A Franciscan sister journeyed to the Arctic. She found a land teeming with life.

News

With oil drilling threats looming in a federally protected reserve the size of South Carolina, faith leaders hope to reframe the Arctic as an ecosystem essential to life.

The Latest

Peru: Historic churches severely damaged following earthquakes

Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

Pop culture’s 'reverent irreverence': Irony, sincerity and religion

Krysta Fauria, Associated Press, Religion News Service

Florida Catholic bishops urge DeSantis to stay two executions set for July 28

Kate Scanlon, OSV News

Editors' Choice

Four bishops lie on the floor as they are given episcopal consecration during a Mass in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary, in Econe, Switzerland, July 1, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

In Focus

Traditionalist Catholics face a difficult choice after Vatican cuts off breakaway group

For traditionalist Catholics who worship at churches affiliated with the breakaway Society of St. Pius X, Sunday Mass now comes with an extraordinary question.

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Four bishops lie on the floor as they are given episcopal consecration during a Mass in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary, in Econe, Switzerland, July 1, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

#1
Traditionalist Catholics face a difficult choice after Vatican cuts off breakaway group

For traditionalist Catholics who worship at churches affiliated with the breakaway Society of St. Pius X, Sunday Mass now comes with an extraordinary question.

ByHolly Meyer, Associated Press
Peter Thiel speaks with attendees at the 2022 Converge Tech Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

#2
Tech billionaire Peter Thiel takes on popes, delves into end-times theology

In the last two weeks, venture tech capitalist Peter Thiel has accused Pope Leo XIV of being a Chinese communist agent because of his teaching on AI, and has insinuated that Pope Francis was an Antichrist figure.

ByBrian Fraga
Vatican News

#3
As bishop in Peru, future Pope Leo showed himself ahead of the curve on synodality

Despite the controversy surrounding synodality, the pope's ministerial record shows that the principles of a participatory church are deeply embedded in his pastor's DNA.

ByJustin McLellan

#4
Nuns hope international spotlight from World Cup shines on Mexico's disappeared

#5
Religious ignorance is as problematic as anti-religious bias

#6
How Andy Burnham's religious roots shaped Britain's first Catholic-born prime minister

Opinion

What data center protests, Andy Burnham reveal about rebuilding a populism of the left

NCR Voices

Podcast: 'Racism has injured us all,' says racial healing leader Catherine Meeks

Guest Voices
A Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade launches an interceptor drone in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, June 26, 2026. (RNS/AP/Andrii Marienko)

AI will make war worse, Pope Leo warns

Guest Voices

Technology, detached from ethics and responsibility, will make wartime decisions about life and death more rapid and impersonal, the pope writes in the final chapter of Magnifica Humanitas.

Can civil religion make a comeback?

NCR Voices

The US has entered a national era of cruelty

Guest Voices
The New York Times Building in Manhattan, New York City (Wikimedia Commons/Adam Jones)

Editorial: Catholic support for press freedoms must be unwavering

Editorial

Catholics need to speak up for press freedom. As Jesuit Fr. John Courtney Murray put it in 1963: "The freedom of the press to inform is nothing really but the other side of the rights of the people to be informed."

Vatican

Pope Leo quotes Bob Dylan song in book foreword calling for nuclear disarmament

Pope Leo XIV said the conscience of just one person can "be worth the entire world" when it comes to preventing a nuclear catastrophe, in a new book foreword that also quotes an unpublished Bob Dylan song about the atomic bomb.

Synod study group report on same-sex attraction continues to draw mixed reactions

Weeks after the release of a synod study group report on controversial pastoral issues, experts have continued to express mixed opinions about the document's treatment of same-sex attraction.

ByGina Christian, OSV News
Laura Sgro, a lawyer representing a former religious sister that has reported sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse committed by Fr. Marko Rupnik, speaks at a news conference in Rome Feb. 21, 2024. (CNS/Justin McLellan)

Vatican denies rumors of Rupnik acquittal

The proceedings remain underway, the Holy See Press Office said July 22, rejecting as "completely unfounded" rumors that the case had concluded and absolved the artist and former Jesuit of any wrongdoing.

ByJustin McLellan
Vatican News

As bishop in Peru, future Pope Leo showed himself ahead of the curve on synodality

Despite the controversy surrounding synodality, the pope's ministerial record shows that the principles of a participatory church are deeply embedded in his pastor's DNA.

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Leo Chronicles

The Leo Chronicles: The beautiful game

Traditionalist Catholics face a difficult choice after Vatican cuts off breakaway group

Rates of HIV, AIDS down, but children still vulnerable, says Vatican diplomat to UN

EarthBeat

Peru: Historic churches severely damaged following earthquakes

After a pair of earthquakes struck the mountainous region of Junín in Peru, the Catholic Church in the country expressed solidarity with victims' families and is coordinating humanitarian aid to help victims, as well as efforts to preserve damaged historic churches.

A Franciscan sister journeyed to the Arctic. She found a land teeming with life.

With oil drilling threats looming in a federally protected reserve the size of South Carolina, faith leaders hope to reframe the Arctic as an ecosystem essential to life.

ByBrian Roewe

CRS receives State Department funds to 'significantly expand' humanitarian aid to Cuba

Catholic Relief Services is welcoming federal support that will help "significantly expand" humanitarian aid to Cuba, as the Caribbean nation battles multiple crises.

ByGina Christian, OSV News
The inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal, which the pope himself will present at Castel Gandolfo in October during the 2026 Villanova International Sustainability Conference in Rome. (OSV News/Courtesy of Villanova University)

Villanova unveils Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal ahead of Rome conference

A new award created by Villanova University, named after its most famous — and only papal — alumnus, will recognize extraordinary efforts in caring for the Earth and the common good.

ByBrian Roewe

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

How a Benedictine monk built Rhode Island's first utility-scale wind turbine

Death toll in Venezuela nears 5,000 as earthquake recovery intensifies

Peruvians exposed to lead as children reach $150M settlement, with Catholic help

Culture

Geese the band

Pop culture’s 'reverent irreverence': Irony, sincerity and religion

The artistic phenomenon of irony collapsing into sincerity is being interpreted by some as a way for younger generations to grapple with ritual, meaning and authenticity, even as participation in organized religion in the United States has dropped dramatically in recent decades.

Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena appear in a scene from "The Odyssey," by director Christopher Nolan. (OSV News/Universal/Melinda Sue Gordon)

Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' demands we consider the cost of war

Nolan's film is fundamentally about how war changes everyone; when dehumanization and murder is institutionalized, social morals disappear. 

ByEmma Cieslik
Bible in a Year Family Edition

'Bible in a Year' podcast announces upcoming 'Family Edition' with Black Catholic priest Josh Johnson

A new podcast encouraging biblical literacy for youth is set to launch in 2027 with one of the nation's most prominent young Black Catholic priests.

BySheila Hodges , Black Catholic Messenger
Spain's Lamine Yamal (19) and Argentina's Lionel Messi (10) embrace after during the World Cup final soccer match between Spain and Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP/Seth Wenig)

What remains after the World Cup ends

In an age of distraction and isolation, we were for six weeks invited into presence and community. But if the beautiful game is a microcosm of life, what lessons can we take with us?

ByMichael O'Connell

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

In new documentary, Mario Cuomo is a stark contrast to today's Catholic politicians

Spiritual lessons from World Cup penalty kicks

The unshakable faith of Ms. Rachel

One of the themes explored by participants during the June 24-29, 2026, Talitha Kum leadership training program in Bangkok was that of best practices. (Courtesy of Takitha Kum)

With human trafficking 'evolving drastically,' sisters learn to meet new challenges

"We want to make sure that our sisters on the ground stay updated so we can equip them as effectively as possible": The anti-trafficking coalition Talitha Kum held a recent leadership training course in Bangkok.

Sr. Tasiana Eni Susilawati facilitates social mapping on the livelihoods of women and children in the coastal community of Teluk Nipah, Indonesia, in July 2025. The session, conducted with the Good Shepherd program team in Batam and the MDO Indonesia team, gathered data on the community's economic realities and challenges. (Maria Anggelina)
Columns

In Indonesia, Good Shepherd Sisters accompany children across an archipelago

Good Shepherd Sisters have ministered in Indonesia since 1927. One of their most unique ministries is in Batam City, an archipelago of 329 large and small islands in the Riau Islands Province.

By

Catholic sisters in Kenya shape a sustainable future at AOSK 2026 general meeting

As the association prioritizes long-term sustainability, sisters reflected on strengthening the prophetic voice of Catholic sisters, formation for mission in the 21st century and synodal leadership.

ByLourine Oluoch
Sr. Catherine Gill leads an orientation session on Talitha Kum with major religious superiors in Lahore on Feb. 4, 2025. (Courtesy of Catherine Gill)
Columns

Q&A with Sr. Catherine Gill, working to prevent human trafficking

Gill, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary and the principal of an all-girls school in Karachi, Pakistan, hopes to save youth from exploitation through Sunday school classes and faith formation.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Israeli and Palestinian women wage peace and share light

As US Catholic nuns age, more congregations turn to outside leaders

With Judith Forum, congregations collaborate to empower widows in India