Giving Day:
"Mother" by Joaquín Sorolla, 1895 (Artvee)

For Mother's Day, a new book redeems the holy labor of motherhood

Culture

In Love Like a Mother, Elizabeth Berget claims that biblical texts, Christian history, art and women's lived experience are saturated with maternal imagery for God. 

The Latest

Sixth Sunday of Easter: A people marked by joy

Catholic health centers respond to massive measles outbreak in Bangladesh

Stephan Uttom Rozario, OSV News

Israeli soldier photographed desecrating Mary statue in Lebanon

Junno Arocho Esteves

Editors' Choice

In this undated photo, Pope Leo XIV (then Robert Prevost, left) smiles while his mother (back to the camera) cuts a birthday cake in what his brother (right) guessed was the pope's ninth birthday, at the family home in the Chicago suburb of Dolton. (OSV News/Prevost family)

In Focus

The future Pope Leo XIV grew up amid a changing Chicago

Growing up in Chicago and then attending seminary in Michigan as a young teenager, Robert Prevost would have been aware of change taking place in both his hometown and the church.

Support journalism that matters. 

Your donation to NCR keeps independent Vatican news accessible to all. 

Donate Now

Most Read Stories

Father Robert P. Boxie III, chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington, and Father Gary R. Studniewski, pastor of Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Washington, are pictured in undated photos.

#1
Pope appoints two auxiliaries for Washington, accepts resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Campbell

Pope Leo XIV has appointed two auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington and accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. of Washington.

ByOSV News
In this undated photo, Pope Leo XIV (then Robert Prevost, left) smiles while his mother (back to the camera) cuts a birthday cake in what his brother (right) guessed was the pope's ninth birthday, at the family home in the Chicago suburb of Dolton. (OSV News/Prevost family)

#2
The future Pope Leo XIV grew up amid a changing Chicago

Growing up in Chicago and then attending seminary in Michigan as a young teenager, Robert Prevost would have been aware of change taking place in both his hometown and the church.

ByRone Tempest

#3
Leo XIV is the US church's latest gift to Rome

The contribution of American Catholics to the development of the Holy See's ideas are noteworthy: religious liberty and organized labor, writes NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.

ByMichael Sean Winters

#4
'Saved by the Beauty of the World' — and by the poetry of Mary Oliver

#5
Pope Leo to new priests: Keep church door open, don't be an obstacle

#6
Pope accepts resignation of West Virginia bishop, names Washington auxiliary as successor

Opinion

What Fr. Walter Ciszek's cause teaches us about sainthood

Guest Voices

Leo's Augustinian roots are what the church needs today

NCR Voices
President Donald Trump bows his head during the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)

The divinization of Trump is precisely why the Church Fathers wrote the creeds

Guest Voices

Once any embattled leader can be cast as savior, any comeback as resurrection, any survival as divine election, Christianity's central claim — that Christ is the unique mediator — loses its meaning.

Podcast: 'Trust that there is more at work in the world,' says Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde

Guest Voices

Your letters: 'Mother Mary,' just war and Thomas Merton

Letters to the Editor
A pen-style illustration shows a person holding what appears to be a smartphone, as a gray bubble emits from the phone to the person's face, against an off-white background. (Unsplash/visuals)

The 7 deadly sins offer a warning to religious influencers — and their followers

Guest Voices

"The problem of social media is not merely religious but human, and because it is a human problem, the church, as an 'expert in humanity,' has ways of understanding and addressing it," writes Cathleen Kaveny.

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV arrives to celebrate Mass in Piazza Bartolo Longo in Piazza Bartolo Longo in front of the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii near Naples, Italy, May 8, 2026, on the first anniversary of his election as the first American pontiff. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti)

Pope Leo marks first anniversary with Marian devotion and prayers for peace

"The wars still being fought in so many regions of the world call for a renewed commitment that is not only economic and political, but also spiritual and religious," Pope Leo XIV said. "Peace is born within the heart."

Pope Leo XIV waves to those gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during his weekly general audience May 6, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Mild-mannered Pope Leo prioritizes a prophetic message of unity and peace

In his first year, Pope Leo XIV has sought to turn unity into the foundation for the church's advocacy on issues of peace and justice.

ByJustin McLellan

Pope Leo XIV expected in France this September for Lourdes, Paris visit

Ahead of the first anniversary of his election to the chair of St. Peter, it was announced that Pope Leo XIV is officially expected to visit France in late September, the French bishops' conference confirmed May 6.

ByOSV News
OPE LEO U.S. SECRETARY STATE MARCO RUBIO VATICAN VISIT Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio smile during a private audience at the Vatican May 7, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti Vatican Media)
Vatican News

Rubio meets Pope Leo as Trump attacks strain US-Vatican ties

Despite the vindictive language Trump has directed at the pope both online and in person in recent weeks, Rubio's meeting with Leo appeared amicable. 

ByJustin McLellan

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope Leo XIV comforts 13 priests from southern Lebanon with a surprise video call from Rome

Vatican criticizes conversion therapy, features gay Catholic testimony in 'historic' report

What we knew then — and what we know now — about history's first US-born pope

EarthBeat

Joseph Sikulu, an activist from Tuvalu, talks during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels, April 29, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia. (AP photo/Ivan Valencia)

Catholics see promise in climate talks among nations on fossil fuel phaseout

After conversations among nearly 60 nations on ways to wean the world from fossil fuels, Catholics who attended the first-of-its-kind summit in Colombia left encouraged by the promise the conversations represented.

Pope Leo XIV feeds fish at a pond in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 5, 2025. The pope inaugurated Borgo Laudato Si’ the same day, opening the historic papal residence as a center dedicated to the principles of care for creation and human dignity outlined in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

One year in, Pope Leo forges ahead with Francis' ecological legacy

Where Francis sounded the alarm, Leo has remained focused on what he calls ecological conversion: a transformation of heart and mind. 

ByChelsea Jordan King

Tribes sue to halt exploratory drilling in Black Hills near sacred ceremonial site

BySarah Raza, Associated Press
A cluster of large, romanesque buildings sits stop a verdant hill
Vatican News

4 asteroids just got named for Pope Leo XIII, Vatican astronomers

The Vatican Observatory announced in an April 29 press release that an asteroid has been named in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who formally reestablished the observatory in 1891.

ByGina Christian, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

An end to the fossil fuel era? Catholic groups hopeful as nations meet in Colombia

Indigenous coalition continues challenge to mining project on religious liberty grounds

At a Spanish convent, nuns breed rare giant rabbit

Culture

"Mother" by Joaquín Sorolla, 1895 (Artvee)

For Mother's Day, a new book redeems the holy labor of motherhood

In Love Like a Mother, Elizabeth Berget claims that biblical texts, Christian history, art and women's lived experience are saturated with maternal imagery for God. 

The American impressionist Mary Cassatt refused to idealize the repetitive, underappreciated labor of childcare. In "The Boating Party," the mother's fatigued expression may feel familiar to viewers who are caregivers. (National Gallery of Art)

Exhibit illustrates Mary Cassatt's domestic feminism

The American impressionist is known for domestic themes in both public and private life, but in her depictions, like in the women she paints, there is more than first meets the eye.

ByJean P. Kelly
Conversion Therapy Dropout book cover

In ‘Conversion Therapy Dropout,’ a survivor exposes the discredited practice

'The biggest lesson I had to learn is that God's lack of an answer to my prayers to change me was an answer, because there was nothing about me that needed to change,' said Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez.

ByKathryn Post, Religion News Service
Mary Oliver as a young woman, ca. 1965-1970 (Library of Congress/Mary Oliver Papers, Manuscript Division. ©NW Orchard LLC, used with permission of Bill Reichblum/Molly Malone Cook)

'Saved by the Beauty of the World' — and by the poetry of Mary Oliver

In the upcoming PBS documentary, "Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World," director Sasha Waters pays homage to one of America's most beloved modern poets.

ByElizabeth Hamilton

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Praying with the spiritual masterwork of Pharoah Sanders

'Mother Mary' film may have uncredited inspiration — and it's not the Mother of God

Jason Berry reflects on journalism career in new book of interviews

Children and others smile as they attend a prayer service with Pope Leo XIV at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Muxima in Muxima, Angola, April 19, 2026. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Columns

Sixth Sunday of Easter: A people marked by joy

We talk about joy as the core of the Easter story of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. As Christians, we are meant to be an Easter people — a people marked by joy.

Pope Leo XIV waves as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 29, 2026. (GSR graphic/Olivia Bardo; OSV News photo/Reuters/Remo Casilli)

After one year, nuns see Pope Leo XIV advancing justice in his own way

A year into Leo XIV's papacy, Catholic sisters around the world are celebrating how the first U.S.-born pope is continuing to focus on issues near and dear to them.

ByChris Herlinger, Dan Stockman, Rhina Guidos, Doreen Ajiambo
Sr. Gladys Dimaku, a Sister of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, draws on decades of pastoral, medical and intercultural experience to serve those most in need at St. Teresa Clinic in Lagos, Nigeria. (Courtesy of Gladys Dimaku)

Q&A with Sr. Gladys Dimaku, on the front lines of community healthcare in Lagos

Medical Missionaries of Mary Sr. Gladys Dimaku runs St. Teresa Clinic, a primary healthcare facility in Nigeria where patients receive preventive and curative care with special attention to HIV and tuberculosis.

ByValentine Benjamin
Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the board of Ending Clergy Abuse, a coalition of survivors and human rights advocates working to end clergy abuse, enforce accountability and promote justice and truth, during an audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 20, 2025. Also present is Pedro Salinas, a Peruvian journalist and abuse survivor. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Columns

Sister theologians on abuse, accountability, reform and hope in Leo's pontificate

To mark Pope Leo XIV's first year, Theologians' Corner convenes four sister theologians from around the world to reflect on his efforts to address abuse, strengthen accountability, and advance reform in the church.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Nuns serve Haitians and Venezuelans in Chile as anti-migrant attitudes rise

Suspect arrested for assault against French nun in Jerusalem

Learning about forgiveness in consecrated life