NCR Connections

Executive editor Heidi Schlumpf aims to help readers understand how recent news stories fit together. NCR Connections will provide guideposts and markers to help lead readers through key issues and stories.

A view of the Calabrian hillside from the town of Rende, Italy (NCR photo/Joshua J. McElwee)

A hunt for the memory of my Italian and Mexican grandparents

by Joshua J. McElwee

Jul 19, 2021

NCR Connections: Perhaps memory doesn't have to be passed on directly. It can be experienced, too, walking on stones that someone who carried your blood may have walked on a century ago.

Bishops use electronic voting devices during the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops June 12, 2019, in Baltimore. During the 2021 virtual spring assembly, bishops voted by secret ballot June 17 to draft a document to address

Why was bishops' vote on Communion document secret?

by Heidi Schlumpf

Jul 1, 2021

NCR Connections: We know 168 U.S. bishops voted in favor, 55 against and six abstained on the proposal to draft a document on the Eucharist. But who voted which way? My answer probably isn't the one you're looking for.

NCR art director Toni-Ann Ortiz won first place for her graphic design for the post-election series "Where do we go from here?" in National Catholic Reporter's Nov. 13-26, 2020, print issue. (NCR graphic)

NCR, EarthBeat, Global Sisters Report receive 32 Catholic media awards

by Heidi Schlumpf

Jun 14, 2021

NCR Connections: The Catholic Media Association has named National Catholic Reporter the best national newspaper. NCR, EarthBeat and Global Sisters Report together took home 32 awards, including 10 first place ones.

My favorite Catholic novels, past and present: What are yours?

by Heidi Schlumpf

Jun 4, 2021

NCR Connections: As the Great Basement Cleanout of 2020-21 was thinning out Andrew Greeley's bodice-ripping books and Father Dowling mysteries from the bookshelves, I found a new favorite Catholic novel at the library.

Columns ›

A hunt for the memory of my Italian and Mexican grandparents

Why was bishops' vote on Communion document secret?

NCR, EarthBeat, Global Sisters Report receive 32 Catholic media awards

My favorite Catholic novels, past and present: What are yours?

Listening to and telling the stories of Latino Catholics

Founder of bishops' parody Twitter account comes clean

Do your part for the common good: Get vaccinated

Will Catholics come back post-pandemic?

Sexism: It's still a thing, unfortunately

What we've lost in a pandemic year

One year later: A thank you and an invitation

NCR's Joshua McElwee is Iraq-bound with Pope Francis

Let's give up culture war infighting for Lent

Liberal Catholicism: We've been here all along

How Catholic media should cover Biden

2020: A year like no other

The media is not the church's enemy

Setting the record straight on NCR and McCarrick coverage

A lifelong example of the kind of journalist we need

Asking for a friend: Can a Catholic vote for Biden?

Catholic Church must reject its anti-Black misogyny

The church needs 'notorious' women willing to dissent, too

Be not afraid: Is safety a Christian virtue?

First, lasts and heeding the coronavirus realities

Pages