Heidi Schlumpf

A decision by St. Mary's College in Indiana to open enrollment to some transgender applicants has resulted in a reprimand by Fort Wayne-South Bend Bishop Kevin Rhoades and divided students and alumnae.

Sociologist of religion Jesuit Fr. Paddy Gilger told an audience at Loyola Chicago that religious people can help reconstitute the collapsed public sphere — but not in ways that many think of "public religion" today.

Three Catholic sisters said they are hopeful that the church's synodal process might bring increased leadership roles for women. They also stressed that they already have significant influence as women religious.

Benedictine Sr. Patricia Crowley came from a famous Catholic family, and made her own mark as a Benedictine sister, social justice advocate, and leader in the church and community. Crowley died Oct. 14. She was 84.

A new program to prepare women to preach in the Catholic Church has received a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., even as current church practice does not allow women to give the homily at Mass.

Notre Dame conference panelists spoke at sometimes heated sessions on issues that included racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, vulnerable Black populations, violence and Black Lives Matter, and education and school boards. 

NCR has compiled a reference guide to the 24 Americans (or people with U.S. connections) who will be participating in the synod, either as voting members or experts/facilitators. 

Advocates for women's ordination told NCR's Heidi Schlumpf that they are hopeful that the synodal meetings in Rome will lead to change in the church. 

A new podcast about a young Colorado Catholic woman who died by suicide brings attention to the danger of conversion therapy, especially in religious contexts. "Dear Alana" is currently the No. 1 podcast in the nation.

An upscale resale shop in Pittsburgh offers free maternity wear, baby clothes and referrals to other resources for women facing crisis pregnancies. Owner Jeannie French says the project combines her love of thrifting and pro-life advocacy.
 

Participants at a recent women's conference expressed hope and optimism about the upcoming synod on synodality and what it might mean for women's leadership in the church, reports NCR Executive Editor Heidi Schlumpf.  

Despite news of closures and cutbacks at Catholic colleges and universities, theologians from three theological societies met this month and found hope in facing a time of transition for their profession.

A theologian and Jesuit priest whose writings had previously been censured by the Vatican was recognized with the highest award from the Catholic Theological Society of America at its June 8-11 conference in Milwaukee. The society also honored two women scholars with awards for their work.

Feminist theologians honored Cecilia González-Andrieu of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with this year's Ann O'Hara Graff Award at the Catholic Theological Society of America convention in Milwaukee.

Much ink has been spilled over the Dodgers honoring a charity group that dresses in drag and habits. NCR Executive Editor Heidi Schlumpf asked sisters who have ministered in the LGBTQ community what they thought.

"Gospel nonviolence" is moving from the margins of the church to its center, said panelists at a webinar marking the 60th anniversary of Pope John XXIII's landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris.

Executive editor Heidi Schlumpf heard two compelling speakers in one week — one about young people and another about synodality — and wonders if they might be related.

Among the concerns of the synod delegates, who were handpicked by bishops, were restrictions against the Latin Mass, possible changes to doctrine, and the synod process itself, said Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky.

Shannon Evans' new Feminist Prayers for My Daughter makes a great Confirmation gift — or really one for women of all ages, says executive editor Heidi Schlumpf.

Speakers and attendees at a three-day conference at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, praised Pope Francis, but several called for more movement on women's roles in the church.