The notebook used by NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan during his trip through Africa with the pope laid on top of two programs.

Reporter's Notebook: A very literal reporter's notebook from the pope's trip through Africa

Vatican

NCR's Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan stuck to pen and paper to record his impressions of traveling through North and Central with Pope Leo XIV. 

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Scott Peyton and his wife Letitia are pictured in July 2020. Peyton is a Catholic deacon who in May 2024 appealed his excommunication after leaving the church in the aftermath of his son's abuse case. (Courtesy of Scott Peyton)

In Focus

Louisiana deacon awaits Vatican decision on his excommunication

In 2024 a Catholic deacon appealed his excommunication after leaving the church in the aftermath of his son's abuse case. He has spent about two years waiting for a ruling from Rome.

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Most Read Stories

Franciscan Sr. Consuelo Peset Laudeña shows one of the Spanish Giant rabbits the cloistered community breeds at the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua in Central Spain. The rabbits are at risk of extinction. (Lissette Lemus)

#1
At a Spanish convent, nuns breed rare giant rabbit

"We have to protect creation," Sr. Consuelo Peset Laudeña said. "We are Franciscans. St. Francis is the patron saint of veterinarians, and that is the source of the love we feel for the Spanish giant rabbit."

By
Scott Peyton and his wife Letitia are pictured in July 2020. Peyton is a Catholic deacon who in May 2024 appealed his excommunication after leaving the church in the aftermath of his son's abuse case. (Courtesy of Scott Peyton)

#2
Louisiana deacon awaits Vatican decision on his excommunication

In 2024 a Catholic deacon appealed his excommunication after leaving the church in the aftermath of his son's abuse case. He has spent about two years waiting for a ruling from Rome.

ByCamillo Barone
Protesters opposed to the death penalty are pictured in a file photo demonstrating outside a Georgia state prison for men in Jackson. (OSV News/Reuters/Tami Chappell)

#3
Justice Dept. adopts firing squads same day Pope Leo backs death penalty abolitionists

Leo expressed his support for Pope Francis' 2018 decision to change authoritative church teaching to say that the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person." 

ByJustin McLellan

#4
Pope Leo: 'I cannot be in favor of war,' talks migration, same-sex blessings, in press conference

#5
Canterbury archbishop to visit pope, a milestone for churches split on women clergy

#6
Vatican ends canonization cause for Jesuit Fr. Walter Ciszek

Opinion

The 7 deadly sins offer a warning to religious influencers — and their followers

Guest Voices

A grotto for Our Lady, a plant for nuclear weapon parts, and a call to discern

Guest Voices
Jesuit Fr. Daniel Berrigan, then 85, poses in his New York City apartment in 2006. Berrigan died in 2016 at age 94. (CNS/Todd Plitt)

Podcast: 'War is not itself until it is total war,' Daniel Berrigan wrote

Guest Voices

On this week's episode of "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," John Dear reflects on the life, witness and teachings of legendary peacemaker and war resister Jesuit Fr. Daniel Berrigan.

In conversation, US bishops are learning new insights on LGBTQ+ Catholics

Guest Voices

Podcast: Black feminist professor Melanie Harris speaks of seeding peace

Guest Voices
Pope Leo XIV prays the rosary for peace during an evening prayer vigil in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 11, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

We need a better way to talk about Pope Leo

Guest Voices

Leo's words in response to the Trump administration are not some sort of dramatic turn. In his very first public words as pope, Leo wished all "the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarmed peace and a disarming peace."

Vatican

The notebook used by NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan during his trip through Africa with the pope laid on top of two programs.

Reporter's Notebook: A very literal reporter's notebook from the pope's trip through Africa

NCR's Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan stuck to pen and paper to record his impressions of traveling through North and Central with Pope Leo XIV. 

Papal trip put spotlight on local injustices, joy of Christian faith, pope says

As had been customary by his predecessors, Leo used his first general audience after his April 13-23 trip to four nations in Africa to tell people about the purpose of his visit and what struck him most about his travels.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service
The Leo Chronicles: Leo, back from Africa, gives a shout-out to a predecessor.

The Leo Chronicles: Want peace? Do this!

The Leo Chronicles: Leo, back from Africa, gives a shout-out to a predecessor.

ByPat Marrin
Vatican News

Pope Leo to new priests: Keep church door open, don't be an obstacle

Priests are called each day to leave the doors of the Church open to a "suffering humanity" in need and not "be an obstacle to those who wish to enter," Pope Leo XIV told 10 deacons just before ordaining them to the priesthood.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope prays with Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally in historic encounter, vows dialogue

Canterbury archbishop to visit pope, a milestone for churches split on women clergy

Justice Dept. adopts firing squads same day Pope Leo backs death penalty abolitionists

EarthBeat

A family walks near a Make Polluters Pay demonstration along the Caribbean Sea April 27, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia. Protesters were demanding oil companies pay for the energy transition during a nearby conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels. (AP/Ivan Valencia)

An end to the fossil fuel era? Catholic groups hopeful as nations meet in Colombia

As war disrupts global oil supply, more than 50 countries, dubbed a "coalition of the willing," are meeting April 26-29 in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.

Members of Apache Stronghold protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington Sept. 11, 2024. An Indigenous coalition filed an updated lawsuit in federal district court on April 22, 2026, their latest attempt to stop a land transfer including their sacred site at Oak Flat, Ariz., from destruction by a copper mining giant.

Indigenous coalition continues challenge to mining project on religious liberty grounds

An Indigenous coalition filed an updated lawsuit in federal district court in Phoenix on April 22, their latest attempt to block a land transfer including their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, and protect the site from destruction by a copper mining giant.

ByKate Scanlon, OSV News
Franciscan Sr. Consuelo Peset Laudeña shows one of the Spanish Giant rabbits the cloistered community breeds at the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua in Central Spain. The rabbits are at risk of extinction. (Lissette Lemus)

At a Spanish convent, nuns breed rare giant rabbit

"We have to protect creation," Sr. Consuelo Peset Laudeña said. "We are Franciscans. St. Francis is the patron saint of veterinarians, and that is the source of the love we feel for the Spanish giant rabbit."

By
Stefani Danes stands on the Rachel Carson EcoVillage's construction site. The building with a high tower in the background is the Sisters of Divine Providence's 100-year-old convent, now part of La Roche University. (Jennifer Szweda Jordan)

EcoVillage sustainable housing finds a place to build with Pittsburgh sisters

The Rachel Carson Ecovillage needed land, and the Sisters of Divine Providence near Pittsburgh were trying to sell 8 acres. As the sustainable housing project got underway, the two groups became partners in mission.

ByJennifer Szweda Jordan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Columns

Nature teaches me to celebrate Earth Day as my birthday

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Pope Leo donates $100K to CRS clean water project in El Salvador

Culture

In A24's psychological thriller "Mother Mary," Anne Hathaway plays a fictional pop star with religious imagery. (A24)

'Mother Mary' film may have uncredited inspiration — and it's not the Mother of God

A24's thriller "Mother Mary" centers a fictional pop star with religious imagery. But electropop duo MOTHERMARY has been making music that centers religious iconography and queerness for years. They spoke to NCR about the film.

Longtime NCR contributor Jason Berry is pictured with Mississippi politician Charles Evers in 1971. "Conversations with Jason Berry," published by University Press of Mississippi as part of their Literary Conversations series, compiles 23 interviews in which Berry reflects on the forces that have shaped his work. (Courtesy of Jason Berry)

Jason Berry reflects on journalism career in new book of interviews

Jason Berry's goal in writing books about the Catholic clergy abuse scandal was to create "three-dimensional profiles, and a narrative line on people's lives in a clash with injustice and religious power."

ByJason Berry
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, hits from the pine straw on the 18th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Augusta, Georgia. (AP photo/Gerald Herbert)

I went to Augusta to watch the Masters. I came home with a spiritual experience.

At the Masters, writer Stephen Copeland experienced the contemplative nature of golf.

ByStephen Copeland
A blue laundry basket filled with clothes (Unsplash/Annie Spratt)
Book Reviews

New book offers fresh perspective on work through a Catholic social teaching lens

NCR Book Club: Kate Ward's Making a Life expands commonly held understandings of work and reevaluates worker justice, looking at the whole person, not merely person-as-employee.

ByKen Homan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Punk rock meets Catholicism in 'Edie Arnold Is a Loser'

Book Reviews

Liz Bucar explores why the wellness industry has failed spiritual seekers

Just how faithful is Fox's 'The Faithful: Women of the Bible'?

Children of the Divine Providence Home in Isiolo, Kenya, attend an assembly meeting with their teachers. Nirmala Dasi Sisters run the center, which focuses on children with mental disabilities who may also have physical disabilities. (Mourine Achieng)

Sisters transform lives of Kenyan children with disabilities

Society of Nirmala Dasi Sisters work in a culture where disability is perceived as evidence of divine punishment, ancestral displeasure or wrongdoing by the parents, especially the mother.

Sr. Maria Madelene Le Thi Bich offers Bibles to newcomers to the group of former sisters in Hue, Vietnam, on Sept. 14, 2025. (Joachim Pham)

After leaving religious life, Vietnamese women find new vocations

In Vietnam, where religious life is highly respected and often tied to family honor, women who leave convents can face emotional pain, social stigma and economic uncertainty.

ByJoachim Pham

Sisters provide healthcare in Bangladesh's coastal areas despite financial challenges

St. Paul's Hospital, located about 200 kilometers south of Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, only has 10 beds and two doctors. 

ByStephan Uttom Rozario
Pope Leo XIV meets with Pedro Salinas, a Peruvian journalist and abuse survivor, in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 20, 2025. Salinas is a former member of Sodalitium Christianae Vitae who suffered physical and psychological abuse by the movement's founder, Luis Fernando Figari. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Columns

Discernment must accompany emotion-driven faith

A doctrinal note by the Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Spanish Bishops' Conference addresses concerns about such experiences.

By

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