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Fr. Tomas Halik, second from left, speaks at a meeting of parish priests as part of the ongoing process for the Synod of Bishops April 29 at Sacrofano, outside of Rome. Other speakers at the table, from left, are: Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, synod undersecretary; Canadian Fr. Gilles Routhier; and María Lía Zervino, sociologist and former president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations. (CNS/Courtesy of the Synod of Bishops)
Vatican News

Catholicism must reject 'heresy of triumphalism,' says noted Czech priest

Vatican

Noted Czech theologian Fr. Tomas Halik helped lead a Vatican gathering for some 200 parish priests about the ongoing synod process. He told NCR he was encouraged by the open and frank discussions that took place.

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Focus

Pope Francis greets people as he rides the popemobile around St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 25. Francis sent a brief letter to Drachma Parents April 30, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. Their original letter to Francis was dated April 23. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

In Focus

Pope responds with 'open heart' to Vatican document criticism from parents of LGBTQ children

Pope Francis has written to a group of parents of LGBTQ persons, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. He told them he received their critique with an "open heart."

Most Read Stories

(Unsplash/Alice Donovan Rouse)
Guest Voices

#1
Catholic students, theologians, ministers write an open letter to Pope Francis

"We love this church, we love our Catholic faith," but "personally, professionally and ministerially, we are concerned with Dignitas Infinita's statements on gender theory and sex change," they write.

By
Pope Francis greets people as he rides the popemobile around St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 25. Francis sent a brief letter to Drachma Parents April 30, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. Their original letter to Francis was dated April 23. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

#2
Pope responds with 'open heart' to Vatican document criticism from parents of LGBTQ children

Pope Francis has written to a group of parents of LGBTQ persons, responding to their criticism of a Vatican document that condemned gender theory and gender-affirming surgeries. He told them he received their critique with an "open heart."

ByChristopher White
Pope Francis speaks to members of the Italian Catholic Action lay association gathered in St. Peter's Square during a meeting at the Vatican April 25, 2024. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

#3
Pope asks lay Catholics to prepare for synod's 'prophetic' stage

The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service

#4
'It's a different time': Relations between US sisters, Vatican have changed radically

#5
With the red heifer ceremony, God purifies the people through the earth

#6
Candace Owens converts to Catholicism

Opinion

Understanding America's overlooked religious middle

Guest Voices

What would JFK think of Catholics and today's US politics?

Guest Voices
Pedestrians walk along a popular street in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 27. (AP/Francisco Seco)

In Ukraine, life during wartime takes a spiritual toll

Guest Voices

Four of us went to Ukraine to bear witness to the suffering of the Ukrainian people and to listen to their voices regarding the war. Our focus was on the trauma of war and the mental health of the people.

Despair in the Holy Land

Guest Voices

The problems with criticisms of 'Dignitas Infinita'

NCR Voices
This is a screenshot of "Father Justin," an AI chatbot simulating a priest in order to answer questions for teaching apostolate Catholic Answers.

The rise and fall of 'Father Justin' highlights Catholic sexism

Guest Voices

 "Father Justin" debacle makes Rebecca Bratten Weiss "wonder whether some Catholics would be more likely to welcome a robot pope overlord than they would be to accept a woman in a position of ministerial leadership."

Vatican

Fr. Tomas Halik, second from left, speaks at a meeting of parish priests as part of the ongoing process for the Synod of Bishops April 29 at Sacrofano, outside of Rome. Other speakers at the table, from left, are: Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, synod undersecretary; Canadian Fr. Gilles Routhier; and María Lía Zervino, sociologist and former president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations. (CNS/Courtesy of the Synod of Bishops)
Vatican News

Catholicism must reject 'heresy of triumphalism,' says noted Czech priest

Noted Czech theologian Fr. Tomas Halik helped lead a Vatican gathering for some 200 parish priests about the ongoing synod process. He told NCR he was encouraged by the open and frank discussions that took place.

Enormous image of divine mercy, flanked by smaller canvases of St. Faustina and clerical sponsor, hang above altar while Mass is celebrated.
Vatican News

Vatican to publish updated norms for investigating alleged apparitions

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish its new norms for the discernment of apparitions and other supernatural phenomena May 17, the Vatican press office said.

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Everyone loves the pope.
Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip: "See everything, ignore a lot, change a little."

ByPat Marrin
Pope Francis kisses a gold reliquary while seated.
Vatican News

Pope urges reparation to the Sacred Heart, including for abuse crisis

The spiritual practice of reparation "may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete" today, but it is essential for the promotion of justice and healing, including on behalf of those who have suffered abuse in the church, Pope Francis said.

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Pope calls pastors to be 'missionaries of synodality'

Vatican News

Jordan's king promises pope Christian holy sites will be protected

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip

A man displays a sign that reads, "Climate education now," on Nov. 17, 2022, at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (AP/Peter Dejong)
Viewpoints

Holy See should champion Action for Climate Empowerment fund at COP29

The ACE work stream and the Vatican's ecological education framework share the goal of empowering society to implement climate solutions, and both address intergenerational justice through capacity-building of youth.

Conflagration rages up hillside.
Faith

How ‘apocalypse’ became a secular as well as religious idea

By tracing what events the media describe as “apocalyptic,” we can gain insight into our changing fears about potential catastrophes. 

ByErik Bleich, Christopher Star, Religion News Service
Cows are pictured in a file photo grazing on a farm just outside Postville, Iowa. For the past 100 years, Catholic Rural Life, based in St. Paul, Minn., has ministered to Catholics who live and work in a rural setting. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Bob Roller)
Faith

Catholic Rural Life marks a century and plans to sow seeds for another 100 years

For the past 100 years, Catholic Rural Life has ministered to Catholics who live and work in a rural setting. The St. Paul-based national organization receives support from 80 dioceses. It now has members in 45 states.

ByOSV News
A church official distributes trees to rows of people.
Faith

Inspired by Laudato Si', Catholics in Bangladesh work to protect environment

Bangladesh's tiny Catholic community is responding to environmental degradation in the country with conservation efforts by groups who have been inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'. 

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Justice

Catholic sisters urge Citigroup to assess climate, human rights policies

Faith

Pittsburgh parish creation care group hosts Earth Day fair

Faith

Kenyan archbishop appeals for humanitarian aid as floods devastate the country

Culture

A still from the first chapter of “Hermanas de Corazón” (Sisters of the Heart), a Spanish-language documentary on Venerable Mary Lange and her Oblate Sisters of Providence's work in Cuba

Film on Oblate Sisters of Providence's Cuban ministry now streaming

The founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Venerable Mary Lange, was raised in Cuba before coming to America. A 2021 film explores the Oblates' work there after Lange's death. 

Sophie Nélisse, left, as Irena Gut in a scene from "Irena's Vow" (Courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

New film 'Irena's Vow' highlights the bravery of a historical Catholic figure

Louise Archambault's film "Irena's Vow" tells the true story of Irena Gut, a devout Polish Catholic who risked her life by hiding 12 Jews in the basement of a Nazi major's residence where she was a housekeeper. 

ByClare McCallan
Jedi Master Yoda listens in a scene from the movie "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones." (CNS/Lucasfilm)

Jedi heresy on Star Wars Day: Wrong, Yoda was

"Do or do not," Yoda said in "The Empire Strikes Back." "There is no 'try.' " But what does the Gospel have to say?

ByMark Piper
The Heeler family in the Disney+ show "Bluey" includes parents Bandit and Chilli, and daughters Bluey and Bingo.

What 'Bluey' teaches us about times of spiritual desolation

What St. Ignatius of Loyola insists — and what Bluey's father, Bandit Heeler displays — is that when in a state of spiritual desolation, making a rash decision is never the answer. 

ByEric Clayton

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Reviews

'The Hero and the Whore' invites us to consider the lens we bring to the Bible

Why you might have heard Paul Simon’s ‘The Sound of Silence’ at Spanish Mass

Book Reviews

New book takes readers 'On Retreat With Pope Francis'

Visitation Sr. Marie Louise Kirkland holds the pigskin with Washington Redskins player Gus Frerotte on her 97th birthday in 1996. Others are (from left) Sr. Mada-anne Gell, Sr. Philomena Tisinger, Sr. Mary Berchmans Hannan and Sr. Anne Marie Di Menno.

Why notable Catholic sisters need Wikipedia pages, and how to create them

Carole Sargent "wanted to see sisters' lives in places where everyone might find them." So she puts Catholic sisters' biographies on Wikipedia and invites sisters and friends of sisters to join the effort. 

A still from the first chapter of “Hermanas de Corazón” (Sisters of the Heart), a Spanish-language documentary on Venerable Mary Lange and her Oblate Sisters of Providence's work in Cuba

Film on Oblate Sisters of Providence's Cuban ministry now streaming

The founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Venerable Mary Lange, was raised in Cuba before coming to America. A 2021 film explores the Oblates' work there after Lange's death. 

ByNate Tinner-Williams, Black Catholic Messenger
Mary Magdalene anointing the feet of Christ is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Greenlawn, New York. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Understanding the Easter mysteries we just celebrated

As I reflected on Easter, I realized that the death of Christ would be in vain if we did not practice what he taught us by his exemplary living. His actions during Holy Week demonstrate how we should live with each other.

By
Daughter of Charity Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux, right, welcomes guests at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A dream of Lamoureux’s grew into Seeds of Hope, a program that offers retreats to those marginalized by society. (Courtesy of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

Q&A with Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux, on inviting marginalized people on retreat

Sr. Anne Marie Lamoureux helped create Seeds of Hope, a program at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that offers retreats for people on society's margins — addicts, the homeless, the poor and isolated.

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

What Doubting Thomas can teach us about not knowing

Whatever our ministry or role, we are each 'the miracle of an original'

Media Council of Kenya honors GSR's Doreen Ajiambo

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