Hand showing an illustration of human lungs (Dreamstime/transurfer343)
Vatican News

Q&A: Lung doctor who worked in the hospital now treating Pope Francis explains his illness

Vatican

Pope Francis was in pain, swollen and walking very little. Italian pulmonologist Dr. Barbara Moscatelli says that this is common in elderly patients who share the pontiff's lung illness.

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Newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, center left, and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, center right, pose for a photo with their children and Vice President JD Vance, center, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, Jan. 28, 2025. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of Transportation)

In Focus

Trump's Catholic Cabinet: How will their faith shape their work?

More than a third of Trump's Cabinet nominees are Catholic. Three — Sean Duffy, Marco Rubio and John Ratcliffe — have already been confirmed by the Senate. Here are brief profiles of all nine of Trump's Catholic picks.

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U.S. President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and second lady Usha Vance attend the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral Jan. 21, 2025, the day after Trump was sworn in for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (OSV News photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)
Vatican News

#1
Pope decries 'major crisis' of Trump's mass deportation plans, rejects Vance's theology

Pope Francis has written a sweeping letter to the U.S. bishops decrying the "major crisis" triggered by President Donald Trump's mass deportation plans and explicitly rejecting Vice President JD Vance's attempts to use Catholic theology to justify the administration's immigration crackdown.

ByChristopher White
Pope Francis holds his spring meeting with the officers of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops April 18, 2024, at the Vatican. Seated from left are: Fr. Michael J.K. Fuller, the conference's general secretary; Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, vice president; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services; and Fr. Paul B.R. Hartmann, associate general secretary. (CNS/Vatican Media)
NCR Voices

#2
While refuting JD Vance's hillbilly theology, Pope Francis chastises US bishops

It is not every day that the pope publicly scolds a group of bishops. Those unfamiliar with papal texts can be forgiven for thinking Pope Francis' letter to the U.S. bishops was one of encouragement. It wasn't.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, center left, and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, center right, pose for a photo with their children and Vice President JD Vance, center, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, Jan. 28, 2025. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of Transportation)

#3
Trump's Catholic Cabinet: How will their faith shape their work?

More than a third of Trump's Cabinet nominees are Catholic. Three — Sean Duffy, Marco Rubio and John Ratcliffe — have already been confirmed by the Senate. Here are brief profiles of all nine of Trump's Catholic picks.

ByHeidi Schlumpf

#4
10% of priests in this Catholic diocese in England are married. Here's a look inside their daily lives.

#5
Pope Francis taps Arizona's Bishop Weisenburger as new Detroit archbishop

#6
JD Vance vs. the Vatican: Inside Pope Francis' fight for Catholic identity

Opinion

Will religious life rise again — and should it?

Columns

Will religious life rise again — and should it?

Columns
Illustration of American flag unravelling (Dreamstime/Nicoleta Raluca Tudor)

Trump administration plows on ahead, releasing anarchy upon the world

NCR Voices

Amid mixed signals, erroneous claims that have to be walked back, and bizarre initiatives, some decisions are irrevocable and the sideways shooting by the gang that can't shoot straight endangers the lives of real people.

60 years of bold reporting: The legacy of a renegade priest

NCR Voices

The Beatitudes 'are the reality of everything,' Joan Chittister tells John Dear

Guest Voices
Workers at a camp in Terrain Toto, Haiti, construct transitional shelters provided by Catholic Relief Services for those left homeless in the 2010 earthquake. Catholic Relief Services was among the humanitarian entities deeply affected by USAID cuts. (OSV News/Bob Roller)

Slander aside, foreign aid wins goodwill for US — and saves lives

NCR Voices

In the abrupt decision to cut off USAID to hurting countries and vital programs, the United States chose the market over morality as a primary value.

Vatican

As Pope Francis prays the Angelus at the conclusion of Mass for the Jubilee of the Armed Services, Police and Security Personnel in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 9, 2025, a strong gust of wind blows his zucchetto off his head. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Vatican: Pope Francis shows 'slight improvement' in pneumonia hospitalization

Pope Francis is in stable condition and his blood tests indicate a slight improvement, as the 88-year-old pontiff continues to battle pneumonia in hospital. 

Hand showing an illustration of human lungs (Dreamstime/transurfer343)
Vatican News

Q&A: Lung doctor who worked in the hospital now treating Pope Francis explains his illness

Pope Francis was in pain, swollen and walking very little. Italian pulmonologist Dr. Barbara Moscatelli says that this is common in elderly patients who share the pontiff's lung illness.

ByCamillo Barone
Exterior of hospital building.
Vatican News

A look at Pope Francis' previous hospitalizations and health problems

Here's a look at Pope Francis' health history from a partial lung removal in 1957 to his entering the hospital on Feb. 14. 

ByLauran Neergaard, Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
Pope Francis coughs as Msgr. Pierluigi Giroli reads his catechesis during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Feb. 12, 2025. Seated next to the pope, Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, an official of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, looks on. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Vatican says Pope Francis has pneumonia in both lungs

Pope Francis has been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and his latest laboratory tests and chest X-rays continue to reveal a "complex" medical picture, according to a Feb. 18 Vatican statement. 

ByChristopher White

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

Vatican cardinal heads to Lebanon to express pope's solidarity, prayers

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip: Francis in the hospital

Vatican News

Another woman takes over a top job at the Vatican, this time running the city state administration

Sebastian Gollnow / Picture Alliance via Getty Images via Grist
Politics

Trump's attack on paper straws is mostly symbolic — but the plastics industry is celebrating

Plastic straws have become an international emblem of the harms of plastic pollution, and Trump's order is the latest salvo in a culture war that pits care for the environment against values like masculinity and freedom.

A group of young people shovel soil around base of newly planted tree.
Politics

Faith groups' environmental projects halted by Trump's climate funding freeze

More than 300 faith communities have lost access to grant funds that were intended to plant trees in disadvantaged urban communities, environmental faith leaders who managed the grants told RNS.

ByAleja Hertzler-McCain, Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service
Two fishermen in Bodo city arrive home with no catch after oil spills have affected aquatic life in local communities.
Justice

Catholics in Nigeria say Shell can't divest contaminated oil sites before cleanup

More than 1,200 residents from oil communities in the Niger Delta have filed a $323 million lawsuit against UK-based Royal Dutch Shell to halt their planned exit from the region. In Jan. 2024, Shell announced it had reached an agreement with a consortium of five Nigerian-based companies to divest its onshore operations from the region.

ByPatrick Egwu
Stang wearing t-shirt and standing in forested area.
Justice

'Martyr of the Amazon': Recalling Sr. Dorothy Stang's ministry 20 years after her murder

In the lead up to the 20th anniversary of the death of Sister Stang, who is considered by many as a "Martyr of the Amazon," a relic containing blood-soaked soil from the site of her murder was enshrined at the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island in Rome on Jan. 10.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Justice

Loyola Marymount environment conference caught in Trump's DEI crackdown

Justice

Pope calls for respect for Indigenous peoples' land, water, food

Politics

How Trump's USAID shutdown threatens the world's climate goals

Culture

The front of church with bell tower and tiled roof.

Basilicas, churches and shrines across US are Jubilee 2025 pilgrimage sites

Across the country, basilicas, churches and shrines have begun opening their doors to local pilgrims. These sites each have a unique history and hold significance in their local region, helping Catholics to encounter God in new ways.

Sky Yang in "Last Days," a dramatic retelling of the life of missionary John Allen Chau who was killed in 2018 while proselytizing the inhabitants of a North Sentinel Island tribe. (Sundance Institute/Tanasak "Top" Boonlam)

'Last Days' is a cautionary tale of evangelism — and screenwriting — gone wrong

By trying to be "all things to all people" — wanting to both affirm murdered missionary John Chau's humanity and criticize the cocktail of motivations that drove him — "Last Days" turns an interesting story tepid.

ByZachary Lee
Nick Mohammed in "Ted Lasso" (Apple TV+)

The new trend in must-see TV is … pastoral care?

Amidst the chaos of an industry trying to regain its footing after the strikes of 2023, one fascinating trend that has emerged among popular shows is a focus on pastoral care. Jim McDermott examines the trend using "Ted Lasso," "Shrinking" and "The Pitt" as models.

ByJim McDermott
Pope Francis begins his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Feb. 5, 2025. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Book Reviews

Pope Francis reveals some secrets — and keeps many others — in new memoir

In his newly released memoir, Hope, the story of the world that made Jorge Mario Bergoglio — and, by extension, the world leader we know as Pope Francis — is a story finally told in his own words. But some details still await more probing biographers.

ByJason Berry

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Reviews

Catholic clergy abuse survivor details his story in tender new book

Book Reviews

'We Burn Daylight' uses fiction to explore the line between church and cult

Inspired by Thomas Merton, this 'Planetwalker' traversed the world in silent activism

Young boys enjoy a game of soccer during their spare time at St. Lawrence Home of Hope in Lusaka, Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

At St. Lawrence Home of Hope in Lusaka, boys from the street get a new start

With the help of Zambian sisters and the Missionaries of Africa, the residential home reintegrates street kids into their families, homes and society while helping them regain their childhood, confidence and dreams.

Congregation of the Mother of Carmel Sr. Noel Rose is pictured with a 12-member contingent of the National Service Scheme at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, India. (Courtesy of Sr. Noel Rose)

Q&A with Sr. Noel Rose, forming students into responsible citizens

Sr. Noel Rose is the first Catholic nun to attend India's Republic Day parade in New Delhi as an official. Rose led a contingent of the National Service Scheme from the Indian state of Kerala at the Jan. 26 celebrations.

By
Sr. Florence Muia, an Assumption Sister of Nairobi who established Upendo Village in Kenya, discussed the challenges and successes of working in HIV/AIDS care during the Feb. 11 "Raising Resources for Healing Ministries" webinar. (GSR screenshot)

African sisters partner with Global Sisters Report in a health care webinar

"Raising Resources for Healing Ministries" gathered religious sisters and a network of organizations and experts dedicated to supporting the work of religious sisters who are essential to health care in Africa.

ByDoreen Ajiambo
"Women Outside the Church at Ruokolahti," an 1887 painting by Albert Edelfelt (Wikimedia Commons/kansallisgalleria.fi)
Columns

Are we stuck in a Catch-22 about ordained ministry for laywomen?

As of now, I think any decision the Catholic Church might take regarding the sacrament of holy orders for laywomen would put it in a Catch-22 situation.

By

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Jubilee Year at the US-Mexico border: A grounded, tested hope

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