A voter walks toward his polling place in Cary, N.C., during his state's primary election March 3, 2026, to choose candidates for the November midterm elections. (OSV News/Reuters/Jonathan Drake)

Trump's approval rating drops with US Catholics ahead of midterms

News

"Even religious groups who have traditionally been his strongest supporters see him less favorably than they used to," a Pew analyst wrote.

The Latest

South Americans pray for Pope Leo's recovery as uncertainty hangs over his visit

Franklin Briceño, Isabel Debre, Associated Press

Catholic, evangelical leaders issue joint call for compassionate immigration reform

Kate Scanlon, OSV News

Pope Leo resumes working, sees top aide in hospital as doctors say lung recovered from surgery

Nicole Winfield, Colleen Barry, Associated Press

Editors' Choice

U.S. flags are seen among the crowd as 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 Oct. 7, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

In Focus

How Pope Leo uses being an American to his advantage

In a new biography of Pope Leo XIV, NPR journalists Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow trace the life of Robert Prevost, whose election as the first American pope has turned conventional wisdom on its head.

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Most Read Stories

Sculptures surround stained glass depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini circa 1660, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. (Wikimedia Commons/Dnalor 01)

#1
How do we know if we are listening to the Holy Spirit or only to ourselves?

The Catholic tradition is the catalog of Catholics responding to the Holy Spirit in their own time. It is also a catalog of how previous generations of Christians were often blinded by their cultural circumstances.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Mass marking the start of the academic year at the Pontifical Universities, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Oct. 8, 2026. On Oct. 11, he announced that he would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule. (OSV News/Reuters/Remo Casilli)

#2
Lung specialist who worked at Rome hospital explains Pope Leo's surgery, says risks are low

"The thoracic surgery department at Gemelli is definitely of an excellent standard," said Dr. Barbara Moscatelli. "The pope is in excellent hands."

ByCamillo Barone
Pope Leo XIV

#3
Pope Leo lays groundwork for future conclave by naming Filipino cardinal as dean of cardinals

Pope Leo XIV took a first step Friday to lay the groundwork for the eventual conclave that will elect his successor: He appointed Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the new dean of the College of Cardinals, elevating his profile as a papal contender in the process.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press

#4
Podcast: 'Catholicism has something vital to learn from other religious traditions,' says Cyprian Consiglio

#5
Pope Leo to undergo surgery to remove lung nodule

#6
Pope Leo urges frank reckoning with Catholic teaching on sex and marriage

Opinion

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

NCR Voices

In age of AI, theological education more important than ever

Guest Voices
U.S. soldiers pay their respects in front of fallen soldier memorials following a memorial ceremony held at Fort Hood, Texas, Nov. 10, 2009, for victims of the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting at the Fort Hood Army post. (OSV News/Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi)

Pete Hegseth would like you to watch a public execution

Guest Voices

Americans have a choice about the planned livestream, writes Joe Ferullo: " To protest. To yell. To march. Or to watch. These choices will tell us just how far we have fallen, and who we really are." 

10 years of 'Amoris Laetitia': What Chapter 8 changed

Guest Voices

Your letters: US diplomacy, restricting the chalice and the hierarchy

Letters to the Editor
A voter walks toward his polling place in Cary, North Carolina, during his state's primary election March 3, 2026, to choose candidates for the November midterm elections. (OSV News/Reuters/Jonathan Drake)

Blue wave is rising in Senate races

NCR Voices

"The blue wave is rising, and while it may not lift all boats, it is apparently lifting some. And religion is part of the story," Michael Sean Winters writes.

Vatican

South Americans pray for Pope Leo's recovery as uncertainty hangs over his visit

Roman Catholics across South America responded to news of Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer diagnosis with an outpouring of prayers and support, along with concerns about whether the first American pope will make his highly anticipated and physically demanding visit to the region next month.

Pope Leo resumes working, sees top aide in hospital as doctors say lung recovered from surgery

Pope Leo XIV met with a top aide on Thursday and resumed working from the hospital, as doctors reported his lung had recovered well from surgery to remove a cancerous nodule.

ByNicole Winfield, Colleen Barry, Associated Press

Bishops conclude Vatican family meeting as Pope Leo XIV recovers in hospital

The Vatican meeting of the world's bishops' conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia concluded on the evening of Oct. 14 with prayers for Pope Leo XIV's recovery from lung cancer surgery.

ByCourtney Mares, Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News
Pope Leo XIV smiles as a person takes a cellphone photo as the pontiff arrives at Rome's Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13, 2026, ahead of his surgery that afternoon. (OSV News/Reuters/Ciro De Luca)

Leo's calm amid cancer diagnosis spotlights another side of his pontificate

Pope Leo XIV's calm "has been his style for many, many years," says one archbishop. "I don't think he is going to change overnight."

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Prayers, well-wishes pour in after pope's lung cancer diagnosis

Vatican News

Pope Leo up and walking after surgery, but status of cancer unclear

Cardinal Tagle reads Pope Leo's homily to bishops: 'The world has no future without strong families'

EarthBeat

A desert bighorn sheep stands at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona Oct. 2, 2026. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)
NCR Voices

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

St. Bonaventure's characterization of St. Francis' ecological piety highlights virtue of kinship.

Pope Leo XIV celebrates a Mass at the Borgo Laudato Si' center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 1, 2026, marking the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Mario Tomassetti)

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

The new Pope Leo Sustainability Medal, created by Villanova University, puts a spotlight not just on its inaugural recipient but on how Leo has situated environmental concern for the church during his papacy so far.

ByBrian Roewe
Gas prices are displayed at an Exxon station ahead of the Memorial Day weekend in Great Neck, N.Y., May 22, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Guest Voices

President Trump is both attacking green energy and helping it

Before the war with Iran, the world was moving to green energy because it was cheaper. Now it is a stampede, impelled by both economics and national security.

ByThomas Reese, Religion News Service
The Salmon River, located in the mountains of east-central Idaho (Nikolas Dahmen)

A spotted sandpiper dances as I birdwatch with Kierkegaard

The Danish Christian thinker Søren Kierkegaard envisioned birds as teachers worthy of our attention. What can birdwatching teach us about joy?

ByNikolas Dahmen

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Nigerian sisters minister amid inaccessible roads and flood disasters

Supreme Court hears key climate change lawsuit, but procedural question remains

Farming, faith and 'real synodality': How this Catholic couple lives Laudato Si'

Culture

Gerwig and Colbert

'Narnia' director Greta Gerwig unveils trailer with sincerity amid controversy

Gerwig received some backlash for choosing Meryl Streep to voice Aslan in her upcoming adaptation of The Magician's Nephew, but when she gathered with journalists Oct. 12 to unveil the trailer, that controversy seemed far away.

The off-Broadway musical "Night Side Songs" is performed at the Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater in 2026. (Marc J. Franklin)

Off-Broadway show about cancer invites audience into healing liturgy

How do we mourn the people we have lost? Live with the wounds we've endured? Face the specters of mortality that haunt us? In "Night Side Songs," the Lazours reveal how much can be accomplished together, and in song.

ByJim McDermott
JoAnn Falletta, music director for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, will conduct "Francis: An Oratorio in Nine Scenes" Oct. 10 and 11. The oratorio brings together music composed by Richard Danielpour and a Fransiscan-inspired libretto by Franciscan Sr. Margaret Carney. (Steve J. Sherman)

St. Francis' messages shared through music at oratorio debut

Franciscan Sr. Margaret Carney wrote the libretto for "Francis: An Oratorio in Nine Scenes." Performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra are set for Oct. 10 and 11.

ByJulie A. Ferraro
Brandi Carlile (right) performs with Monique Ross (far left) and Chauntee Ross of SistaStrings during the 55th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in New York. (AP/Invision/Evan Agostini)

Finding communion at a Brandi Carlile concert

After a Brandi Carlile concert, and with her own son learning an instrument, one mother reflects on the holiness of sharing a collective experience with other human beings.

ByBritt Luby

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

As Pope Leo heads to Notre Dame, a brief history of the cathedral's cultural relevance

How Fulton Sheen paved the way for American acceptance of Catholics

Book Reviews

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

Srs. Ranit Pallassery, center, poses for a photo with her two supporters, Ancitta Urumbil, left, and Alphy Pallasseril, right. (Binu Alex)

Severed from the diocese, Indian nuns linked to rape case stitch up a safety net

"Collective of survivors of gender-based violence" has become the identity statement of the business three nuns started in India, where they once campaigned against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of rape.

Sister Veronica, a member of the Little Sisters of St. Francis, shows a representative of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation produce from the Divine Mercy Green Farm her order operates in Nakuru, Kenya. (CNS/Handout, Missio Invest, Pontifical Missionary Societies in the United States)
Voices of Sisters

At work on the last mile: Catholic sisters are local leaders in development

As global aid declines, Catholic sisters offer a powerful lesson in sustainable development: Lasting change is built on trust, local leadership, and the people who remain long after funding ends.

By
Apostolic Carmel Sr. Maria Nirmalini, the head of the Conference of Women Religious India, meets with Abhijeet Dipke, the leader of the Gen Z movement in India, at a protest rally at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on July 23. (Courtesy of Maria Nirmalini)

Catholic nuns support India's youth struggles for educational reform

"We stand with the youth in their fight for justice," said Sr. Maria Nirmalini, leader of India's more than 100,000 Catholic nuns

ByThomas Scaria
St. Joseph of the Apparition Sr. Muna Totah dances at a festival that brought together youth from Galilee and youth from the St. James Vicariate in Jerusalem in October 2025. (Courtesy of St. James Vicariate)

Q&A with Sr. Muna Totah, bridging divides in a Jewish-Arab-Catholic city in Israel

Totah serves as director of a Sister of St. Joseph of the Apparition school with Arab students and works with the youth of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in the St. James Vicariate. 

ByJudith Sudilovsky

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Monday Starter: St. Joseph Sisters stand against ICE, defend sacraments for detainees

Catholic sisters and laywomen lead efforts to put synodality into practice in El Salvador

Nations of the world have forgotten responsibility toward the less privileged