Front-row Vatican coverage:
A 70 kilowatt solar array sits atop of Sacred Heart Catholic School, in Omaha. To help cover a portion of the costs, the Catholic school intends to apply for a federal clean energy tax credit. (Afton Energy)

Catholic solar projects in peril as GOP bill slashes clean energy tax credits

EarthBeat

For religious organizations, loss of the rebates jeopardizes financing options for clean energy projects and is expected to result in millions of dollars less in energy cost savings that could otherwise be reinvested in other church ministries and programs.

The Latest

Pastors who endorse political candidates shouldn't lose tax-exempt status, IRS says in filing

Fatima Hussein, Associated Press

Parishioners battle diocese over closure of historic Brooklyn church

Fiona Murphy, Religion News Service

Catholics mourn, offer support, as Texas flood's catastrophic death toll rises

Lauretta Brown, OSV News

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV blesses a young woman in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience June 25, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

In Focus

Sen. Tim Kaine sees Pope Leo XIV following Francis on path of servant leadership

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Catholic, writes about his hopes for the pontificate of Leo XIV. As a servant leader, the new pope can orient us toward unity and affect the world far beyond the confines of the Catholic faith.

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Most Read Stories

Phil Marcin is shown baptizing his grandson Declan, held by his mom, Maggie and alongside his dad, Phillip, in 2021. (Courtesy of Phil and Linda Marcin)

#1
CORPUS, group for married priests, disbands after 50 years

CORPUS is disbanding, citing the advanced age of its membership and lack of new members. The reform group, an "national association for an inclusive priesthood," officially closed at the end of December 2024.

ByHeidi Schlumpf
SURVE student Jordn Wolsky is pictured performing microscopy in the lab at University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., June 18, 2024. (OSV News/Courtesy University of Mary/Mike McCleary)

#2
The Catholic Church believes in science. That good Christians must be anti-science is a myth.

Around the world, we are "witnessing an alarming rise in attempts to discredit, politicize or suppress scientific knowledge," the Vatican says in a new Pontifical Academy of Sciences document defending the freedom of science.

ByThomas Reese, Religion News Service
Priests and bishops bless the 12 newly ordained priests during Mass at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, Va., on June 7. (AP/Jessie Wardarski)

#3
A US diocese defies trends and ordains its largest class of Catholic priests in decades

"I really just want to make Catholicism warm," one of the men said.

ByTiffany Stanley, Associated Press

#4
Pope Leo XIV quietly goes on vacation. He is expected to take plenty of summer homework with him.

#5
Catholic school fires teacher after his husband's obituary reveals their marriage

#6
Vatican downplays role of leaked documents on Pope Francis' decision to restrict Latin Mass

Opinion

Cornel West: 'We are witnessing the collapse and implosion of the American empire'

Guest Voices

Celebrating our complicated but wonderful national ideals

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., left, speaks in the House chamber as House Democrats stand to applaud him, prior to the final vote for President Donald Trump's signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol, July 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Rod Lamkey Jr.)

Editorial: Trump's bill, set to be signed on July 4th, shows democracy in decay

Trump prevailed with his domestic policy bill. The House vote was 218-214. And in doing so, he didn't just pass a bill — he marked a turning point in the nation's moral trajectory. This is not reform. It is retribution.

Sen. Tim Kaine sees Pope Leo XIV following Francis on path of servant leadership

The Catholic Church believes in science. That good Christians must be anti-science is a myth.

Zohran Mamdani speaks at a Democratic Socialists of America meeting at the Church of the Village in New York City Nov. 11, 2024. (Wikimedia Commons/Bingjiefu He)

Can Zohran Mamdani make Americans like democratic socialism?

NCR Voices

It is doubtful any Democrat outside New York or San Francisco could win as a democratic socialist. The word socialist carries too much baggage. And if you have to explain it to people, it is time to get a better label.

Vatican

Brother Leo brings Pope Leo a flag

The Leo Chronicles: Flag

The Leo Chronicles: Brother Leo brings Pope Leo a flag for his desk.

Vatican News

After 12 years, locals welcome pope back to his summer home

After more than a decade without its most famous vacationer, the quiet town of Castel Gandolfo once again counts the pope among its summer residents.

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service

Safeguarding remains a top priority with new appointment, US cardinal says

Pope Leo XIV's appointment of the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors shows that safeguarding remains a top priority, its former president said.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks to reporters at the Vatican Sept. 19, 2024. The cardinal said on July 3, 2025, that the Catholic Church's approval of blessings of couples in same-sex relationships "will remain" under Pope Leo XIV. (CNS/Justin McLellan)
Vatican News

Gay blessings 'will remain' under Pope Leo, Vatican doctrine chief says

An impromptu interview with Cardinal Fernández is the strongest indication to date that Pope Leo XIV will not alter course on blessings of people in gay unions. But the comments fall short of an explicit, official Vatican statement. 

ByJoseph Tulloch

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope Leo XIV quietly goes on vacation. He is expected to take plenty of summer homework with him.

Vatican downplays role of leaked documents on Pope Francis' decision to restrict Latin Mass

Black Catholic meets Pope Leo XIV after 600-mile bike pilgrimage to combat antisemitism

A 70 kilowatt solar array sits atop of Sacred Heart Catholic School, in Omaha. To help cover a portion of the costs, the Catholic school intends to apply for a federal clean energy tax credit. (Afton Energy)
Politics

Catholic solar projects in peril as GOP bill slashes clean energy tax credits

For religious organizations, loss of the rebates jeopardizes financing options for clean energy projects and is expected to result in millions of dollars less in energy cost savings that could otherwise be reinvested in other church ministries and programs.

In Texas region prone to catastrophic floods, questions grow about lack of warning

Water rose fast along the Guadalupe River, causing 68 deaths as of Sunday afternoon. Local officials said they couldn’t have seen it coming.

ByPaul Cobler, The Texas Tribune
A sheriff's deputy pauses while combing through the banks of the Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic after a flash flood swept through the area Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP/Julio Cortez)

Death toll in Texas flash floods nears 70 as sheriff says 11 campers remain missing

Rescuers maneuvered through challenging terrain as a desperate search for the missing girls stretched into a third day after floodwaters surged into a summer camp. Texans were asked to pray that survivors would be found.

ByJim Vertuno, Julio Cortez, John Seewer, Associated Press
Texas, U.S. July 4, 2025. (OSV News photo/Affiliate KSAT, via Reuters)

San Antonio Archdiocese asks for prayers after dozens perish in severe flooding in Texas

At least 20 girls are missing from Christian camp along the Guadalupe River, which rose nearly 30 feet in less than an hour. Authorities confirm 24 dead, and expect more casualties. 

ByLauretta Brown, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

5 things I'm doing to raise creation-keepers in my home

Faith

Church adds Mass for 'care of creation' to missal, which pope will celebrate July 9

Catholics must respond to environmental injustice with prayer, concrete action, pope says

Culture

In this file photo dated Sept. 7, 1988, director Martin Scorsese, center, poses with the stars of his film, "The Last Temptation of Christ", actors Barbara Hershey, right, who plays Mary Magdalene, and William Dafoe who plays Christ, at the Venice Film Festival. The film released in 1988 in the face of denunciations from religious leaders. (AP photo, File)
Book Reviews

Religion and 1980s pop culture go head-to-head in new book

Paul Elie's exploration of the struggle between art and faith in the 1980s offers valuable insights for anyone seeking clarity on faith in public life today.

Raised Catholic, the musician Corook explores queerness and self-acceptance in their new album, "Committed to a Bit." (NCR screenshot/YouTube/hicorook)

Playfulness is a powerful tool for healing in the music of Corook

Raised Catholic, the musician Corook explores queerness and self-acceptance in their new album, "Committed to a Bit."

ByHojung Lee
In the new documentary "It’s Dorothy!," which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival this month, writer/director Jeffrey McHale explores why Garland's Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" propelled the actor to icon status within the LGBTQ+ community. (Frameline49)

'It's Dorothy!': The LGBTQ+ community and its beloved 'Wizard of Oz' icon

A new documentary explores why Judy Garland's Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" propelled the actor to icon status within the LGBTQ+ community.

ByJim McDermott
Jesuit Fr. Timothy Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, speaks at an April 18 "Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition and Hope" in Gaston Hall on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington. (CNS/Catholic Standard/Jaclyn Lippelmann)
Book Reviews

Acknowledging racism offers healing grace, Fordham theologian's book says

"Institutional reparation can become spiritual, not just material," Michael Mastromatteo writes in his review of Jeannine Hill Fletcher's Grace of the Ghosts: A Theology of Institutional Reparation.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

What's the point of remaking 'How to Train Your Dragon'?

Star Wars' 'Andor' takes on the American empire

7 decades of papacy illuminated in new book, 'Jesus Wept'

Charity Sr. Joicy Joy with children of Panthalam Unnati, an enclave in Kakkavayal, a village in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. (George Kommattam)

Q&A with Sr. Joicy Joy, a lawyer who fights for the rights of tribals in India

The member of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth says her work is "human rights-based and upholds the constitutional rights that treat everyone equal."

Sr. Kum Shallotte (center), motivated by the need for clean water in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, advocated for and secured a solar-powered borehole for her community. (Courtesy of Kum Shallotte)
Columns

My community in Cameroon needed clean water. So I became our advocate.

 "The borehole became for me and the community not only a practical solution but also a testimony of the power of hope," writes Sr. Kum Shallotte.

By
Workers from CAFEMIN, a shelter for women and families run by Josephine sisters in Mexico City, check in on the welfare of migrants living in a camp near the train tracks. Some were weighing returning home since they said they can't head north to the U.S., and Mexico makes it difficult for them to obtain documents to work and survive. (GSR photo/Rhina Guidos)

Reporter's Notebook: Mexico's changing tune on immigration

Unable to enter the U.S. to seek asylum, many migrants are finding themselves homeless, stuck and unwanted in an increasingly unfriendly Mexico.

ByRhina Guidos

Amid 'reverse migration,' sisters in Mexico accompany migrants trapped by US policies

The absence of humanitarian aid has left places like Mexico City's CAFEMIN, a sister-run migrant shelter, scrambling to meet needs that go beyond food, shelter and companionship.

ByRhina Guidos

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

No kings, just prophets who say: "Not on my watch!"

Ghanaian nun's association supports widows who face dehumanizing traditional rites

The cry of the victims is our cry