"Planetwalker" is a documentary about John Francis, an uncommon globetrotter who embarked on a yearslong silent trek for the environment. (Los Angeles Times)

Inspired by Thomas Merton, this 'Planetwalker' traversed the world in silent activism

Culture

"Planetwalker" is a documentary about John Francis, an uncommon globetrotter who embarked on a yearslong trek for the environment, with 17 of those years observing a vow of silence.

The Latest

Editors' Choice

Focus

A voting sign is posted in front of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, a polling location in Hyattsville, Md., on Election Day in 2024. (NCR photo/James Grimaldi)

In Focus

Editorial: The Catholic voter is NCR's Newsmaker of 2024

Given the importance the Catholic electorate has played in the discussion of the outcome of the 2024 national election, the National Catholic Reporter is naming the Catholic voter its Newsmaker of the Year.

Most Read Stories

Keira Knightley as Helen Webb in the Netflix series "Black Doves" (Netflix/Ludovic Robert)

#1
'Black Doves' turns a religious symbol on its head

There are moments in "Black Doves" that feel like any given show about a spy organization full of deceit, murder and revenge. But at its core, the show is about moral code, human connection and spiritual renewal. 

ByLindsay Simpson
Cardinal Robert McElroy is pictured in a 2019 photo. Pope Francis appointed Cardinal McElroy as the next archbishop of Washington in an announcement publicized on Jan. 6. (OSV News/Catholic News Service/Paul Haring)
Editorial

#2
Editorial: McElroy is an antidote to a US capital and church riven by division

We are in a moment of unprecedented division and uncertainty in both the church and society. That's why Pope Francis could not have made a better choice to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

ByNCR Editorial Staff
In this picture taken through a window, from left, President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance attend the NCAA college football game between Army and Navy at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., Dec. 14, 2024. (AP/Stephanie Scarbrough)
NCR Voices

#3
Where in the world is JD Vance?

Our vice president-elect hasn't been making headlines since the election, at least not when compared to some others President-elect Donald Trump has selected to help him run the executive branch.

ByMichael Sean Winters

#4
Biden awards Pope Francis with Presidential Medal of Freedom

#5
Pope appoints three US experts, two of them women, as dicastery members

#6
Long Island, New York, parishes forced to pay millions to settle sex abuse claims

Opinion

Why I remain a Catholic priest, despite the devastation of scandals

Guest Voices

Your letters: Plastic production, Stowe's blessing and McElroy's appointment

Letters to the Editor
Franciscan Fr. Paul Lostritto marks a cross on the forehead of a homeless man on Ash Wednesday Feb. 14, 2018, at St. Francis Breadline in New York City. (CNS/Octavio Duran)

Why I remain a Catholic priest, despite the devastation of scandals

Guest Voices

While scandals can shake us, the vast majority of our priests and parishioners strive to live the compassion of Jesus, writes Fr. Dave Mercer. Though this rarely makes the news, it is a more full picture of who and what the Catholic Church is.

Jimmy Carter was not a failed politician

NCR Voices

The Francis Effect podcast: Prep for Trump; DC's next archbishop; Dylan Corbett interview

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Jan. 13. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

Biden's foreign policy won many battles, but not the war

NCR Voices

Biden defended his conduct of foreign policy at the State Department on Monday: "The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago." That is mostly true, writes Michael Sean Winters.

Vatican

line of people staring at smartphones
Vatican News

Tool of faith or digital distraction? Catholic Church offers indulgences to faithful who fast from social media

Among the traditional religious activities that can earn one an indulgence — such as pilgrimage to holy sites, acts of charity and saying special prayers — Pope Francis introduced a new option: a call to fast from the internet and social media.

Seminarians in black lined up as Francis enters in wheelchair.
Vatican News

Let hope lead your lives, pope tells seminarians

"In the journey of life, we could identify hope as the signpost that marks our itinerary," Pope Francis said during a meeting with seminarians from Córdoba, Spain, Jan. 17.

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service
Pope Francis reviews and initials each page of the manuscript of "Hope: The Autobiography" Aug. 9, 2024, in his Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The book was released in multiple languages Jan. 14, 2025. (CNS/Courtesy of Mondadori)
View from the Vatican

5 takeaways from Pope Francis' new autobiography

View from the Vatican: Hope is less autobiography than it is an aggregation of existing stories, interviews, speeches and history that are already known about the now-88-year-old pontiff. 

ByChristopher White
View looking up at colonnade of St. Peter's Square.
Vatican News

Vatican City State puts AI guidelines in place

To ensure artificial intelligence is developed and used in an ethical, transparent and responsible manner in Vatican City State, the city-state governor's office has released a set of guidelines on AI, which will be followed by new laws and regulations.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Pope Francis falls and injures arm

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip: Crazy

Vatican News

Cuba to release 553 prisoners for Jubilee at pope's request

A woman pushes a shopping cart full of coolers and cold beverages during a summer heatwave in New York City July 11, 2024. Seventeen U.S. states set annual heat records in 2024, the hottest year to date. (OSV News/Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
Science

'Grim but not hopeless': Catholics reflect as 2024 is hottest year on record

In spite of the many plights, environmental and otherwise, facing the world, the pope has called humanity to hope.

Francis sits at desk marking pages with pen.

Indifference, pride fuel world's horrors; selfishness is suicide

"An economy that kills, that excludes, that starves, that concentrates enormous wealth in a few to the detriment of many, that multiplies poverty and grinds down salaries, that pollutes, that produces war, is not an economy," he said in an autobiography released Jan. 14. It is a perversion, "an emptiness, an absence, a sickness."

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland addresses the Tribal Nations Summit from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington Nov. 15, 2021.
Politics

Deb Haaland, America's first Native Cabinet secretary, considers her legacy

"Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land," Haaland said in 2021 ahead of her congressional confirmation vote. 

ByAnita Hofschneider, Grist
Burning house and trees.
Viewpoints

Pointing fingers will not fight California's fires nor preserve its future

The Los Angeles fire is the kind of crisis that also is an opportunity to do something dramatic.

ByThomas Reese, Religion News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Justice

Faith organizations have a complex relationship to disaster relief

Faith

Pope offers prayers for those impacted by LA wildfires

Justice

U.S. sister killed in the Amazon honored at Rome 'new martyrs' shrine

Culture

"Planetwalker" is a documentary about John Francis, an uncommon globetrotter who embarked on a yearslong silent trek for the environment. (Los Angeles Times)

Inspired by Thomas Merton, this 'Planetwalker' traversed the world in silent activism

"Planetwalker" is a documentary about John Francis, an uncommon globetrotter who embarked on a yearslong trek for the environment, with 17 of those years observing a vow of silence.

This is a scene from "Into Great Silence," a documentary by filmmaker Philip Groning about monks at a Carthusian monastery in the French Alps. (CNS/courtesy of Zeitgeist Films)
Book Reviews

New book combines reading with cinema for a highly spiritual experience

In A Whole Life in Twelve Movies, authors Kathleen Norris and Gareth Higgins seed fruitful conversation and fulfill the human need for "art that's steeped in the mystery of life."

ByMaryanne Hannan
Keira Knightley as Helen Webb in the Netflix series "Black Doves" (Netflix/Ludovic Robert)

'Black Doves' turns a religious symbol on its head

There are moments in "Black Doves" that feel like any given show about a spy organization full of deceit, murder and revenge. But at its core, the show is about moral code, human connection and spiritual renewal. 

ByLindsay Simpson
"Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata," an 1513-1515 painting by Domenico Beccafumi (J. Paul Getty Museum, public domain)
Book Reviews

Trans theology is subject of recently released book, 'Glorious Bodies'

In Colby Gordon's first book, Glorious Bodies: Trans Theology and Renaissance Literature," the author's political theology implicates transphobia as a crucial underpinning of colonialism, white supremacy and Christian hegemony.

ByJeromiah Taylor

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Notre Dame's first concert a 'moment of grace' for young composer of Marian choral piece

Sienese exhibition at MET illuminates pivotal moment in history of religious painting

Book Reviews

Mysticism is the 'fiery core and beating heart' of religion, new book says

A mural of Martin Luther King Jr. in Youngstown, Ohio (Eilis McCulloh)
Columns

As Trump returns, we cannot fear repercussions for standing up, speaking out

Horizons- At the dawn of a new year, I find myself living in dreadful anticipation of the upcoming four years and praying that things will not be as bad as I think they will be. So, how does this year call us to respond?

United Stand staff members Guillermo Rodriguez and Monica Kaczmarczyk pose with Chicago children displaying artwork they created at one of the nonprofit’s programs. (Courtesy of United Stand)

Felician Sisters nonprofit provides psychological support for Chicago youth

Through programs that include counseling, crisis intervention and and other services, United Stand helps youths across roughly 50 Chicago schools manage and overcome stress, conflict and violence they encounter daily, 

By

Theologian: Synod clarified that 'we are the church,' not just clergy

"We have to fight to get rid of clericalism, to transform clericalism, not to deny [women] access to ministries," Consuelo Vélez, of the Colombian Association of Women Theologians, told Global Sisters Report.

ByRhina Guidos
Guests at the Springfield Sisters’ Armchair Tour, held during National Vocation Awareness Week on Nov. 7, 2024, enjoyed pie and listened to stories. The event, hosted by the Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union, the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, and the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, highlighted the vibrant future of Catholic sisters, built on warm connections, their witness and their response to the Gospel. (Courtesy of Beth Murphy)
Columns

We gathered. We told stories. We ate pie.

These simple actions were the heart of the Springfield Sisters' Armchair Tour, a collaborative event during National Vocation Awareness Week, hosted by Ursuline, Franciscan and Dominican sisters in Springfield, Illinois.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Church groups collaborate to build temporary houses for India landslide survivors

Q&A with Sr. Grasy Rodrigues, award-winning anti-trafficking activist

Monday Starter: St. Joseph Sisters ask Biden to end term with care for immigrants

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