel?"

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Jemima Cheruto bends to fetch water outside her home in Ortum, northern Kenya.

GSR correspondent Doreen Ajiambo wins climate journalism award for COP30 reporting

For the second year in a row, GSR's Africa regional correspondent Doreen Ajiambo wins a Covering Climate Now Journalism Award for her coverage of COP30.

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Catholic sisters in Colombia are grappling with damaged ministries, displaced residents and an uncertain recovery weeks after a deadly earthquake devastated parts of the country.

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