An anti-abortion activist and a supporter of legal abortion square off with megaphones in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington June 24, 2023, the first anniversary the court's 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. (OSV News/Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

Sociologist: 'Pro-life', 'pro-choice' don't capture Americans' abortion attitudes

News

Sociologist Tricia Bruce and her team found that when it comes to abortion attitudes, everyday Americans do not fall neatly into pro-life or pro-choice binaries. Bruce spoke to the National Catholic Reporter.

The Latest

Will 'nun girl summer' give way to another season of sisters?

Sr. Colleen Gibson

Q&A with sociologist Marla Asis, on nuns reshaping migrant ministry across Asia

Letters to the Editor

Your letters: An eldercare center in India, San Francisco parish assessments and women deacons

NCR Staff

Editors' Choice

A sign promoting empathy is seen among protesters at Donald Trump's first presidential inauguration Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Dreamstime/Arienne Davey)

In Focus

Bishop Barron of Word on Fire fuels debate on empathy's role in society

A prominent Catholic bishop and commentator has waded into the ongoing culture war over empathy and its role in Christianity, siding with conservative influencers who argue that practicing empathy carries great risk.

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Most Read Stories

Joseph Kelly and his wife, Alina Rudnicka, pose during a hike in the Polish Tatra mountains this summer. (Courtesy of Joseph Kelly)

#1
Practicing Augustinian spirituality in our marriage has brought unity amid differences

The Rule of St. Augustine makes sense within a monastery or convent. But does it work in marriage? This couple of 40 years says yes.

ByJoseph Kelley
A priest is seen in a file photo pouring wine into the chalice during the offertory of the liturgy of the Eucharist as he celebrates morning Mass. (OSV News/Bob Roller)

#2
Restricting the chalice is not tradition — it's a troubling innovation

As a few U.S. dioceses restrict access to the precious blood, they are promoting a "newer vision of Catholicism in which restriction of the fuller sign of the Eucharist has come to signify holiness," Karen E. Park writes. 

ByKaren E. Park
Dominican Sr. Mary Sean Hodges talks with Sylvia Trevino at the offices of the Partnership for Re-Entry Program June 8, 2026, in Los Angeles. (GSR photo/Rhina Guidos)

#3
LA nun champions second chances for those rebuilding their lives after prison

For 25 years, Dominican Sr. Mary Sean Hodges has helped incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people heal, prepare for reentry and rebuild their lives through a restorative justice ministry rooted in mercy.

ByRhina Guidos

#4
The insatiable spirituality of Andrew Garfield, star of 'The Uprising'

#5
Pope celebrates his 71st birthday but it's Vatican employees who get the gift

#6
Victim 0001: Friends recall Father Mychal Judge's 9/11 loss and legacy

Opinion

The court and the church confront Trump on voting

NCR Voices

Your letters: An eldercare center in India, San Francisco parish assessments and women deacons

Letters to the Editor
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers closing remarks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas Sept. 10, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Evan Vucci)

Will Trump's effort to nationalize the midterm elections work or backfire?

NCR Voices

Trump believes that the only way the GOP can win the midterms is if they make it a referendum on his leadership. Democrats believe his approach is also their best strategy for winning back the House and the Senate.

Editorial: The church still waits to hear a full confession from the hierarchy

Editorial

'Love is always the next right thing to do,' says Fr. Greg Boyle

Guest Voices
Brian Fraga poses with his cousin Leah Oliver, who died in the Twin Towers Sept. 11, 2001. (Courtesy of Brian Fraga)

25 years after 9/11, I still grieve for my cousin Leah

NCR Voices

"It pains me to reflect on how much Leah — who will forever be one day shy of her 25th birthday on this side of eternity — missed out on," writes NCR's Brian Fraga. 

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV greets Silviu Vexler, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, during a ceremony honoring Blessed Iuliu Hossu in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican June 2, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Vatican document affirms interreligious dialogue as 'journey of hope' for humanity

A new Vatican document, the result of a collaboration among three dicasteries, affirms Vatican II's landmark 1965 teaching on the church's relationship with the Jewish people and those of other faiths.

Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives at the Vatican Library on the day of his 71st birthday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP/Andrew Medichini)

Pope celebrates his 71st birthday but it's Vatican employees who get the gift

The Vatican has published a papal decree repealing 2021 salary cuts that Pope Francis had imposed on many Vatican employees as part of the Holy See's COVID-19 cost-saving measures.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press
The Leo Chronicles: A White Sox pope hat for every U.S. seminarian? Leo suggests sending them something else.

The Leo Chronicles: 'Play ball!'

The Leo Chronicles: A White Sox pope hat for every U.S. seminarian? Leo suggests sending them something else.

ByPat Marrin
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 13, 2026. Leo commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in his address. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Matteo Pernaselci)

Pope commemorates 9/11 attacks with prayers for peace and for those who died

Pope Leo XIV, history's first pope from the U.S., called for a renewed commitment to peace on Sunday (Sept. 13) as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on his home country.

ByNicole Winfield, The Associated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Villanova names Vatican cardinal first recipient of Pope Leo sustainability award

As Lourdes covers Rupnik mosaics for papal visit, Brazil shrine unveils more

Vatican News

Pope's visit to France likely to attract 1M people, with Mass and vigil in Paris and Lourdes trip

EarthBeat

Sand bars develop along the Rio Grande as stretches of the river begin to dry in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 14, 2026. (AP photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

NM archbishop: Politicians must act with 'moral courage' to protect clean water

"We urge our political leaders and decision-makers to act with moral courage," Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester said in a new pastoral letter on the conservation of water, issued Sept. 11.

An irrigation operation runs amid an onion crop on St. Elizabeth Farm in Momoi village in Lower Subukia, Nakuru County, Kenya. (Shadrack Omuka)

St. Elizabeth Demo Farm a beacon of sustainability in Kenyan nun's rural hometown

Sr. Victorina Wanjiru, a Catholic nun born and raised in Momoi village, manages St. Elizabeth Demo Farm, which teaches locals in the area of her hometown sustainable farming and eco-friendly income activities.

ByShadrack Omuka
A drone view shows children picking through washed-up garbage along the polluted Pasig River in Manila, Philippines on June 5, 2025. (OSV News/Reuters/Eloisa Lopez)
NCR Voices

New Vatican document's use of 'ecological sin' vital to conversion

Thanks to the International Theological Commission, Catholics can "name what is happening on an individual, communal and global level in a way that we couldn't before," Daniel P. Horan writes. 

ByDaniel P. Horan
Cardinal Michael Czerny, then-prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, speaks at a presentation of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” at the Synod Hall at the Vatican May 25, 2026. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Villanova names Vatican cardinal first recipient of Pope Leo sustainability award

Pope Leo XIV's alma mater has named the former head of the Vatican's social justice office, Cardinal Michael Czerny, as the inaugural recipient of a sustainability award honoring Leo's advocacy on caring for creation.

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Global warming set to surpass key 1.5 C climate limit by 2030, UN report finds

Nazareth sisters promote holistic healing with nature

Nepal floods leave 'nothing' behind as Catholic nuns mobilize aid

Culture

Stephen Root, Matthew Rhys and Kate O'Flynn star in Apple TV's "Widow's Bay." In its first season, the mayor of a small town on a remote New England island hopes to turn his community into a tourist destination. But an ancient curse stands in the way. (Apple TV)

With 19 Emmy nods, 'Widow's Bay' gets the link between terror and togetherness

Apple TV's series is among the most critically acclaimed television shows of the year. Rebecca Bratten Weiss says Catholics could learn a few things from it.

Tom Hollander as Treasurer Hales, Woody Norman as King Richard II and Katherine Waterston as The Countess interact in director Paul Greengrass' "The Uprising," which opens in theaters Sept. 11.(Focus Features/Betina La Plante)

Does 'The Uprising' really want us to rise up?

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 can inspire us to confront the problem of wealth disparity today. So why does Paul Greengrass' new movie feel more like a warning?

ByRobbie Wessel Kroeschell
Andrew Garfield, shown arriving at the premiere of "The Uprising" on Sept. 2, 2026, has described feeling a "spiritual urgency" when choosing roles and has a reputation for gravitating toward characters with deep religious conviction. (AP/Invision/Jordan Strauss)

The insatiable spirituality of Andrew Garfield, star of 'The Uprising'

The actor finds God in all things — and can't seem to turn down a project that lets him find more. Here he plays Ploughman, the nameless everyman who becomes an unlikely leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

ByShannon Evans O'Brien
Pews with hymnals (Unsplash/Gianna B)

Why Black Catholic musicians should study Gregorian chant

Darrell St. Romain, a scholar and organist, reflects on studying Gregorian chant and its potential to enrich Black Catholic worship.

ByDarrell Anthony St. Romain, Black Catholic Messenger

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Reviews

New book illuminates true barrier to women's diaconate

In the land of the lost, get directions from Catholics who are 'Flipping the Tables'

Dolly Parton's talents were singing and acting, but her legacy will be hope

(GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo; photo: OSV News)
Columns

Will 'nun girl summer' give way to another season of sisters?

Following a summer in which nuns dominated pop culture headlines and social media algorithms, one sister wonders if the trend leads to a much-needed season of synodality.

Marla Asis is a sociologist with more than 30 years of research experience studying international migration and social transformation, with a special focus on Asia. (Courtesy of Maruja M.B. Asis)

Q&A with sociologist Marla Asis, on nuns reshaping migrant ministry across Asia

Sociologist Marla Asis discusses a Vatican-commissioned report documenting how Catholic sisters across Asia serve migrants, refugees and left-behind families with resourceful, holistic and distinctly Catholic care.

By
Illustration shows two figures walking together.

In Kenya, religious women collaborate to care for aging sisters

The Care for Aging Sisters Association focuses on awareness, training, health insurance policy coverage, pension plans and collaboration with education institutions to transform care for aging  sisters.

By
An irrigation operation runs amid an onion crop on St. Elizabeth Farm in Momoi village in Lower Subukia, Nakuru County, Kenya. (Shadrack Omuka)

St. Elizabeth Demo Farm a beacon of sustainability in Kenyan nun's rural hometown

Sr. Victorina Wanjiru, a Catholic nun born and raised in Momoi village, manages St. Elizabeth Demo Farm, which teaches locals in the area of her hometown sustainable farming and eco-friendly income activities.

ByShadrack Omuka

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Discerning Deacons plans forums for Catholic sisters on women in the diaconate

May the voices of the young brave prophets of the Amazon finally be heard

Monastery makeover: Nuns leave lasting legacy of service in Watertown, SD