Pope Francis and new cardinals arrive for a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Pope encourages new cardinals to resemble a symphony: Diverse, but harmonious

Vatican

Pope Francis on Sept. 30 elevated 21 Catholic prelates, including the Vatican's U.S. ambassador, to the rank of cardinal. In a homily in St. Peter's Square, the pope told the new cardinals they should not be defined by past traditions.

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Focus

Cardinal Grech claps at meeting.

In Focus

Cardinal Mario Grech: Central figure in pope's plan to change Catholic Church

Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta stands at the center of the pope's plan to change the global Catholic Church. As he prepares to open the synod assembly, Grech told NCR he has "a free heart" about what is to come. 

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Cardinal Grech claps at meeting.
Vatican News
#1

Cardinal Mario Grech: Central figure in pope's plan to change Catholic Church

Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta stands at the center of the pope's plan to change the global Catholic Church. As he prepares to open the synod assembly, Grech told NCR he has "a free heart" about what is to come. 

ByChristopher White
Pope Francis greets Archbishop Paul Etienne of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, during a meeting with bishops from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican Feb. 3, 2020. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Guest Voices
#2

I am a US archbishop attending Pope Francis' synod. Here's how I am preparing.

Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne will take part in the Oct. 4-29 Synod of Bishops in Rome. "I have spent the past several weeks renewing my prayer life, longing for greater receptivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit," he writes in this essay for NCR.

ByPaul Etienne
Pope Francis greets Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, during a meeting with U.S. bishops from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas during their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican Jan. 20, 2020. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Vatican News
#3

Bishop Strickland says he will not resign if pope asks. What comes next?

The Catholic Church's canon law leaves firebrand Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, little to no room to resist if Pope Francis demands his resignation, several prominent canon lawyers told NCR.

ByBrian Fraga
#4

Vatican, Lutheran officials call for joint study of Augsburg Confession

#5

Why Pope Francis' big Vatican meeting next month is so important

#6

Alleged victims of influential Vatican artist left 'speechless' after new Rome diocese report

Opinion

Letters to the editor on American values

Letters to the Editor

Unions are back. Biden (and the Catholic Church) are right to join the picket lines.

NCR Voices
A painting of bishops in the synod hall (Courtesy of the Vatican)

The secret synod that's happening in Rome

Guest Voices

Too many U.S. Catholics don't know about the global discussion of the church's future, argues Phyllis Zagano.

The Francis Effect podcast: Looming shutdown; German same-sex unions; Brian Flanagan

Cupich calls for 'integral ethic of solidarity' at Fordham

NCR Voices
Pope Francis speaks as Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, looks on during a meeting with representatives of bishops' conferences from around the world at the Vatican in this Oct. 9, 2021, file photo. (CNS/Paul Haring)

5 suggestions to make the pope's big Synod of Bishops actually mean something

Guest Voices

Theologian Mary E. Hunt says she has had some reservations about Pope Francis' process for the Synod of Bishops. She offers five "friendly suggestions" for how the pope might make the October assembly more fruitful.

Vatican

Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Ann Burghardt, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, join other Christian representatives for an ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square Sept. 30, ahead of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Before synod retreat, pope prays for listening instead of polarization

"Silence, in the ecclesial community, makes fraternal communication possible, where the Holy Spirit draws together points of view," Pope Francis said to members of the synod, Christian leaders and young people in St. Peter's Square Sept. 30. 

Pope Francis and new cardinals arrive for a consistory for the creation of 21 new cardinals in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Pope encourages new cardinals to resemble a symphony: Diverse, but harmonious

Pope Francis on Sept. 30 elevated 21 Catholic prelates, including the Vatican's U.S. ambassador, to the rank of cardinal. In a homily in St. Peter's Square, the pope told the new cardinals they should not be defined by past traditions.

ByChristopher White
A Black man wearing glasses and a white collar talks to a blond woman who holds a phone towards him
Vatican News

New cardinals have great hopes for synod on synodality

Many of the prelates Pope Francis will make cardinals Sept. 30 will be taking part in the synod on synodality or have been very active in its preparatory phases as leaders of their dioceses.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service
An East Asian man wearing round glasses and a clerical collar smiles at the camera
Vatican News

New cardinals bring experience of 'peripheries' to universal church

Speaking to reporters a few days before receiving their red hats, many of the 21 new cardinals said their induction into the College of Cardinals was less about them and more about their local church and its contribution to the universal church.

ByCatholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

New Cardinal Pierre's suggestion for US bishops: 'Always listen' to the pope

Vatican News

Synod members to make pilgrimage to catacombs; pray with refugees

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip

Participants with the banner of the Metro New York Catholic Climate Movement

Catholic action on climate issue must continue, advocates say

With a busy week of marches, workshops and a U.N. summit behind them, sisters and other Catholics say they must continue and expand their work to increase public pressure for change on climate action. 

A man from a homeless encampment receives care from Circle The City's mobile medical unit on the 14th day of temperatures rising to 114 degrees Fahrenheit July 13 in Phoenix. Bishop Edward Weisenburger of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, calls climate change a critical topic. (OSV News/Reuters/Liliana Salgado)
Faith

Bishop Weisenburger says climate change is an issue of 'life and death'

Bishop Edward Weisenburger says climate change "is a practical, local issue of local concern." He spoke to EarthBeat about his recent op-ed on climate change and hope, and his own hopes for Pope Francis' "Laudate Deum."

ByStephanie Clary
Women fan themselves to cool off from the heat as visitors wait to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican July 16, 2023. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Viewpoints

The increasingly perilous lot of the pilgrim shows us all the path on climate

The path of a pilgrim points to a future hope and reconciliation between God, man and creation. We must also take up the opportunity to partner with God in bringing "heaven to earth" through positive actions that restore creation and defend the most vulnerable from extreme climate harms.

 

ByMarqus Cole, Religion News Service
Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with the rectors of public and private universities from Latin America and the Caribbean at the Vatican Sept. 21, 2023. Responding to questions, the pope said his new document on the environment would be called "Laudate Deum" (Praise God). (CNS/Vatican Media)
Faith

Pope says his new ecology document is titled 'Laudate Deum'

Pope Francis said the title of his new letter on the environment will be "Laudate Deum," (Praise God), a frequent refrain in several psalms, including Psalm 148, which tells the heavens and the angels and the sun and moon to praise the Lord.

ByCatholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Politics

New American Climate Corps aims to boost clean energy, jobs for young people

Politics

Catholics ask Biden to deliver debt relief to countries most at risk from climate change

Politics

Catholic groups underscore urgency of United Nations 'Climate Ambition Summit'

Culture

The hand of a Black person writes a bar of music in chalk on a blackboard (Dreamstime/Africa Rising Agency)

Black Catholics have made their mark in the history of American music

A fun ride through music history, featuring the ethnoreligious community that seems to have made it all possible. In the history of American music, the Black Catholic influence is, quite simply, off the charts.

An American flag flies outside the Aspray Boat House polling site before the doors open to voters in the midterm election in Warwick, Rhode Island, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP/David Goldman)
Book Reviews

'Regime Change' argues for a controversial postliberal future

Book review: In Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, Patrick Deneen insists that liberalism leaves the working class floundering in chaos and marginalization. But some of his conclusions are concerning.

ByStephen Schneck
Michael Peña portrays José Hernández in "A Million Miles Away."

New biopic of migrant worker-turned-astronaut inspires possibility

In "A Million Miles Away," we watch José Hernández go from a childhood spent working beside his family of migrant farmers to becoming one of the few Americans chosen to participate in NASA's space program. 

ByElizabeth Hamilton
Jeremy Allen White portrays Carmy in Season 2 of "The Bear." (Courtesy of Hulu)

The hit show 'The Bear' is more Catholic than it realizes

As in "The Bear," we all find ourselves trapped in dark, cramped, dingy places time and again. Those are the pressure cookers of our own spiritual journeys. 

ByEric Clayton

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Reviews

Theologically rich picture books to nurture a child's faith (and maybe yours, too)

'Dear Alana,' hit No. 1 on Apple Podcasts. Are church leaders listening?

Book Reviews

James McBride keeps us guessing in 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store'

The headquarters of the United Nations in New York City (Wikimedia Commons/Horizon206)

At United Nations, sisters do a whole lot of work behind the scenes

From A Nun's Life podcasts - Nuns know how to get things done! Ursuline Sr. Michele Morek shares her experience working at the United Nations when she was coalition coordinator of UNANIMA International.

Dominican Sr. Ana Gonzalez with one of her nephews

Hey, sisters: Don’t forget our youth

I'm worried about the future my nephews will experience. But lots of religious sisters are empowering young people like them and showing them God's love, so they can face the challenges ahead. 

By
Participants with the banner of the Metro New York Catholic Climate Movement

Catholic action on climate issue must continue, advocates say

With a busy week of marches, workshops and a U.N. summit behind them, sisters and other Catholics say they must continue and expand their work to increase public pressure for change on climate action. 

ByChris Herlinger
People protest in N'Djamena, Chad, on April 27, 2021, after Mahamat Idriss Déby declared himself the head of the country's Transitional Military Council. (AP/Sunday Alamba)

Ministering in Chad, a country plagued by violence, unrest and conflict

My calling as a Chadian Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus impels me to embrace the challenge of being a Christian prophet — proclaiming God's message of love and inclusion, especially during times of conflict.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The night before forever: Ahead of final vows, sisters feel doubt, anxiety, joy

Q & A with Korean Sr. Andree Lee, who supports orphans in Bangladesh

Catholic sisters, activists express worry by lack of progress on UN goals

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