An Italian flag flies in Rome, with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican seen in the background. (Dreamstime/Vchalup)

Rome reporter's new memoir sheds light on why Vatican reform remains tricky

Culture

In his new memoir, The Italian Job, The New York Times' Jason Horowitz chronicles the highs and lows of nearly a quarter-century of living and reporting on Italy. 

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Pope Leo XIV gives the thumbs up as he arrives in his popemobile in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Oct. 21, 2026, to hold his first weekly general audience since cancer surgery on Oct. 13. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti)

In Focus

Pope's doctors say his cancer did not spread, 'no further treatment is necessary'

Pope Leo XIV's doctors said on Wednesday that his lung cancer did not spread beyond a malignant tumor that was removed during his Oct. 13 operation. They stated, "No further treatment is necessary."

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#1
Priest in Ecuador, 53, struck and killed by falling crucifix during Mass

A priest in Ecuador was struck and killed by a falling crucifix while celebrating Mass, a tragedy captured during a livestream of the service on Oct. 17.

ByDavid Agren, OSV News
POPE LEO ANGELUS POST SURGERY
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#2
Pope Leo tells faithful in St. Peter's Square he will gradually resume duties after cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV thanked thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square on Sunday for their prayers while he was hospitalized for an operation to remove a malignant tumor, and said he plans to gradually return to his usual duties. The crowd erupted in cheers when the pontiff showed himself in the window overlooking the square, where a week ago on the same occasion of the traditional Angelus blessing he revealed that a nodule had been located on his lung, and that it would be surgically removed.

 

ByColleen Barry, Trisha Thompson, Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV smiles as a person takes a cellphone photo as the pontiff arrives at Rome's Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13, 2026, ahead of his surgery that afternoon. (OSV News/Reuters/Ciro De Luca)

#3
Leo's calm amid cancer diagnosis spotlights another side of his pontificate

Pope Leo XIV's calm "has been his style for many, many years," says one archbishop. "I don't think he is going to change overnight."

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#4
Catholic higher education has an indispensable moment

#5
Pope Leo's brother shares his own cancer battle, the role of faith and his 1 request

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U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, second from the left, stops with a congressional delegation in August 2019 at Central American University in San Salvador where six murdered Jesuit priests who influenced his work and faith are buried. McGovern led the delegation to El Salvador to study causes of migration. (CNS/Courtesy of Rep. Jim McGovern)

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"I'm a progressive Democrat because of my faith — not in spite of it. And I think it's time more of us said so," Rep. Jim McGovern writes.

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St. Bonaventure's characterization of St. Francis' ecological piety highlights virtue of kinship.

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Pope Leo XIV leaves Rome's Gemelli Hospital Oct. 17, 2026, following his lung surgery and cancer diagnosis. (OSV News/Reuters/Vincenzo Livieri)
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Pope Leo's hospitalization creates wave of fake AI pope images

Since Pope Leo's hospitalization on Oct. 13 for the removal of a cancerous lung nodule, the internet has exploded with AI-generated pictures of the pontiff in the hospital.

Pope Leo XIV gives the thumbs up as he arrives in his popemobile in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Oct. 21, 2026, to hold his first weekly general audience since cancer surgery on Oct. 13. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti)
Vatican News

Pope's doctors say his cancer did not spread, 'no further treatment is necessary'

Pope Leo XIV's doctors said on Wednesday that his lung cancer did not spread beyond a malignant tumor that was removed during his Oct. 13 operation. They stated, "No further treatment is necessary."

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Brother Leo finds himself in Mogadishu, Somalia.
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The Leo Chronicles: Brother Leo finds himself in Mogadishu, Somalia, looking for a friend.

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Pope Leo XIV urges humanitarian cooperation between Ukraine and Russia during call with Zelenskyy

Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging cooperation with Russia to allow humanitarian aid into the embattled city of Oleshky and the safe evacuation of civilians, the Vatican said.

ByAssociated Press

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At Cadillac Mountain, a missing Wabanaki marker and the fight over what national parks should tell

Some of the signs removed from Acadia were developed over years of partnerships with organizations including Friends of Acadia, the Schoodic Institute and the Native Plant Trust — with consultation from citizens of the Wabanaki Nations.

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In praise of a wild, unfettered God

There is beauty in the fact that we do not serve a God who grants us wishes like a genie, writes Alli Bobzien. Our God is wild and free.

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The Teton mountains reflect on Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park in Moran, Wyoming, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP photo/Amber Baesler, File)

In midterms, Catholic voters must keep national parks in mind

Attacks on the National Park Service are just tip of the iceberg of ecological sins, and a specifically Catholic issue.

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Culture

An Italian flag flies in Rome, with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican seen in the background. (Dreamstime/Vchalup)

Rome reporter's new memoir sheds light on why Vatican reform remains tricky

In his new memoir, The Italian Job, The New York Times' Jason Horowitz chronicles the highs and lows of nearly a quarter-century of living and reporting on Italy. 

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Book Reviews

New book carries Ignatian prayer into myths and fairy tales

NCR Book Club: In Where Wonder Leads, author Eric Clayton does for the reader what Gandalf does for a hobbit and Dumbledore does for an orphan: He points the way, names the dangers and steps aside.

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'The Shack' author Paul Young returns with a sequel set on Death Row

Two decades after his first novel became a runaway hit, William Paul Young returns to the world of ‘The Shack’ in a story where a grieving father meets the man who killed his daughter.

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'Narnia' director Greta Gerwig unveils trailer with sincerity amid controversy

Gerwig received some backlash for choosing Meryl Streep to voice Aslan in her upcoming adaptation of The Magician's Nephew, but when she gathered with journalists Oct. 12 to unveil the trailer, that controversy seemed far away.

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This September in Minnesota, the flame of love, compassion and justice ignited in over 65 Presentation Sisters as well as lay women and men from North America and beyond, as we birthed the Presentation Movement.

Two details of "Cosmovitral," a stained glass window by Leopoldo Flores in Toluca, Mexico (Photos courtesy of Ma Elena López Munguía)
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What if our consecrated life were a beautiful stained glass window, shaped by the profound experience of God lived by every one of us?

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Zambian sisters shelter young girls in Chirundu's red light district

Mudzi-wa-Moyo, founded by the Sisters of Charity of Sts. Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, currently cares for 60 girls in Chirundu, Zambia, by meeting their essential needs for shelter, food and clothing.

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Sisters of the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham pose for a photo at Mary's House in Walsingham, England. (Courtesy of Community of Our Lady of Walsingham)

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The Community of Our Lady of Walsingham aims to tap into a new openness toward religiousness among young British people.

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