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What a new book tells us about the conclave that elected Pope Leo

A pile of books, an open book, a cup of coffee or tea, and a plant sit on a table near a window.

Culture

NCR Members read: Nonfiction

Shannon Evans

An Iranian flag is placed among the ruins of a police station struck March 2 during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 3. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

In Focus

Editorial: War in Iran is a reckless venture

We have gone to war on the bluster and wish of a president for whom reality and facts are transactions amenable to his needs of a given moment.

NCR Editorial Staff

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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)

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#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.

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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."

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

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#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

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What led St. Pope John XXIII to call Vatican II?

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President Donald Trump appears in the East Room of the White House Feb. 23. (AP/Alex Brandon)

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Trump's treatment of the vulnerable shifted the US Catholic bishops' politics

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Vatican theological commission warns of replacing God with 'a world governed by machines'

The Vatican's International Theological Commission has warned that if humanity places total trust in technology in a "world ruled by machines," it risks replacing the "living God" with a counterfeit "virtual God."

2 Elisabetta Piqué and Gerard O'Connell give a Spanish-language edition of their book, The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis, to Leo during a flight from Rome to Ankara Nov. 27, 2025. (Courtesy of Gerard O'Connell and Elisabetta Piqué)

What a new book tells us about the conclave that elected Pope Leo

A new book suggests that Cardinal Robert Prevost's path to the papacy was shaped by fragile alliances and small human moments that influenced perceptions inside the Sistine Chapel and produced the first U.S.-born pope.

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'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

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The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 15, 2021 (OSV News/Reuters/Kathleen Flynn)

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

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

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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

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Delight in the simple, abundant gifts all around you

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NCR Members read: Nonfiction

NCR Forward members share their best book recommendations.

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NCR members read: Fiction and memoir

NCR Forward members share their best book recommendations.

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

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