In Minnesota, US cardinals and pope's ambassador decry mass deportations and call for reconciliation

News

Two American cardinals and the Vatican's ambassador to the U.S. denounced the mass deportations in Minnesota under the federal government's immigration crackdown, but they urged everyone to repair strained relations and work together toward humane solutions.

The Latest

Second Sunday of Lent: God's call and the promise of transformation

The Costco rotisserie chicken is eucharistic reading of grace

David Drury

NCR members read: Fiction and memoir

Shannon Evans

Editors' Choice

At left, White House border czar Tom Homan walks to do a television interview at the White House April 28, 2025, in Washington. At right, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, offers a reflection on nuclear disarmament during a prayer service for U.N. diplomats at the Church of the Holy Family in New York City Sept. 12, 2022. (AP/Alex Brandon; OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

In Focus

As 'border czar' challenges Pope Leo, Archbishop Wester warns of 'Bonhoeffer moment'

Two U.S. Catholics, 'border czar' Tom Homan and Archbishop John Wester, agree that immigration remains a challenge — but each has starkly different viewpoints about what their faith demands of them during this moment.

Support journalism that matters. 

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

Donate Now

Most Read Stories

Steam comes from a coal-fired power station in Emalahleni, South Africa, Oct. 11, 2021. (AP/Themba Hadebe, file)

#1
In South Africa's coal belt, girls disappear — and Catholic sisters quietly pull them back

As illegal mining spreads through abandoned shafts in South Africa, Catholic religious women risk their lives to rescue girls coerced into sex and early marriages in communities the state struggles to protect.

ByDoreen Ajiambo
The gate sign at the west end of the St. John's University campus in Queens, New York (Wikimedia Commons/Tdorante10)

#2
St. John's University says it no longer recognizes faculty unions after 56 years

St. John's University in Queens, New York, notified employees on Feb. 19 that it will no longer recognize the two unions that have represented faculty members at the Catholic university since 1970.

ByBrian Fraga
Fr. Davide Pagliarani, center, superior general of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X is pictured during the society's general chapter in Econe, Switzerland July 12, 2018. With him are Bishop Alfonso de la Galarreta, left, and Fr. Christian Bouchacourt. (CNS/Courtesy fsspx.news)

#3
Traditionalist Catholic group doubles down on illicit consecrations, setting course for potential schism

Despite a Vatican offer of renewed theological dialogue, the Society of St. Pius X says it will consecrate bishops without papal approval, presenting the pope with a major test of church unity.

ByJustin McLellan

#4
Pope Leo speaks about Vatican II teachings, and all Catholics should listen

#5
Pope Leo tells priests not to use AI to write homilies or seek likes on TikTok

#6
At Curia retreat, Bishop Varden warns of Gospel's use 'as a weapon in culture wars'

Opinion

Editorial: At unique political moment, Catholic tradition provides prophetic way forward

Editorial

Pope Leo speaks about Vatican II teachings, and all Catholics should listen

NCR Voices
The mastheads of numerous Catholic newspapers are seen in this photo illustration. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)

US Catholic newspapers began as immigrant outreach, and NCR continues that work

NCR Voices

The first Catholic newspaper in the U.S. was essentially an outreach to immigrant Catholics. Over 200 years later, the National Catholic Reporter is also involved in an outreach to immigrants — but in a whole different way.

Mocking Trump is easy, but it isn't a political strategy

NCR Voices

A video of a bishop denouncing ICE inspired me — then I found it was AI

Guest Voices
Letters to the Editor

Your letters: Trump's 'destruction' of America and NCR film coverage

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor: NCR readers respond to articles about President Donald Trump, Diane Keaton and the new film "Moses the Black."

Vatican

Pope Leo XIV arrives by plane from Rome in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 27, 2025, at the beginning of his first international papal trip. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope charts 2026 travel with sweeping Africa tour, visits to Spain, Monaco

Nearly a year into a pontificate largely anchored in Rome, Pope Leo XIV is preparing to launch a sweeping series of international trips that will carry him across Africa, to Spain and to the tiny principality of Monaco. 

At Curia retreat, Bishop Varden warns of Gospel's use 'as a weapon in culture wars'

The Lenten season is a reminder that Christians are called to bear witness to Christ through authentic witness, not self-righteous indignation, Norwegian Trappist Bishop Erik Varden told the pope and Vatican officials.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News
Cardinal Fabio Baggio of Bassano del Grappa, Italy, the undersecretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, speaks during a prayer vigil at Sacred Heart Church in El Paso March 24, 2025, following a rally and march against mass deportations by the U.S. government. (OSV News/Bob Roller)
Vatican News

Vatican migration chief: Expand legal pathways to combat illegal immigration

NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan sat down with Cardinal Fabio Baggio to discuss global migration trends and the continuity between Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis on their advocacy for migrants.

ByJustin McLellan

Pope renews 'heartfelt appeal' for 'immediate ceasefire' in Russia-Ukraine war

Pope Leo XIV has renewed his "heartfelt appeal" for an "immediate ceasefire" in Russia's war against Ukraine and again urged dialogue "be strengthened to pave the way toward peace."

ByOSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope Leo tells priests not to use AI to write homilies or seek likes on TikTok

Vatican expands visitor experience at St. Peter's Basilica to mark 400th anniversary

Traditionalist Catholic group doubles down on illicit consecrations, setting course for potential schism

EarthBeat

A community activist holds a sign referencing Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' during a rally Oct. 4, 2017 outside the chancery of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Residents and allies of the University Park neighborhood were urging the archdiocese to end its lease with AllenCo Energy at the oil drilling site linked to health issues in their community. (Courtesy of STAND-LA)

Oil wells on LA Archdiocese land permanently sealed after years of community pressure

After more than a decade of community activism, a notorious oil drilling facility operating on land leased from the Los Angeles Archdiocese has been shuttered for good.

Caring for creation this Lent

"Like the popes and bishops speaking up to protect God's creation, our Catholic faith calls all of us to bring our values to public life, too," Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis writes.

ByMitchell T. Rozanski, OSV News
A red salmonberry on the vine on Baranof Island near Sitka, Alaska (Wikimedia Commons/Arthur T. LaBar)

Delight in the simple, abundant gifts all around you

Could it be that this was what God was asking of me: to take stock in the simple, abundant gifts all around me, delight in them like a child and find myself delighting in the Holy One right in front of me?

ByPauline Hovey
A man holds a sign during a demonstration marking the start of Climate Week in New York City, Sept. 17, 2023. (OSV News/Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

In Lenten reflection, US bishops call Catholics to ecological conversion and action

"Indifference and distance from one another have led to devastating consequences for God's creation, including the poor. The conversion that we need is both metaphorical and physical," the prelates wrote.

ByBrian Roewe

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Guest Voices

As Abrahamic faiths fast, let us consider food ethics

In South Africa's coal belt, girls disappear — and Catholic sisters quietly pull them back

Faith leaders blast Trump repeal of linchpin climate rule as legal battle awaits

Culture

In her new Netflix special "Prodigal Daughter," Taylor Tomlinson's explores the comedian's religious anxieties, queerness and roots in church comedy. (NCR screen grab/Netflix/YouTube)

Comedian channels Mary: 'What if it's breech? What if it's sick? What if it's God?'

In new Netflix special "Prodigal Daughter," Taylor Tomlinson tackles the lack of agency many Christian girls and women experience.

AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, competes in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., May 31, 2025. (AP/Jae C. Hong, file)
Book Reviews

New book on trans athletes emphasizes human dignity

Fair Game offers a striking account of the hostile political climate fueled by scapegoating and misinformation, and counters it with the substantial body of evidence showing that transgender inclusion strengthens athletic communities for everyone who participates. 

ByMaxwell Kuzma
In a scene from the movie "Midwinter Break," Stella (Lesley Manville) and Gerry (Ciarán Hinds) survey "The Jewish Bride," a Rembrandt painting of Isaac and Rebecca that hangs in the Rijksmuseum, and see two separate but equally plausible meanings based on the circumstances of their own lives. (Focus Features/Mark de Blok)

'Midwinter Break' portrays the complicated beauty in the sacrament of marriage

"Midwinter Break," based on the novel of the same title, is a quiet film about a long marriage between a Catholic woman and secular man, where love and tension both dwell.

ByElizabeth Hamilton
Several people sit on a couch with a Black little girl. A woman stands, holding a baby.

The enduring beauty and message of 'Champagne,' a short film that challenges the heart

Simoa Barros writes on a lesser-known animated flick from the late Michael Sporn that tells of a young Black girl who navigates her world in living color.

BySimoa Barros, Black Catholic Messenger

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

50 Cent's 'Moses the Black' brings 4th-century saint into mainstream culture

Diane Keaton's search for heaven

Catholic cross like no other is a beacon of unity in Olympic host city Milan

Clouds pass over Mount Tabor in the distance in Galilee, Israel. The mount is traditionally known as the site of Jesus' transfiguration. (Wikimedia Commons/Reutmaor)
Columns

Second Sunday of Lent: God's call and the promise of transformation

Theologians' Corner - Today, we are led up the mountain, where God reveals not a demand, but a promise that transformation is possible when we trust and listen.

Catholic sisters attend Mass on Jan. 24, 2026, at St. Mary's Cathedral, Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Sumon Corraya)

Catholics in Bangladesh urge new government to ensure women's safety, religious freedom

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its alliance won an overwhelming majority in the 13th National Assembly elections. 

BySumon Corraya
A Christopher Columbus statue is pictured in Chicago's Arrigo Park in a 2003 photo. (Wikimedia Commons/David Wilson, CC BY 2.0)

Chicago to replace Columbus statue with Mother Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants

Chicago's statue of Christopher Columbus in Little Italy's Arrigo Park, taken down in 2020, will be replaced with one of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen named a saint.

ByDan Stockman
A woman staying in the CSJ Shelter for Refugee Families, a ministry that sponsors and houses families in the immigration process, shows St. Joseph Sr. Sue Dunning, left, the plants in the shelter's garden. (Courtesy of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange)

As deportations rise, Catholic sisters shelter asylum-seeking families living in fear

With arrests and deportations escalating and as work permits stall, Sisters of St. Joseph are sheltering legally present refugee families.

ByDan Stockman

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

'It is my duty': Amputee Ukrainian soldiers find support in US Basilian sisters

Music and art can save the world, if we let them

Anxiety among some religious in Mexico after violence erupts following drug lord killing