Members of the military carry a transfer case during the dignified transfer of the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware March 9. Pennington died on March 8 from injuries sustained during a March 1 attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have died in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. (OSV News/Kylie Cooper)
Vatican News

Pope Leo wants Christians to examine their consciences this Lent — especially if they're waging war

Vatican

 Leo's rhetorical question is another example of his reserved, if pointed, approach to weighing in on global issues — particularly those concerning the United States.

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In a file photo, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi answers reporters' questions in Rome Oct. 14, 2010, before giving a presentation at the Vatican. Amid war in the Middle East, Damada, a prominent figure within Iran's Shia clerical establishment, wrote a public letter to Leo calling for peace and respect for international law. (CNS/Paul Haring)

In Focus

An Iranian ayatollah appeals to the pope as war spreads across Middle East

As war spreads across the Middle East following the conflict that erupted Feb. 28 between the United States, Israel and Iran, a senior Iranian cleric has turned to Pope Leo XIV.

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Most Read Stories

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta of the Chaldean Catholic Diocese of St. Peter the Apostle in San Diego was "contacted and detained" March 5 at that city's international airport while "attempting to leave the country," according to a statement issued that same day by the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. He is pictured in an undated photo. (OSV News/Chaldean Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle of San Diego)

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Chaldean Catholic bishop in California jailed for alleged financial crimes

A Chaldean Catholic bishop in California has been arrested and jailed on several financial crimes charges.

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In a file photo, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi answers reporters' questions in Rome Oct. 14, 2010, before giving a presentation at the Vatican. Amid war in the Middle East, Damada, a prominent figure within Iran's Shia clerical establishment, wrote a public letter to Leo calling for peace and respect for international law. (CNS/Paul Haring)

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An Iranian ayatollah appeals to the pope as war spreads across Middle East

As war spreads across the Middle East following the conflict that erupted Feb. 28 between the United States, Israel and Iran, a senior Iranian cleric has turned to Pope Leo XIV.

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Vatican theological commission warns of replacing God with 'a world governed by machines'

The Vatican's International Theological Commission has warned that if humanity places total trust in technology in a "world ruled by machines," it risks replacing the "living God" with a counterfeit "virtual God."

ByCourtney Mares, OSV News

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Vietnamese sisters grow organic mushrooms to serve community and fund scholarships

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In wartime, Catholics must stand at the foot of the cross

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Amid escalating attacks, Catholic groups visiting Holy Land are stranded

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Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, March 1, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Did the pope call out Trump on Iran?

NCR Voices

Amid escalating U.S. military action in Iran, Pope Leo XIV issued a forceful call for peace in the Middle East. The internet made it about Trump.

Vatican

Members of the military carry a transfer case during the dignified transfer of the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware March 9. Pennington died on March 8 from injuries sustained during a March 1 attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have died in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. (OSV News/Kylie Cooper)
Vatican News

Pope Leo wants Christians to examine their consciences this Lent — especially if they're waging war

 Leo's rhetorical question is another example of his reserved, if pointed, approach to weighing in on global issues — particularly those concerning the United States.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, speaks at a Vatican news conference Oct. 9, 2025. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)

Pope's Robin Hood wraps almoner's mission and returns to Polish hometown as archbishop

After 13 years of daring acts of charity that made him break the law in the name of the Gospel and elevate Rome's homeless to the heart of the church, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope's "Robin Hood" leaves Rome after nearly three decades to become archbishop of Lódz, Poland.

ByPaulina Guzik, OSV News
Pope Leo XVI listens to participants in the "Cattedra dell'Accoglienza," a cultural and educational event, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican March 12, 2026. Addressing the group one week before the March 19 feast of St. Joseph, Leo reflected on Jesus' foster father's exemplary role as a responsible guardian for the Holy Family. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Matteo Pernaselci)

Pope Leo XIV points to St. Joseph as an example of the importance of 'being present'

Pope Leo XIV has highlighted how St. Joseph, who is never directly quoted in the Bible, is an example for Christians of the importance of "being present."

ByCourtney Mares, OSV News
A woman sits amid rubble outside her destroyed apartment in Tehran, Iran, March 12, following an airstrike amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. (OSV News/Reuters/Alaa Al Marjani)

Pope Leo leans on proxies to condemn Iran war

The pontiff's public restraint in denouncing the conflict has opened space for other church leaders to lead that moral charge. So far, several cardinals have moved quickly to fill it. 

ByJustin McLellan

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EarthBeat

Chad Eachern, president and CEO of Edmundite Missions, far left, poses after presenting checks Feb. 27, 2026, to people participating in the Selma, Ala.-based Catholic social services agency's farming initiative that helps support small farmers in the South's impoverished Black Belt region. (OSV News photo/courtesy Edmundite Missions)

Black farmers in Deep South see hope in Edmundites' farming aid, grant program

The fledgling Catholic farming program of the Edmundite Misisons has distributed $78,000 to 19 farmers in central Alabama to assist with farming supplies including seeds, piping for irrigation and cold storage.

A team of parishioners cook fish at the annual Lenten fish fry at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church, in St. Louis, March 21, 2023. This year, with the help of a grant from the St. Louis Archdiocese's Laudato Si' Commission, the parish for the first time will compost leftover food and compostable materials in an effort to reduce waste. (St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church)

Pass the cod, hold the plastic: St. Louis parishes cut waste at Lenten fish fries

With the help of grants from the St. Louis Archdiocese, Catholics have taken steps to lessen the waste associated with serving hundreds, and in some cases, 1,000 meals in a single night during Lenten fish fries.

ByBrian Roewe
Debris surrounds a damaged home in Three Rivers, Mich., March 7, 2026, following storms and tornado warnings. Powerful storms tore through parts of Michigan and Oklahoma, leaving a trail of destruction that included flattened homes and scattered debris. Volunteers helped residents sift through rubble and begin cleanup as the threat of severe weather lingered across the nation's midsection. (OSV News photo/Rebecca Cook, Reuters)

Chapel left undamaged amid deadly Midwest storms while faith remains strong

Catholic parish and school communities in the Midwest are among those working to clean up after deadly storms and tornadoes tore through a number of states in early March.

ByGina Christian, OSV News
The ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, May 15, 2021 (OSV News/Reuters/Kathleen Flynn)

Young Catholic is lead plaintiff in suit challenging EPA's endangerment finding reversal

"It would be nice, I think," Elena Venner said, "for our government to at least acknowledge that we are in this climate crisis and to start by not repealing what we already have."

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Culture

Mosaic artist Sister Samuelle in her workshop in France. Samuelle, who accused disgraced priest artist Marko Rupnik of abuse, is now a hermit and the creative lead on "Rebirth," a monumental mosaic dedicated to the victims of spiritual and sexual abuse in the church. (Courtesy of "Rebirth: The Tesserae Symphony")

'Rebirth' art project offers counternarrative for Rupnik accusers, abuse survivors

A monumental mosaic designed by French artist Sister Samuelle aims to help survivors "piece the fragments back together and give them a new face: the face of a new life, or at least a life that can still be lived."

Timothée Chalamet stars in a scene from the movie "Marty Supreme." The movie has been nominated for nine Oscars, including three for Chalamet. (OSV News/A24)

Ambition and redemption star in 'Marty Supreme'

Amid Timothée Chalamet's character Marty's lies, hustles, infidelities and callow performativity is the core of Catholic teaching: Redemption is not reserved for the pious nor perfect.

ByJean P. Kelly
Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Herderson, Richard 'Bigui' Bellamy and Sergi López appear in a scene in the Oscar-nominated film "Sirāt." López plays a father who goes to search for his missing daughter at a rave in the Moroccan desert. (Madman Entertainment)

In Oscar-nominated 'Sirāt,' the journey is literal, spiritual and existential

Director Óliver Laxe spoke with NCR about art that kills the ego, disruption in the creative process and facing our shadows.

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A pile of books, an open book, a cup of coffee or tea, and a plant sit on a table near a window.
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Sr. Josephine Adhiambo (back row in habit), a member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anne, participates in a sign language class in Nakuru, Kenya. (Shadrack Omuka)

Breaking communication barriers, Kenyan nun offers support to the deaf community

Sr. Josephine Adhiambo, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anne, is a sign language interpreter and tutor who bridges the communication gap between the hearing and the silent community in Kenya.

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With the Divine Pastora, Venezuela seeks strength in the face of crisis and injustice

Sr. Maura Aranguren describes the devotion as a source of support for a people facing poverty, political prisoners and broken families. "The procession has become a symbol of unity and hope in times of political, social and economic crisis," she writes. 

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The PeaceRoom platform, run by Sisters Rising Worldwide, features a world map; each country that has sister projects has a tag to click on, which then shows all the work sisters are doing, including photos. (GSR screenshot)

Catholic sisters open PeaceRoom platform for global donors to fund missions

Sisters Rising Worldwide has opened its PeaceRoom platform to the public, allowing donors to connect directly with sister-led missions around the world.

ByDan Stockman
The Tallahatchie River flows near Glendora, Mississippi, where the body of 14-year-old Emmett Till was recovered in 1955 after he was kidnapped and murdered. The site is seen Feb. 7, 2026. (Laura Nettles)
Columns

Not as tourists, but as pilgrims, we followed Thea Bowman through Mississippi

To make a pilgrimage is to surrender to a place until it changes you. Sister Thea understood this type of transformation. She knew that the work of racial justice could not be done from a distance.

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