National Catholic Reporter | The Independent News Source

Feb 20, 2019

Despite threats of protests, Irish government minister delivers talk on women's ordination

by Sarah Mac Donald

Feb 20, 2019

Editorial

Editorial: Systemic malady has deep roots in clerical culture

Feb 20, 2019

The bishops' letter fails to recognize that racism is a white problem

by Daniel P. Horan

Feb 20, 2019

While "Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love — A Pastoral Letter Against Racism" states that some have called racism in the United States our country's original sin, the bishops neglect to name the sinner.

Column

There's a lot to learn from the good McCarthys

by Colman McCarthy

Feb 19, 2019

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Joseph McCarthy lend shadows to my surname, but there are other people who live up to the Gaelic lineage and meaning of the name, "son of the loving."

'Birds of Passage' shows origin of the drug trade from Colombian POV

Feb 18, 2019

"Birds of Passage" is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've seen in a decade. Directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, whose 2015 film "Embrace of the Serpent" was nominated for an Oscar, have reunited to tell this story.

Excerpt: 'In the Closet of the Vatican'

by Frédéric Martel

Feb 18, 2019

Excerpt: 'The problem is that if you tell the truth about the "closet" and the special friendships in the Vatican, people won't believe you. They'll say it's made up. Because here reality goes beyond fiction.'

Quick Reads

Update: N.J. priest at Vatican, removed in 2018, was accused of abuse in 2003

Updated

Feb 20, 2019

Following unrest in Haiti, CRS weighs how best to ramp up services

by Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service

Feb 20, 2019

Supreme Court to hear oral arguments on 2020 citizenship census question

Feb 19, 2019

West Virginia Catholic high school removes bishop's name from gym

by Colleen Rowan, Catholic News Service

Feb 19, 2019

Pope lifts suspension imposed on Nicaraguan priest 34 years ago

Feb 18, 2019

DiNardo: Action on McCarrick 'clear signal' church will not tolerate abuse

Feb 18, 2019

Opinion

Commentary

Institutional lying at heart of the crisis

by Jason Berry

Feb 20, 2019

Commentary, Part 2 of 3: For years, bishops proclaimed the sanctity of life in the womb while playing musical chairs with child molesters. They kept the closed system operating, until insiders leaked information.

Editorial

Editorial: Systemic malady has deep roots in clerical culture

Feb 20, 2019

We say: Some concrete measures must be taken if the church is to find the path to healing and credibility and if trust between hierarchy and the rest of the community is ever to be restored. Those measures must include a firm, clear, global definition of zero tolerance and what happens when a member of the clergy is accused.

Column | Distinctly Catholic

Links for 2/20/19

Feb 20, 2019

Blog | NCR Today

A powerful analysis of the church in crisis

by Mary Ann McGivern

Feb 19, 2019

Blog | NCR Connections

'Nuns and Nones': An energizing and hopeful story

by Tom Roberts

Feb 19, 2019

Blog | The Francis Chronicles

Francis, the comic strip

by Pat Marrin

Feb 19, 2019

Accountability

Survivors disappointed to not meet Francis; call Vatican summit conversational

Feb 20, 2019

Vatican City: Peter Isely, an Ending Clergy Abuse member who took part in the meeting, said some of the survivors told the summit organizers it was "not OK" that Francis was not there.

Oakland bishop: Publishing priest-abusers list an 'act of contrition'

Feb 20, 2019

The Diocese of Oakland, which serves two California counties in the East Bay area, published Feb. 18 a list of priests, deacons and religious brothers who have worked in the diocese and been credibly accused of abuse, dating back to the diocese's founding in 1962.

Editorial: Systemic malady has deep roots in clerical culture

Feb 20, 2019

Institutional lying at heart of the crisis

by Jason Berry

Feb 20, 2019

Brooklyn's list covers diocese's 166 years, has 108 credible abuse claims

Feb 19, 2019

British inquiry into church sexual abuse blasts UK's papal nuncio

by Catherine Pepinster, Religion News Service

Feb 19, 2019

Politics

Distinctly Catholic

Links for 2/20/19

Feb 20, 2019

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: There's only one way to reform clericalism; anti-Semitism threatens democratic party; Evangelicals need a history lesson; the American people are more economically progressive than liberal elites

Supreme Court to hear oral arguments on 2020 citizenship census question

Feb 19, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in April about the Trump administration's push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and its decision will come just in the nick of time, since the Census Bureau needs to begin printing forms for the every-10 years-questionnaire this summer.

Editorial: Is John Paul II the model for abortion debate?

Feb 18, 2019

Dingell, longest serving member in Congress, recalled at funeral as 'doer'

Feb 15, 2019

We do not need another businessman in the White House, Mr. Schultz

Feb 15, 2019

Links for 2/14/19

Feb 14, 2019

Vatican

Update: N.J. priest at Vatican, removed in 2018, was accused of abuse in 2003

Updated

Feb 20, 2019

U.S. Msgr. Joseph Punderson, a senior official of the Vatican's highest court, was "removed from ministry," according to the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.

Survivors disappointed to not meet Francis; call Vatican summit conversational

Feb 20, 2019

Vatican City: Peter Isely, an Ending Clergy Abuse member who took part in the meeting, said some of the survivors told the summit organizers it was "not OK" that Francis was not there.

To know God is to know love, pope says at audience

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

Feb 20, 2019

World's Catholic superiors general apologize to abuse victims before Vatican summit

Feb 19, 2019

Ahead of abuse summit, Vatican officials decline to comment on accused priest

Feb 18, 2019

McCarrick removed from priesthood after being found guilty of abuse, solicitation

Feb 16, 2019

Parish

Blog

Parish Roundup: responding to domestic violence; being of service

by Peter Feuerherd

Feb 20, 2019

The Field Hospital: New Jersey's list of abusers gets detailed by media; one county in California seemed to end up with the abusing priests; got a rural ministry grant?

Catholics urged to be 'kindling' for Holy Spirit, be 'on fire' as disciples

Feb 14, 2019

The Field Hospital: By launching a "Year of Awakening," the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, said it aims to renew and awaken the faith" in each and every heart" and begin a new "great wave of evangelization" in all of the four-county diocese's parishes and institutions.

Diversity at Mount Angel enriches formation, say seminarians, faculty

by Dan Morris-Young

Feb 14, 2019

Parish roundup: Convocation of the Faithful; shelter from the cold

by Dan Morris-Young

Feb 13, 2019

Survivors, lay leaders help archdiocese hear victims, assist in healing

by Maria Wiering, Catholic News Service

Feb 7, 2019

Parish roundup: Second collections down; Chicago consolidations; children at Mass

by Peter Feuerherd

Feb 6, 2019

World

Philippine bishop: Duterte's drug war is 'illegal, immoral and anti-poor'

by Paul Jeffrey, Catholic News Service

Feb 19, 2019

A Catholic bishop in the Philippines said his government's controversial war on drugs is really a war against the country's poor.

Panama: Catholic sister considers dam a violation of indigenous people's right to religion

by Tracy L. Barnett

Feb 18, 2019

The Panamanian government pushed the Barro Blanco dam project through, flooding Kiad and two other riverside communities, their cemetery and ceremonial site included, while causing springs to dry up and other...

Germany continues payments to churches a century after deciding to stop

by Tom Heneghan, Religion News Service

Feb 13, 2019

Opposition delegation says Vatican supports new elections in Venezuela

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

Feb 12, 2019

Environmentalist priest in Peru says little has changed since pope's visit

by Paula Dupraz-Dobias, Religion News Service

Feb 12, 2019

French order, acknowledging abuse by founder, clarifies pope's remarks

Feb 11, 2019

Justice

Despite threats of protests, Irish government minister delivers talk on women's ordination

by Sarah Mac Donald

Feb 20, 2019

The fear of busloads of protestors demonstrating against Josepha Madigan's position on abortion and divorce led the Sisters of Mercy to cancel the Irish minister's event from taking place on their grounds.

Working group urges UN to step up the fight against homelessness

by Chris Herlinger

Feb 16, 2019

Global Sisters Report: A working group comprising sisters and other religious is pushing the United Nations to formally take up the problem of homelessness as an emerging issue of focus and...

Catholic bishops, groups speak against president's national emergency

by Rhina Guidos, Catholic News Service

Feb 15, 2019

Under Jeanne Atkinson, CLINIC has ramped up efforts to help immigrants

by Maria Benevento

Feb 15, 2019

U.S. bishops condemn court's denial of imam's presence at execution

Feb 12, 2019

Mexican shelters strain with arrival of asylum-seekers at U.S. border

by David Agren, Catholic News Service

Feb 11, 2019

Environment

Panama: Catholic sister considers dam a violation of indigenous people's right to religion

by Tracy L. Barnett

Feb 18, 2019

Paradise Harbor, Antarctica (Wikimedia Commons/Liam Quinn)

Book Review

Books explore Merton the writer, Religion 101 and Antarctic ice

Feb 13, 2019

Book reviews: Mary Gordon probes Merton's dual identities; Barbara Brown Taylor finds God in the faith of others; Jean McNeil uncovers the meaning of winter for the Earth and herself.

Environmentalist priest in Peru says little has changed since pope's visit

by Paula Dupraz-Dobias, Religion News Service

Feb 12, 2019

Spirituality for making the Green New Deal a reality

by Donna Schaper

Feb 11, 2019

Meeting people's need for clean water changes sisters' lives, too

by Dan Stockman

Feb 11, 2019

Put down the pizza, Francis: 12-year-old girl challenges pope to go vegan this Lent

by Brian Roewe

Feb 8, 2019

Books

Books explore Merton the writer, Religion 101 and Antarctic ice

Feb 13, 2019

Book reviews: Mary Gordon probes Merton's dual identities; Barbara Brown Taylor finds God in the faith of others; Jean McNeil uncovers the meaning of winter for the Earth and herself.

Hartke's book teaches about gifts of transgender Christians

by Hilary Howes

Feb 6, 2019

Austen Hartke's accessible storytelling about both Scripture and transgender lives is impressive; for example, what the parables teach is that transgender Christians are not asking to be included for our own sake, but because we bring true gifts to the table.

Francis, friends share Wisdom of Time with youth

Jan 30, 2019

Author suggests the point of religion is to admit not knowing

by Bill Tammeus

Jan 23, 2019

Mentors of an American Gandhi

by Diana L. Hayes

Jan 19, 2019

Contemplation reveals our grounding in God

by Dana Greene

Jan 16, 2019

People

Georgetown University rescinds honorary degree from McCarrick

by Rhina Guidos, Catholic News Service

Feb 20, 2019

Georgetown University in Washington is the latest institution to announce it is rescinding an honorary degree it gave to former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2004.

Despite threats of protests, Irish government minister delivers talk on women's ordination

by Sarah Mac Donald

Feb 20, 2019

Southern Baptists should investigate churches that cover up abuse, says SBC president

by Bob Smietana, Religion News Service

Feb 19, 2019

There's a lot to learn from the good McCarthys

by Colman McCarthy

Feb 19, 2019

People seize on McCarrick laicization for their own agendas

Feb 19, 2019

Dingell, longest serving member in Congress, recalled at funeral as 'doer'

Feb 15, 2019

Spirituality

Soul Seeing

At 69, I still find grace and God on the basketball court

by Patrick T. Reardon

Feb 19, 2019

Soul Seeing: Playing basketball at 69 is not easy on one's pride. Yet, two or three times a week, I'm out on the court with one set of friends or another, sweating, straining and exerting myself. Why? I think it has to do with that "grace and clumsy harmony."

Scripture for Life

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Priceless blessedness

by Mary M. McGlone

Feb 16, 2019

Scripture for Life: What are we who live in great comfort to make of this presentation of the "good news"? Rather than quibble and wiggle with phrases like "poverty of spirit," we need to face Luke's presentation of the Beatitudes as it is.

The sacred tension of solitude

by Julia Walsh

Feb 14, 2019

When it comes to prayer, there is no room for individualism, pope says

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

Feb 13, 2019

Books explore Merton the writer, Religion 101 and Antarctic ice

Feb 13, 2019

Our differences will make the difference in our future

by Joan Chittister

Feb 13, 2019

Theology

Francis reveals he concelebrated Mass with Cardinal Muller and Gustavo Gutierrez

Feb 14, 2019

Pope Francis revealed he once concelebrated Mass at the Vatican with Cardinal Gerhard Müller, then the prefect of the doctrinal congregation, and Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Peruvian often credited with founding the sometimes controversial field of liberation theology.

"Come, follow me. I will make you fishers of people. You will be my disciples." (Wikimedia Commons/Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk)

The Peace Pulpit

God calls you to be priest, prophet and leader

by Thomas Gumbleton

Feb 14, 2019

The Peace Pulpit: Have we ever thought about the moment when God called me, each of us? Maybe we don't think of it that way, but it goes back to our baptism.

Cardinal Muller warns against being silent, in error about Catholic faith

Updated

by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

Feb 11, 2019

Does God want religious diversity? Abu Dhabi text raises questions

Feb 7, 2019

New report warns against priests placing themselves above laity

by Peter Feuerherd

Feb 5, 2019

Ecumenism's on the back burner, but it's had unintentional success

by Ken Briggs

Feb 1, 2019

Media

Covington Catholic student sues Washington Post for $250 million

Feb 20, 2019

The Catholic high school student at the center of an encounter with a Native American tribal leader in Washington filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit Feb. 19 against The Washington Post.

'Birds of Passage' shows origin of the drug trade from Colombian POV

Feb 18, 2019

'Confess': Irish artist's exhibit reflects on clergy sex abuse of children

Feb 16, 2019

Derivative dystopia: 'Alita' needed better characters for its visual spectacle