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The interior of the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan, New York (NCR photo/Camillo Barone)

New York's St. Francis Xavier redefines acceptance in the Catholic Church

News

Explore the social justice and spiritual journey of Church of St. Francis Xavier, where inclusion, compassion and social outreach thrive, from celebrating LGBTQ lives to serving the homeless.

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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

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

#1
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
People receive communion during Catholic Mass at Benedictine College Dec. 3, 2023, in Atchison, Kansas. Many students, many of whom grew up in conservative Catholic families, jokingly call it “the Benedictine bubble.” And it might be a window into the future of the Catholic Church in America. (AP/Charlie Riedel)

#2
'A step back in time': America's Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways

Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of eternal salvation replaced by casual indifference to church doctrine.

ByTim Sullivan, Associated Press
Pope Francis speaks during the traditional greetings to the Roman Curia in the Sala Clementina (Clementine Hall) of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican, on Dec. 22, 2016. (AP/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)
Guest Voices

#3
Pope Francis needs to stop treating Vatican officials like princes

The only way to kill the papal court is to stop making Vatican officials bishops and cardinals, says Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese.

ByThomas Reese, Religion News Service

#4
Bishop Barron's Word on Fire is too thin-skinned for its own good

#5
Commonweal magazine edits article after legal threat from Bishop Barron's Word on Fire

#6
The rise and fall of 'Father Justin' highlights Catholic sexism

Opinion

Mrs. Robertson's memoir spotlights the life of an (extra)ordinary person

NCR Voices

Your letters: Bishop Gumbleton, Word on Fire, women's ordination

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor

Your letters: Bishop Gumbleton, Word on Fire, women's ordination

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor: NCR readers respond to articles about the late Bishop Gumbleton, Word on Fire, and women's ordination. 

'Cop cities' are on the rise. Catholics should be concerned.

Guest Voices

Understanding America's overlooked religious middle

Guest Voices
President John F. Kennedy is pictured with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican July 2, 1963. In a 1960 speech, Kennedy, then a presidential candidate, sought to assure voters that Catholic leaders would not influence his policies.

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

Guest Voices

"It seems very much as though the U.S. bishops reject the position that won the election for John Kennedy and credibility for Catholics in U.S. politics," writes Steven P. Millies. 

Vatican

Pope Francis pictured in profile kissing pectoral cross held by aide.
Vatican News

Vatican norms for Jubilee indulgence include pilgrimage, penance, service

Pilgrims passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica during the Holy Year 2025, going to confession, receiving Communion and praying for the intentions of the pope can receive an indulgence, but so can inmates in prison and those who work to defend human life or assist migrants and refugees.

Statues and roof in foreground, and in distance Pope Francis' window with banner.
Vatican News

Pope again calls for full prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine

"I renew my appeal for a general exchange of all the prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, assuring the willingness of the Holy See to favor any effort in this regard, especially for those who are gravely injured and ill," Pope Francis said after praying the "Regina Coeli" in St. Peter's Square May 12.

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service
Individual walk down long, ornate passageway.
Vatican News

Vatican Museums staff challenge the pope with a legal bid for better terms and treatment

Forty-nine employees of the Vatican Museums have filed a class-action complaint with the Vatican administration demanding better seniority, leave and overtime benefits in an unusual, public challenge to Pope Francis' governance.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press
NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Vatican News

NY mayor hails Pope Francis as global 'influencer' ahead of Vatican meeting

 Ahead of meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican this weekend, New York's Mayor Eric Adams told NCR the pontiff is akin to a global "influencer." Said Hizzoner: "I think he's the right leader for the time we're in right now." 

ByChristopher White

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Church needs theologians who grapple with modern world, pope says

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip

Vatican News

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

Residents wade through flood waters as they recover their belongings in the Mathare Valley settlement of Nairobi, Kenya, April 24, after the Nairobi River burst its bank.
Faith

Kenya's Catholic bishops call on government for urgent response to floods

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for "swift action" and "generous acts of charity" to mitigate effects of flooding that has so far left more than 250 people dead and a trail of property damage.

"Food Program in Guatemala" by Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Br. Mickey McGrath
Viewpoints

3 female saints teach that Earth is our common mother and home

I have taken a fresh look at our concept of the Earth as humanity's common mother and home. Some of my favorite women saints have inspired me with new levels of awareness and understanding. 

ByMickey McGrath
Priest and parishioners work in sunny garden.
Faith

Prayer garden at Arizona Catholic church nurtures the soul

One year ago St. James the Apostle Church in Coolidge stood in a sea of concrete, asphalt and gravel. Waves of heat streamed off sunbaked surfaces that blinded parishioners as they dashed from their cars to the shelter of the church.

ByCarissa Krautscheid, OSV News
Pope Francis stands among conference attendees in large hall.
Faith

Despite economic interests, society must embrace social justice, pope says

While the forces of a market economy may obstruct people from advancing social justice, society cannot remain mute in the face of unjust labor practices and exploitative economic structures, Pope Francis said.

ByJustin McLellan, Catholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Viewpoints

Holy See should champion Action for Climate Empowerment fund at COP29

Faith

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

Faith

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

Culture

"The Artist's Daughter, Julie, with her Nanny" (circa 1884) by the French Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) (Artvee)
Book Reviews

New book celebrates 'revolution of tenderness' mother artists create

Catherine Ricketts' The Mother Artist: Portraits of Ambition, Limitation, and Creativity is an excavation of the many questions, frustrations and, ultimately, gifts of a culture that welcomes mothers who make art. 

"The Artist's Daughter, Julie, with her Nanny" (circa 1884) by the French Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) (Artvee)
Book Reviews

New book celebrates 'revolution of tenderness' mother artists create

Catherine Ricketts' The Mother Artist: Portraits of Ambition, Limitation, and Creativity is an excavation of the many questions, frustrations and, ultimately, gifts of a culture that welcomes mothers who make art. 

ByElizabeth Hamilton
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
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

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Jedi heresy on Star Wars Day: Wrong, Yoda was

What 'Bluey' teaches us about times of spiritual desolation

Book Reviews

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

woman holds large shell to her ear

Listen to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit

"We may have an inspiration or insight during prayer or in the course of the day," writes Sr. Lissy Maruthanakuzhy. "Let us not dismiss it … Stop and try to act on it. It might be the Holy Spirit leading us."

A water tank built by hand at Franciscan Sisters of Charity's compound in the Ifumbo district of Tanzania. (Courtesy of Sr. Senorina Lukwachala)

Hope and resilience among sisters in Tanzania

It was clear to me as I was with them, that the sisters cultivated hope that strengthened their resiliency, a kind of elasticity of spirit, a suppleness to spring back after being knocked down or crushed, not allowing pain to overwhelm and overshadow hope.

ByJoyce Meyer
Sr. Rosario Fumnal, a member of the Religious of Jesus and Mary from Spain, teaches preschool students in Haiti. (Patricia Dillon)

Sisters provide crucial support for Haitians in the midst of crisis

In Haiti's capital city, "they are literally in hell," says Sr. Jaqueline Picard. The effects of rampant gang violence in Port-au-Prince reach the rural communities where she and other Religious of Jesus and Mary serve.

By
Illustration of two hands touching

2 visionary women, much like you and me

"The future of religious life is not confined to the walls of individual congregations," writes Sr. Monique Tarabeh. "It extends to a realm where collaboration becomes the driving force for the mission."

By

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Nuns help empower women through handicrafts

Pandemic challenges open door to new training format

'I will remain faithful': The love of Sr. Nijole Sadunaite

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