Front-row Vatican coverage:
Signs advising drivers of congestion pricing tolls are displayed near the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel in New York on Feb. 19, 2025. (AP photo/Seth Wenig)

NYC Catholics applaud congestion pricing, but Trump wants to hit the brakes

EarthBeat

Some New York City Catholics applaud the city's new congestion pricing. But the plan has hit a roadblock with the Trump administration.

The Latest

The Leo Chronicles

The Leo Chronicles: Preparing

Pat Marrin

Chiclayo locals hope their Bishop Roberto will stay a 'team builder' as Pope Leo XIV

Who really wins now that churches can endorse political candidates?

Steven P. Millies, Religion News Service

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 6, 2025. (OSV News/CPP/Alessia Giuliani)

In Focus

James Carville says Pope Leo XIV's election brought 'immense amount of joy'

I have, after 80 years, felt something that I never thought I would in this century as a Roman Catholic. I feel optimistic. I feel renewed. I feel bright about the future of the Catholic Church.

Support journalism that matters. 

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

Donate Now

Most Read Stories

Pope Leo XIV addresses the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod during a meeting at the Vatican on June 26, 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)
NCR Voices

#1
New Vatican document calls Catholics to move forward together for synodality

The Vatican's new document on implementing synodality acknowledges the energy and enthusiasm experienced by those who have already engaged in the synodal process, but it invites all of us to move forward.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Phil Marcin is shown baptizing his grandson Declan, held by his mom, Maggie and alongside his dad, Phillip, in 2021. (Courtesy of Phil and Linda Marcin)

#2
CORPUS, group for married priests, disbands after 50 years

CORPUS is disbanding, citing the advanced age of its membership and lack of new members. The reform group, an "national association for an inclusive priesthood," officially closed at the end of December 2024.

ByHeidi Schlumpf

#3
Vicar known for LGBTQ+ ministry named Oregon bishop

At age 47, Bishop-designate Thomas Hennen will be the youngest bishop leading a U.S. diocese. Hennen's ministry to LGBTQ+ people has seen mixed reactions about his pastoral approach.

ByAleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service

#4
Gay blessings 'will remain' under Pope Leo, Vatican doctrine chief says

#5
The new Mass 'for the care of creation' is a mixed bag

#6
Pope prays for conversion of those resisting climate action at new Mass

Opinion

A view on the first US pope: Leo XIV can guide us to use AI for good

Guest Voices

Who really wins now that churches can endorse political candidates?

Art Laffin, center, of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, participates in a protest for peace with other demonstrators outside of the White House April 15, 2016. (CNS/Chaz Muth)

'Humanity and weapons cannot coexist,' peace activist Art Laffin says

This week on "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," John Dear welcomes Art Laffin, longtime peace activist, author and Catholic Worker: "War has become normalized, so we have to stand for life wherever it is threatened."

Filling in our portrait of Pope Leo XIV, looking for clues to the future

NCR Voices

James Carville says Pope Leo XIV's election brought 'immense amount of joy'

Guest Voices
The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington is seen April 11, 2025. (OSV News/Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

IRS decision on Johnson Amendment: Another culture war fight signifying nothing

NCR Voices

A pastor with a particular congregation that leans one way or the other does not need to mention a candidate by name to get the message out. Some pastors are only too happy to insert themselves into politics.

Vatican

What will the pope be doing for six weeks?
The Leo Chronicles

The Leo Chronicles: Preparing

The Leo Chronicles: What will the pope be doing for six weeks?

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors' new president 'pioneer in his field,' French lawyer says

Archbishop Thibault Verny of Chambéry, France, made international headlines as he succeeded one of the most acclaimed figures of church safeguarding in the world, Cardinal Sean O'Malley — retired archbishop of Boston — in his role as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. 

ByOSV News

Pope celebrates Mass in parish church with special ties to his Augustinian order

Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for "merciful compassion" for the world's poor, victims of tyranny and wars, as he celebrated Mass in a parish church that has special spiritual ties to Leo's own Augustinian religious order

ByNicole Winfield, Silvia Stellacci, Associated Press
Pope Leo

AI must have ethical management, regulation protecting human person, pope says

The message was read aloud by Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Vatican representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, at the AI for Good Summit 2025 being held July 8-11 in Geneva.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Ukraine's Zelenskyy meets with Pope Leo XIV. Both propose the Vatican as site for peace talks.

The Leo Chronicles: Flag

Vatican News

After 12 years, locals welcome pope back to his summer home

Signs advising drivers of congestion pricing tolls are displayed near the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel in New York on Feb. 19, 2025. (AP photo/Seth Wenig)
Politics

NYC Catholics applaud congestion pricing, but Trump wants to hit the brakes

Some New York City Catholics applaud the city's new congestion pricing. But the plan has hit a roadblock with the Trump administration.

Patricia Medina cleans her flood-damaged apartment along the 1900 block of South 51st Court in Cicero, Illinois, on July 3, 2023. After the flooding, longtime residents of Cicero and Berwyn started a grassroots community organizing group to respond to the area's environmental concerns. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Chicago Catholics start environmental justice group in response to flooding, pollution

Delia Barajas and Carmen Jimenez cite Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' as inspiration to take action and start Voces Fieles Comunitarias Contra la Opresión (Faithful Community Voices Against Oppression).

ByCassidy Klein

Pope prays for conversion of those resisting climate action at new Mass

"We must pray for the conversion of many people, inside and outside of the church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for our common home," Pope Leo XIV said while celebrating a new formulary of the Mass "for the care of creation."

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service
A 70 kilowatt solar array sits atop of Sacred Heart Catholic School, in Omaha. To help cover a portion of the costs, the Catholic school intends to apply for a federal clean energy tax credit. (Afton Energy)
Politics

Catholic solar projects in peril as GOP bill slashes clean energy tax credits

For religious organizations, loss of the rebates jeopardizes financing options for clean energy projects and is expected to result in millions of dollars less in energy cost savings that could otherwise be reinvested in other church ministries and programs.

ByBrian Roewe

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

In Texas region prone to catastrophic floods, questions grow about lack of warning

Death toll in Texas flash floods nears 70 as sheriff says 11 campers remain missing

San Antonio Archdiocese asks for prayers after dozens perish in severe flooding in Texas

Culture

"Jurassic World Rebirth" is a science fiction tale about the hubris of humanity and our attempts to wrest control of nature away from God. It's also great cinema. (Universal Pictures)

Mad science, survival and wonder: The 'Jurassic' franchise comes home

"Jurassic World Rebirth" is a science fiction tale about the hubris of humanity and our attempts to wrest control of nature away from God. It's also great cinema.

Benicio del Toro plays businessman Zsa-zsa Korda, and Mia Threapleton plays his estranged daughter, a nun named Liesl, in Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme." (TPS Productions)

Wes Anderson gets spiritual with 'The Phoenician Scheme'

Wes Anderson's new film reminds us that one of life's greatest miracles is the ability for the human heart to change.

ByZachary Lee
In this file photo dated Sept. 7, 1988, director Martin Scorsese, center, poses with the stars of his film, "The Last Temptation of Christ", actors Barbara Hershey, right, who plays Mary Magdalene, and William Dafoe who plays Christ, at the Venice Film Festival. The film released in 1988 in the face of denunciations from religious leaders. (AP photo, File)
Book Reviews

Religion and 1980s pop culture go head-to-head in new book

Paul Elie's exploration of the struggle between art and faith in the 1980s offers valuable insights for anyone seeking clarity on faith in public life today.

ByRebecca Bratten Weiss
Raised Catholic, the musician Corook explores queerness and self-acceptance in their new album, "Committed to a Bit." (NCR screenshot/YouTube/hicorook)

Playfulness is a powerful tool for healing in the music of Corook

Raised Catholic, the musician Corook explores queerness and self-acceptance in their new album, "Committed to a Bit."

ByHojung Lee

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

'It's Dorothy!': The LGBTQ+ community and its beloved 'Wizard of Oz' icon

Book Reviews

Acknowledging racism offers healing grace, Fordham theologian's book says

What's the point of remaking 'How to Train Your Dragon'?

Victoria Herrera, a Chiclayana, holds photos of her grandchildren with Bishop Robert Prevost, during an outdoor Mass on May 10, where thousands prayed for Prevost's success in his new role as Pope Leo XIV. (GSR photo/Manuel Rueda)

Chiclayo locals hope their Bishop Roberto will stay a 'team builder' as Pope Leo XIV

Then-Bishop Robert Prevost championed migrants, trafficking victims, and sister-run ministries in Chiclayo, Peru. Locals hope that, as Pope Leo XIV, he keeps his community-centered leadership.

Carmen Jiménez explains to visitors the Comuna 13 cemetery's wall of portraits honoring victims and their mothers. Among them are haunting composite images: half the face is that of a missing son or daughter, the other half their grieving mother — their features fused into a single, powerful symbol of loss and remembrance. (Tracy L. Barnett)

Reporter's Notebook: Walking Medellin's Comuna 13 with Carmen Jiménez

Her younger brother, Guillermo, set off for high school one day in 2002 and never came back. 

ByTracy L. Barnett

Q&A with Sr. Thao Phi, advocate for peace in face of South African xenophobia

An educator and advocate for peace, Phi is committed to confronting discrimination head-on and building bridges among marginalized communities, particularly those of foreign nationals.

ByDoreen Ajiambo
Sr. Rosalyn Muraski, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, serves as a special interventionist at the San Xavier Mission School on the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation in Tucson, Arizona (Courtesy of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity)

Sisters' prayerful presence at Tucson mission supports rights and dignity of tribal people

Their ministry includes outreach across the reservation and as assisting migrants in their Pima County community, which received over half a million asylum seekers from 2019 to 2024.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

My work as a sister canon lawyer integrates faith and analytical thinking

Q&A with Sr. Joicy Joy, a lawyer who fights for the rights of tribals in India

My community in Cameroon needed clean water. So I became our advocate.