Smoke billows March 3 after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. (OSV News/Reuters//Mohamed Azakir)
Vatican News

Vatican's top diplomat says preventive wars risk setting world 'ablaze'

Vatican

 "The force of law has been replaced by the law of force, with the conviction that peace can arise only after the enemy has been annihilated," said Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Latest

Sprawling investigation finds decades of sexual abuse among Catholic priests in Rhode Island

Kimberlee Kruesi, Associated Press

Vatican synod study group proposes creation of pontifical commission for new technologies

Courtney Mares, OSV News

Gallup Poll: Fewer than half of Americans say religion is 'very important' in their lives

Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, March 1, 2026. (OSV News/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters)

In Focus

Pope warns of 'tragedy of enormous proportions' after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran

Pope Leo XIV issued a "forceful appeal" to end increasing violence in the Middle East as the United States, Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes and threats of escalations, warning of the risk of a "tragedy of enormous proportions."

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Most Read Stories

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd before leading his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 18, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)
NCR Voices

#1
Pope Leo speaks about Vatican II teachings, and all Catholics should listen

Michael Sean Winters hopes that all Catholics will take a moment and hear what Pope Leo is highlighting for us. These short catechetical reflections invite us to become a part of the renewal to which Vatican II pointed.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, March 1, 2026. (OSV News/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters)

#2
Pope warns of 'tragedy of enormous proportions' after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran

Pope Leo XIV issued a "forceful appeal" to end increasing violence in the Middle East as the United States, Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes and threats of escalations, warning of the risk of a "tragedy of enormous proportions."

ByJustin McLellan

#3
Palm Beach's new shepherd ordained, installed during emotional, spiritual, joyous Mass

"We are a church that is truly catholic. We have no boundaries. In this church, the true flag is the love of Jesus Christ" Palm Beach Bishop-designate Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez said at his Feb. 24 installation Mass. 

ByOSV News

#4
In South Africa's coal belt, girls disappear — and Catholic sisters quietly pull them back

#5
As 'border czar' challenges Pope Leo, Archbishop Wester warns of 'Bonhoeffer moment'

#6
Pope Leo tells priests not to use AI to write homilies or seek likes on TikTok

Opinion

Catholic parishes: Please preach about organ donation this Lent

Guest Voices

Pope Leo is right: Preaching cannot be automated

Guest Voices
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, N.M., (right) takes part in a demonstration in El Paso, Texas, against mass deportation March 24, 2025. With him are Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, N.M.; Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio and Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Editorial: At unique political moment, Catholic tradition provides prophetic way forward

Editorial

We should not be surprised if Catholics are asked to pay a price for what their leaders are compelled to do in service of the Gospel. Sometimes the Gospel requires that we bear a burden.

Pope Leo speaks about Vatican II teachings, and all Catholics should listen

NCR Voices

Catholic outrage at Ostermann Notre Dame appointment an intellectual and pastoral failure

Guest Voices
The mastheads of numerous Catholic newspapers are seen in this photo illustration. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)

US Catholic newspapers began as immigrant outreach, and NCR continues that work

NCR Voices

The first Catholic newspaper in the U.S. was essentially an outreach to immigrant Catholics. Over 200 years later, the National Catholic Reporter is also involved in an outreach to immigrants — but in a whole different way.

Vatican

Smoke billows March 3 after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. (OSV News/Reuters//Mohamed Azakir)
Vatican News

Vatican's top diplomat says preventive wars risk setting world 'ablaze'

 "The force of law has been replaced by the law of force, with the conviction that peace can arise only after the enemy has been annihilated," said Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Vatican synod study group proposes creation of pontifical commission for new technologies

A Synod on Synodality study group has recommended the creation of a new "Pontifical Commission for Digital Culture and New Technologies" in the first of 15 synod study group reports expected in the coming weeks. The Vatican published the first two final reports from its Synod on Synodality study groups on March 3.

ByCourtney Mares, OSV News
Scaffolding covers Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" during extraordinary maintenance work undertaken by the Vatican Museums. (Courtesy of the Governorate of Vatican City State)
Vatican News

Climate change, crowds prompt maintenance on Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment'

Visitors often reach the Sistine Chapel overheated after walking through non-air-conditioned galleries. Combined with rising temperatures those conditions have led to more sweat in the sacred space.

ByJustin McLellan
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, March 1, 2026. (OSV News/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters)

Pope warns of 'tragedy of enormous proportions' after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran

Pope Leo XIV issued a "forceful appeal" to end increasing violence in the Middle East as the United States, Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes and threats of escalations, warning of the risk of a "tragedy of enormous proportions."

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope charts 2026 travel with sweeping Africa tour, visits to Spain, Monaco

At Curia retreat, Bishop Varden warns of Gospel's use 'as a weapon in culture wars'

Vatican News

Vatican migration chief: Expand legal pathways to combat illegal immigration

EarthBeat

Scaffolding covers Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" during extraordinary maintenance work undertaken by the Vatican Museums. (Courtesy of the Governorate of Vatican City State)
Vatican News

Climate change, crowds prompt maintenance on Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment'

Visitors often reach the Sistine Chapel overheated after walking through non-air-conditioned galleries. Combined with rising temperatures those conditions have led to more sweat in the sacred space.

Sr. Marie Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa checks the reishi mushrooms in the growing house she and Sr. Agathe Tran Thi Mong Huyen operate at their St. Paul de Chartres convent in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This mushroom variety needs six months to grow before harvest. (Courtesy of Marie Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa)

Vietnamese sisters grow organic mushrooms to serve community and fund scholarships

They use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Waste is reused. Damaged mushrooms are dried and ground into seasoning powder.

ByJoachim Pham
A community activist holds a sign referencing Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' during a rally Oct. 4, 2017 outside the chancery of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Residents and allies of the University Park neighborhood were urging the archdiocese to end its lease with AllenCo Energy at the oil drilling site linked to health issues in their community. (Courtesy of STAND-LA)

Oil wells on LA Archdiocese land permanently sealed after years of community pressure

After more than a decade of community activism, a notorious oil drilling facility operating on land leased from the Los Angeles Archdiocese has been shuttered for good.

ByBrian Roewe

Caring for creation this Lent

"Like the popes and bishops speaking up to protect God's creation, our Catholic faith calls all of us to bring our values to public life, too," Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis writes.

ByMitchell T. Rozanski, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Delight in the simple, abundant gifts all around you

In Lenten reflection, US bishops call Catholics to ecological conversion and action

Guest Voices

As Abrahamic faiths fast, let us consider food ethics

Culture

In her new Netflix special "Prodigal Daughter," Taylor Tomlinson's explores the comedian's religious anxieties, queerness and roots in church comedy. (NCR screen grab/Netflix/YouTube)

Comedian channels Mary: 'What if it's breech? What if it's sick? What if it's God?'

In new Netflix special "Prodigal Daughter," Taylor Tomlinson tackles the lack of agency many Christian girls and women experience.

AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025. (AP/Jae C. Hong, file)
Book Reviews

New book on trans athletes emphasizes human dignity

Fair Game offers a striking account of the hostile political climate fueled by scapegoating and misinformation, and counters it with the substantial body of evidence showing that transgender inclusion strengthens athletic communities for everyone who participates. 

ByMaxwell Kuzma
In a scene from the movie "Midwinter Break," Stella (Lesley Manville) and Gerry (Ciarán Hinds) survey "The Jewish Bride," a Rembrandt painting of Isaac and Rebecca that hangs in the Rijksmuseum, and see two separate but equally plausible meanings based on the circumstances of their own lives. (Focus Features/Mark de Blok)

'Midwinter Break' portrays the complicated beauty in the sacrament of marriage

"Midwinter Break," based on the novel of the same title, is a quiet film about a long marriage between a Catholic woman and secular man, where love and tension both dwell.

ByElizabeth Hamilton
Several people sit on a couch with a Black little girl. A woman stands, holding a baby.

The enduring beauty and message of 'Champagne,' a short film that challenges the heart

Simoa Barros writes on a lesser-known animated flick from the late Michael Sporn that tells of a young Black girl who navigates her world in living color.

BySimoa Barros, Black Catholic Messenger

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

50 Cent's 'Moses the Black' brings 4th-century saint into mainstream culture

Diane Keaton's search for heaven

Catholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan

Women meet at the Tabana Bedouin camp near Al-Azariyeh, in the West Bank, for a "Threads of Peace" embroidery workshop on Feb. 28, 2026, as part of the Comboni sisters' accompaniment of Bedouin communities living with daily uncertainty. Sr. Cecilia Sierra is pictured, white veil, center. The image is obscured to protect identity. (Courtesy of Sr. Cecilia Sierra)
Columns

In West Bank, families we accompany teach us to stay present, even amid sirens

"Through this daily life, we learn resilience, hospitality, and faith persevering in the face of the uncertain. The families we accompany teach us to remain present, even when the future is unclear."

Sr. Immaculate Muthoni is a Kenyan sister of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis and a practicing lawyer who weaves her vowed life with legal advocacy for human rights, governance, institutional accountability and compliance. (Courtesy of Immaculate Muthoni)

Q&A with Sr. Immaculate Muthoni, practicing law in Kenya

Kenyan Sr. Immaculate Muthoni is a practicing lawyer who weaves her vowed life with legal advocacy for human rights, governance, institutional accountability and compliance.

ByJoseph Maina
Observers blow their whistles while federal agents conduct immigration enforcement operations on Feb. 5, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP/Ryan Murphy)
Columns

We already have within us the hope that we need: Being a neighbor

We need to believe that together we are creating a collective transforming energy in our world. I find examples of this as people have responded to ICE raids. People have been acting as neighbors to one another.

ByNancy Sylvester
Sr. Marie Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa checks the reishi mushrooms in the growing house she and Sr. Agathe Tran Thi Mong Huyen operate at their St. Paul de Chartres convent in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This mushroom variety needs six months to grow before harvest. (Courtesy of Marie Nguyen Thi Minh Hoa)

Vietnamese sisters grow organic mushrooms to serve community and fund scholarships

They use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Waste is reused. Damaged mushrooms are dried and ground into seasoning powder.

ByJoachim Pham

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Bangladeshi consecrated virgin Dora D'Rozario receives papal award

Second Sunday of Lent: God's call and the promise of transformation

Catholics in Bangladesh urge new government to ensure women's safety, religious freedom