Podcast:
Volunteers are pictured in a file photo serving people in need during a free dinner provided by the Emergency Assistance Department of Chicago Catholic Charities. (OSV News/Jim Young, Reuters)

With SNAP benefits in flux, Catholic Charities agencies step up food programs

News

"We can try to help our leaders understand that these people should not be pawns on their political chessboard," said Deacon Kevin Sartorius. "That's not fair. These are people who are in need of food."

The Latest

Mary, mother of Jesus and all believers, is not co-redeemer, Vatican says

Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Nigerian church leaders have mixed reaction to Trump threat of action to protect Christians

Frederick Nzwili, OSV News

Catholics join in Chicago international commemoration of Ireland's Great Famine

Simone Orendain, OSV News

Editors' Choice

Singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez sings a song during the 43nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center on May 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP/Kevin Wolf)

In Focus

Podcast: Joan Baez, folk singer and activist, joins John Dear for candid conversation

This week on "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," John Dear hosts legendary folk singer Joan Baez, his friend of 35 years. 

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Most Read Stories

Sr. Marie Benedicte and Sr. Colomba, two Catholic nuns, harvest olives in their monastery's garden on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. (AP/Oded Balilty)

#1
On Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed, monks and nuns keep harvesting olives

The Gospel says Jesus spent the last night before being crucified at the Mount of Olives and the Gethsemane garden. Come October, monks and nuns are busy harvesting olives there as a form of prayer and reverence.

ByGiovanna Dell'orto, Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, England, left, lead midday prayer with Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Oct. 23, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

#2
Former Anglican bishop predicts new wave of conversions to Catholic Church

A former Anglican bishop urges church leaders to prepare for a surge of Catholic conversions, as a historic Vatican visit by King Charles III coincided with a deepening division in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

ByJonathan Luxmoore, OSV News

#3
Pope urges Catholic teachers to focus less on professional outcomes, more on spiritual lives

Pope Leo XIV urged Catholic teachers on Tuesday to focus less on pre-professional outcomes and more on educating students to have rich spiritual lives and use technology in ways that keep human dignity front and center.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press

#4
What a new survey of US Catholic priests does, and does not, tell us

#5
A Muslim reflects on 'Nostra Aetate' and its enduring call to mutual understanding

#6
US Cardinal Burke celebrates old Latin Mass in St. Peter's in a sign of change

Opinion

Why 'I hope she converts' is bad for Usha Vance, for love and for America

As Trump brings back nuclear testing, theologian poses a different vision of global security

Guest Voices
Singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez sings a song during the 43nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center on May 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP/Kevin Wolf)

Podcast: Joan Baez, folk singer and activist, joins John Dear for candid conversation

This week on "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," John Dear hosts legendary folk singer Joan Baez, his friend of 35 years. 

Are there signs of intelligent life in the Democratic Party?

Finding connections with recipes that speak from the grave

St. Patrick is depicted in stained glass at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Athlone, Ireland. (Teresa Malcolm)

A look at the Irish saints behind All Saints' Day

Many of the ancient Irish holy men and women came to us from the early, misty days of Christianity in Ireland. On All Saints' and All Souls' Days, it's a good time to remember some of them.

Vatican

Mary, mother of Jesus and all believers, is not co-redeemer, Vatican says

Pope Leo XIV approved the text Oct. 7 and ordered its publication, said the note, which was released Nov. 4. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the doctrinal dicastery, presented the document during a conference at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome and said its teaching becomes part of the church's "ordinary magisterium" and must be considered authoritative.

Pope calls for end to violence in Sudan, Tanzania

After reciting the Angelus prayer Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, the pope offered special prayers for the victims in el-Fasher, capital of Sudan's North Darfur state.

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pope Leo XIV greets Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York before a Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Nov. 1, and the proclamation of St. John Henry Newman, who ministered as Anglican before becoming Catholic, as a doctor of the church. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Vatican News

At education Jubilee, pope names St. John Henry Newman 'doctor of the church'

The saint's legacy "reminds us that Britain's religious story is broader than one tradition. It's been enriched by Catholic thought, courage and contribution," saidDavid Lammy, U.K. deputy prime minister. 

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Pope condemns antisemitism and vows to fight it as tensions rise over Israel's war in Gaza

Pope Leo XIV acknowledged Wednesday that there had been misunderstandings and conflicts with Jews over Israel's war in Gaza. But he strongly confirmed the Catholic Church's condemnation of antisemitism and commitment to fighting it as part of Christians' Gospel-mandated friendship with the Jewish people.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the 2020 Beirut port blast in his first foreign trip

Pope urges Catholic teachers to focus less on professional outcomes, more on spiritual lives

Catholics must build a more humble church, seeking truth together, pope says

EarthBeat

Fishermen work on Lake Victoria.

Ahead of COP30, a Kenyan village turns to bamboo and faith to fight climate change

As Lake Victoria's rising waters displace families, Catholic leaders and villagers plant bamboo to restore their land and send a message to world leaders meeting in Brazil. 

Roughly 150 people took part in a dialogue on labor and the environment in Appalachia Oct. 25 at the pastoral center of the Pittsburgh Diocese. The event marked the 50th anniversary of the Appalachian bishops' pastoral letter "This Land is Home to Me" and the 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." (Pinnacle Productions)

WV bishop urges boycotts for better pay at event marking Appalachia pastoral letter

At a dialogue on labor and the environment in Appalachia, Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, lent his support to union-led boycotts to "foster a more just economy, more humane world."

ByBrian Roewe

This orange flower cloaks Mexico during Day of the Dead. Climate change is putting it at risk

The orange flower has become a symbol of the country’s celebrations that take place every Nov. 1 and 2. Also known as the "flower of the dead", the cempasuchil is believed to be a point of connection between the worlds of the dead and the living, with bright petals that light the path of dead souls to the altars set out by their family.

ByMEGAN JANETSKY , Claudia Rosel, Associated Press

Faith-based disaster relief groups mobilize to respond to Hurricane Melissa

Disaster relief groups have moved supplies into place, mobilized volunteers and started raising funds to respond to Hurricane Melissa, which has killed more than 20 people and flooded out thousands in the Caribbean.

ByBob Smietana, Religion News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Catholic nuns combat psychological toll of climate change on rural Kenyan communities

More than 230 pilgrimages across the US mark 10 years of Laudato Si'

Tackle ecological debt, protect biodiversity and change hearts, says Vatican diplomat

Culture

Painting "A Group of Saints and Angels" by Mattia Preti (1613-1699)
Book Reviews

Everyday saints with Robert Ellsberg

From Hagar to Mother Mary Lange, from St. Valentine to Mister Rogers, this collection finds holiness across time and space. 

Bifolio from a "Choir Book," Spanish, 1400-1450. (Michael Centore)

New 'Painted Pages' exhibit at University of St. Joseph beautifies prayer

When does the artistic process cross over into prayer? This small, but well-curated exhibit featuring manuscripts from the "golden age" of handmade books obliterates distinctions between calligraphy and visual art.

ByMichael Centore
(Unsplash/Aaron Burden)
Book Reviews

The Catholicity of Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'

Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, first published in 1992, has sold over 5 million copies. Catholic creatives say the book and its spirituality have been transformative.

ByJean P. Kelly
"Mr. Scorsese," Rebecca Miller's five-part documentary out now on Apple TV+, traces the famed director's career exploration of blasphemy and salvation, devotion and rejection, sin and grace. (Apple TV+)

For 'Mr. Scorsese,' faith — like cinema — is unfinished business

"Mr. Scorsese," Rebecca Miller's five-part documentary out now on Apple TV+, traces the famed director's career exploration of blasphemy and salvation, devotion and rejection, sin and grace.

ByJose Solís

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Filmmakers tell story of Ukraine's persecuted Christians 'hunted' by Russia

Book Reviews

New book demythologizes Mary, emphasizes her political and ecclesial role

Jelly Roll's Vatican performance offers hope to those impacted by addiction

Sr. Noelle Corscadden of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Loreto Sisters, third from right, is pictured with sisters of the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in South Sudan. (Courtesy of Noelle Corscadden)

Congregation of Jesus, Loreto Sisters to merge into one congregation

The Vatican's decree granting the merger of the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto) comes 416 years after Venerable Mary Ward first set out her vision for a new way of religious life for women. 

Lac du Flambeau Business Development Corporation CEO Larry Turner (left) and Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians President John Johnson Sr. (right) look on as Sr. Sue Ernster signs title documents for property the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration had owned Oct. 31. The nearly 2-acre parcel is about 15 minutes east of the Lac de Flambeau Reservation. (Courtesy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration)

In act of reparation, Franciscan sisters return land to Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin

They sold it for about 1% of its appraised value of $2.6 million value, citing their role in colonialism and residential boarding schools.

ByDan Stockman
Members of the Sisters of Mercy’s Institute Leadership Team pose for a photo near the U.S. Capitol, where they joined a "No Kings" demonstration Oct. 18.

Monday Starter: In person and online, sisters take part in 'No Kings' demonstrations

Plus, Latin American religious join condemnation of violence in Ecuador, and Chicago Center for the Study of Consecrated Life marks 10 years

ByRhina Guidos
Pope Francis blesses Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argot, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, at the end of Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 10, 2021. The sister, a missionary from Colombia, was kidnapped in Mali in 2017
Columns

God was with me in the desert of my captivity

Sr. Gloria Narváez reflects on her four years in captivity in Mali. She could not physically receive the Eucharist, but the desert became a place of prayer and devotion, despite the cruelty of her captors.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

ICE again prevents Chicago Catholics from bringing Eucharist to immigrant detainees

Ancestral connections and the love that shapes us

Dia de los Muertos offers connection and a way to grieve together