Missionary priest Fr. Raymond Riding hugs two little girls at a Mass hastily organized on June 27 in Tucson, Arizona, to support Venezuelan migrants who are worried and in mourning after two devastating earthquakes killed hundreds of people and injured thousands more in their homeland on June 24. (Anita Snow)

Mission priest supports US families impacted by Venezuela's earthquakes

News

"We are going to put their names on this paper and leave them here for Jesus," Fr. Raymond Riding said of family members and friends killed, hurt or missing in the recent disaster.

In this 2015 file photo, Adrian Dominican Sr. Patricia Siemen, Amityville Dominican Sr. Margaret Mayce and Adrian Dominican Sr. Elise García demonstrate in Paris for climate justice. (CNS/Global Sisters Report)
Opinion

Why are sisters more engaged in environmental activism than other church leaders?

Sabrina Danielsen
Photo of mountains in Colorado, with purple cast
Opinion

America the beautiful? That depends on what we build

Scott Hurd

The Latest

Catholic priest killed in Central African Republic remembered as a messenger of peace

Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News

Between July 4 and Nov. 3, faith leaders seek fair access to the voting booth

Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service

Though he lived 1,500 years ago, St. Benedict is still a man of our times

Helen Mueting

Editors' Choice

In Focus

Vatican unveils agenda for global family summit marking 'Amoris Laetitia' anniversary

The Vatican has released the framework for a fall meeting with the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches and presidents of bishops' conferences, marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia and focusing on the Church's pastoral approach to families.

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Excommunicated Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta elevates the host during an illicit consecration Mass in Écône, Switzerland, celebrated by the Society of St. Pius X on July 1, 2026. The following day, the Vatican declared the four new bishops and those who consecrated them to be schismatics, as well as all the clergy and lay faithful who adhere to the schism. (Courtesy of the Society of St. Pius X)

#1
Vatican declares SSPX bishops, priests schismatic, says lay faithful risk excommunication

After the Society of St. Pius X created four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican declared that the bishops, the men who consecrated them and the priests and laity who adhered to the schism, had been excommunicated.

ByJustin McLellan
Newly consecrated Society of St. Pius X bishops, from left, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier pray at the end of their consecration ceremony in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Écône, Switzerland, July 1, 2026. (AP/Baz Ratner)
NCR Voices

#2
The Society of St. Pius X shows itself out the door

There is room for everybody within the church's embrace. Except those who refuse the embrace. It appears the Vatican has finally lost patience with these antisemitic, post-liberal, cafeteria and now former Catholics.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Fr. John Ubel, pastor of the Church of St. Agnes, wears the traditional biretta hat and vestments as he sits between altar servers during one of the Catholic parish's Latin Masses in St. Paul, Minn., June 28, 2026. (AP/Giovanna Dell'Orto)

#3
As Pope Leo faces SSPX schism, a Minnesota church merges old customs with fidelity

St. Agnes in St. Paul is not affiliated with SSPX, but parishioners said they were saddened by the schism and would continue to pray for a united church.

ByGiovanna Dell'orto, Associated Press

#4
Defying pope and facing excommunication, SSPX consecrates bishops at huge outdoor Mass

#5
Canon lawyer: Vatican's SSPX schism decree necessary for church unity

#6
After defying Pope Leo and causing schism, SSPX defends its actions

Opinion

Podcast: 'What kind of people does God intend us to be?' asks Wes Howard-Brook

Guest Voices

The Society of St. Pius X shows itself out the door

NCR Voices
Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims holding a flag of the United States as he arrives in St. Peter's Square on the popemobile for his general audience at the Vatican June 18, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Pope Leo received the Liberty Medal. Here's what 3 previous popes said on US freedom.

NCR Voices

Pope Leo XIV will be honored as a recipient of the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center on July 3. The last three popes have all made serious attempts to address the idea of America in its own terms.

Was George Washington Catholic? Unlikely, but his religious tolerance predated Vatican II.

Guest Voices

For Catholics at America's 250th, our faith calls us to 'a more perfect union'

Guest Voices
A July 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence: The Exeter Broadside hangs on the wall during a press preview at Sotheby's in New York City, January 17, 2025. (OSV News/Reuters/Adam Gray)

Editorial: Fight for democracy remains urgent as US marks 250 years

Editorial

The question we need to pose this July Fourth, one that previous generations of Americans have had to pose and answer, is this: What are we celebrating?

Vatican

Vatican News

Vatican unveils agenda for global family summit marking 'Amoris Laetitia' anniversary

The Vatican has released the framework for a fall meeting with the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches and presidents of bishops' conferences, marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia and focusing on the Church's pastoral approach to families.

Vatican News

Pope visits US embassy July 4 for discussion on peace and freedom, with a side of apple pie

After spending the morning praying for migrants on the island of Lampedusa, Italy, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and his family.

ByOSV News

Pope heads on vacation after decisive flexing of papal muscle on international and church stage

Pope Leo XIV began a summer vacation on Sunday, capping a whirlwind finale to the first half of 2026 in which he emerged as a powerful global statesman on issues from artificial intelligence to war and flexed decisive papal muscle to govern internal church problems.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV pays tribute at the cemetery and on little Joussef's grave, in Lampedusa, Sicily, southern Italy, Saturday, July 4, 2026, during a one-day pastoral visit to an island that has become a symbol of the risks faced by migrants trying to reach Europe by sea. (Pool photo/Ciro Fusco, via AP)
Vatican News

Pope Leo visits Lampedusa, migrant hotspot, on July 4

Leo, who said religion must never justify discrimination, symbolically took up the mantle of his predecessor, who placed migration at the center of his pontificate by visiting the island in July 2013.

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

After defying Pope Leo and causing schism, SSPX defends its actions

Vatican News

Pope Leo on eve of US 250: Keep working for liberty despite 'ever new challenges'

Canon lawyer: Vatican's SSPX schism decree necessary for church unity

EarthBeat

Renewable energy investments are a moral and economic imperative

Ordinary families are being asked to carry the costs of an energy system that enriches a few while leaving communities everywhere vulnerable to conflict, instability and rising prices. 

Workers remove trash from a clam-farming area in Vinh An, Vietnam, on June 17, 2026. Farmers say plastic waste and other flood-borne debris have contributed to declining harvests. (Joachim Pham)

As plastic chokes Vietnam's seas, people of faith cast their nets for hope

Vietnam is among the five largest contributors to marine plastic pollution globally. For local fishing communities, the consequences are becoming impossible to ignore. Every trip brings encounters with floating debris.

ByJoachim Pham

Reeling from Venezuela's earthquakes, churches rush to inspect buildings, distribute supplies

Despite the fact that many Venezuelan faith leaders have been themselves impacted by the ongoing disaster, they’ve sprung into action to provide food, psychological support and other basic needs to the large population of victims.

ByAleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service

Pope Leo XIV calls for solidarity, prayers after deadly Venezuela quakes

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims of devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela as the death toll continues to climb and rescuers race to save people trapped under collapsed buildings.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Bishops plan Mass on pilgrimage mountain Trump administration seeks to seize

Catholic dioceses race for solar credits ahead of GOP tax law's early phaseout

Archbishop calls for prayer, solidarity after twin earthquakes devastate Venezuela

Culture

U.S. fans react in Portland, Ore., July 6, 2026, after the United States was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup. The United States men's national soccer team ended its run following a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the teams' round of 16 game. (OSV News/Reuters/Denny Medley)

The complicated embrace of US patriotism at the World Cup

In a time when patriotism feels complicated, the World Cup has given us a chance to root for something overtly, unapologetically American. Until doing so — yet again — felt tainted.

Pedestrians walk past the emergency entrance at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, March 16, 2010. The 160-year-old hospital closed the following month. (AP/Kathy Willens)

How a long-closed NYC Catholic hospital still provides lessons for the church

Even though New York's St. Vincent's Medical Center has shuttered, Seton Hall University historian Thomas Rzeznik says the hospital continues to provide important insights for other Catholic institutions today.

ByMichael J. O'Loughlin
The Fairfield University Art Museum exhibition "For Which It Stands" includes these works at the university's Walsh Gallery. (Left): Danielle Scott, False Flag, 2020, photo transfer and found objects (shotgun shells) on US flag. Courtesy of the artist. © Danielle Scott. (Center): Imo Nse Imeh, and i'll be there with you, 2021, charcoal, India ink and conte crayon on unstretched canvas. Courtesy of the artist. © Imo Nse Imeh. (Right): Sara Rahbar, I don't trust you anymore, Flag #59, 2019, mixed media

At a Jesuit university, American flag art exhibit explores patriotism and protest

The wide range of reactions to the American flag through painting, photography, print, video and mixed media make the 74-piece exhibit at Fairfield University as diverse as the country itself.

ByChris Herlinger
Disclosure Day still

Religious groups are more prepared for aliens than you think

Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' asks: If intelligent life were to be discovered beyond Earth, would it shatter religious traditions? Most faith practitioners say no.

ByJack Jenkins, Religion News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

On my road trip to the World Cup, the fans defined the experience

Book Reviews

'What Grows in Weary Lands' is a satisfactory, if incomplete, look at monastic thought

The homilies and addresses of Pope Leo XIV are now coming to English readers

In this 2015 file photo, Adrian Dominican Sr. Patricia Siemen, Amityville Dominican Sr. Margaret Mayce and Adrian Dominican Sr. Elise García demonstrate in Paris for climate justice. (CNS/Global Sisters Report)

Why are sisters more engaged in environmental activism than other church leaders?

In the face of decades of papal teachings about the reality and urgency of climate change, U.S. sisters have been leaders on environmental action. In contrast, U.S. bishops have largely not been creation care leaders.

A fresco in the cell of St. Benedict at the Monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy depicts Benedict weeping after foreseeing the destruction of the monastery. The Latin inscription reads, "Here he foresaw and wept over the destruction of the monastery." (GSR photo/Helga Leija)
Columns

Though he lived 1,500 years ago, St. Benedict is still a man of our times

St. Benedict, father of Western monasticism, lived in a time of turmoil, probably much like our present time. Ten hallmarks help mold the Benedictine life he established, and they continue to be relevant today.

ByHelen Mueting
Sr. Joanna Okereke, assistant director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers, speaks to a group of bishops Nov. 12, 2024, in Baltimore, about the different hidden communities the subcommittee works with. (GSR photo/ Rhina Guidos)

Q&A with Sr. Joanna Okereke, educating US bishops on hidden communities

In her work for the pastoral care of migrants at the U.S. bishops' conference, Sr. Joanna Okereke leads workshops that "create awareness for the bishops to know these ministries exist, that these people are in need."

ByRhina Guidos
White vans parked outside the immigration courts in Harlingen, Texas, means there are unaccompanied minors with immigration hearings that day. The children travel in the vans from shelters where they stay until they can be placed with relatives or a guardian, or be deported. (Courtesy of Rose Kuhn)

For migrant children facing deportation alone in court, a Catholic nun shows up

"I'm not a hearing officer, I have nothing to do with the whole process," Sr. Rose Kuhn tells unaccompanied minors facing deportation in court. "I'm here to accompany you."

ByDan Stockman

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Life in the Spirit and rest in Christ

Catholic sisters use shareholder activism to press Palantir, GM on human rights

Disarming the way we see and learning to see anew