A woman walks past a poster in front of the train station in Metz, France, Sept. 9, 2026, welcoming Pope Leo XIV ahead of his visit in the northeastern French city. (OSV News/Reuters/Ardee Napolitano)
Vatican News

What to watch for during Pope Leo's trip to France

Vatican

With more than a million expected to see him in France, Pope Leo XIV is set to make quite the splash during his four-day trip to the country, long thought to be hostile to the realm of religion.

The Latest

Experts: Calls for AI slowdown worth heeding, church is helping to shape discussion

Gina Christian, OSV News

Priests, nuns march to Vatican to demand end to 'genocide' in Gaza

The Associated Press

About 2,000 church sex abuse victims have come forward for reparations in France

Syvlie Corbet, Associated Press

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV greets Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary general of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at Borgo Laudato Si' in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome July 29, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)

In Focus

Catholic Church's culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks

Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church, writes Phyllis Zagano.

,

Support journalism that matters. 

Your donation to NCR keeps independent Vatican news accessible to all. 

Donate Now

Most Read Stories

A priest is seen in a file photo pouring wine into the chalice during the offertory of the liturgy of the Eucharist as he celebrates morning Mass. (OSV News/Bob Roller)

#1
Restricting the chalice is not tradition — it's a troubling innovation

As a few U.S. dioceses restrict access to the precious blood, they are promoting a "newer vision of Catholicism in which restriction of the fuller sign of the Eucharist has come to signify holiness," Karen E. Park writes. 

ByKaren E. Park
Joseph Kelly and his wife, Alina Rudnicka, pose during a hike in the Polish Tatra mountains this summer. (Courtesy of Joseph Kelly)

#2
Practicing Augustinian spirituality in our marriage has brought unity amid differences

The Rule of St. Augustine makes sense within a monastery or convent. But does it work in marriage? This couple of 40 years says yes.

ByJoseph Kelley
Pope Leo XIV greets Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary general of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at Borgo Laudato Si' in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome July 29, 2026. (AP/Alessandra Tarantino)
Guest Voices

#3
Catholic Church's culture problem is closer to home than Pope Leo thinks

Two women now head major Vatican offices, and a third will soon. But the altar rail tells another story about their progress in the church, writes Phyllis Zagano.

ByPhyllis Zagano, Religion News Service

#4
Pope celebrates his 71st birthday but it's Vatican employees who get the gift

#5
LA nun champions second chances for those rebuilding their lives after prison

#6
Bishop Barron of Word on Fire fuels debate on empathy's role in society

Opinion

Bishop Barron swings and misses, again

NCR Voices

There will never be a synodal church without synodal seminaries

Guest Voices
Letters to the Editor

Your letters: An eldercare center in India, San Francisco parish assessments and women deacons

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor: NCR readers respond to stories about an aging congregation of nuns who live with elderly, the Archdiocese of San Francisco's recent sex abuse settlement and the state of the women's diaconate. 

New Vatican document's use of 'ecological sin' vital to conversion

NCR Voices

Will Trump's effort to nationalize the midterm elections work or backfire?

NCR Voices
Bishops from around the United States gather at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 10, 2025, for the opening Mass of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' fall plenary assembly. (OSV News/Catholic Review/Kevin J. Parks)

Editorial: The church still waits to hear a full confession from the hierarchy

Editorial

Bankruptcy is not enough to "move beyond" the Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis. The clerical/hierarchical culture has yet to square up with the reality of bishops' betrayal of the community at a sacramental level.

Vatican

US China race on AI
Vatican News

As the US and China race on AI, the Vatican presses for global safeguards

Pope Leo is quietly positioning the Vatican as a moral convener in the AI debate and a potential bridge between the rival superpowers.

A woman walks past a poster in front of the train station in Metz, France, Sept. 9, 2026, welcoming Pope Leo XIV ahead of his visit in the northeastern French city. (OSV News/Reuters/Ardee Napolitano)
Vatican News

What to watch for during Pope Leo's trip to France

With more than a million expected to see him in France, Pope Leo XIV is set to make quite the splash during his four-day trip to the country, long thought to be hostile to the realm of religion.

ByJustin McLellan

Pope Leo XIV will meet with the French abuse survivors as critics demand action

Pope Leo XIV, during his four-day visit to France beginning Friday, will meet privately with seven survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic personnel. The outcome will be closely watched by critics who say the church hasn't done enough to confront the problem.

BySylvie Corbet, Associated Press
Vatican News

Pope Leo XIV to travel 19,000 miles on 14 flights during trip to Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay

The Nov. 6-17 trip will be the first papal visit to Latin America of Leo's pontificate and his longest international journey to date. 

ByCourtney Mares, OSV News

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope Leo XIV calls on Latin American bishops to lead from ground, not 'behind a desk'

Vatican News

At Vatican conference, labor leader critiques AI execs who 'want to play God'

Hate speech violates command to love one's neighbor, says Vatican's UN diplomat

EarthBeat

Catholic nuns face ongoing loss, uncertainty after deadly Colombia earthquake

Catholic sisters in Colombia are grappling with damaged ministries, displaced residents and an uncertain recovery weeks after a deadly earthquake devastated parts of the country.

The Des Moines River is seen at Bentonsport, Iowa. (Dreamstime/Adam Wineke)
Soul Seeing

A river teaches me

Soul Seeing: Beloved Catholic writer Joyce Rupp reflects on the spiritual lessons she received by years of meditating with a river.

ByJoyce Rupp
A drone view shows children picking through washed-up garbage along the polluted Pasig River in Manila, Philippines on June 5, 2025. (OSV News/Reuters/Eloisa Lopez)
NCR Voices

New Vatican document's use of 'ecological sin' vital to conversion

Thanks to the International Theological Commission, Catholics can "name what is happening on an individual, communal and global level in a way that we couldn't before," Daniel P. Horan writes. 

ByDaniel P. Horan
An irrigation operation runs amid an onion crop on St. Elizabeth Farm in Momoi village in Lower Subukia, Nakuru County, Kenya. (Shadrack Omuka)

St. Elizabeth Demo Farm a beacon of sustainability in Kenyan nun's rural hometown

Sr. Victorina Wanjiru, a Catholic nun born and raised in Momoi village, manages St. Elizabeth Demo Farm, which teaches locals in the area of her hometown sustainable farming and eco-friendly income activities.

ByShadrack Omuka

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NM archbishop: Politicians must act with 'moral courage' to protect clean water

Vatican News

Villanova names Vatican cardinal first recipient of Pope Leo sustainability award

Global warming set to surpass key 1.5 C climate limit by 2030, UN report finds

Culture

An interior view of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on October 9, 1962, two days before the opening of the Second Vatican Council (AP)
Book Reviews

Stephanie Sy-Quia's debut novel paints forbidden love against Vatican II backdrop

Book review: With its story of a romance between a priest and a theology teacher, Stephanie Sy-Quia's critically acclaimed novel, A Private Man, traces themes of inheritance and longing amid radical change.

Maggie Smith as the Reverend Mother and Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris Van Cartier in a still from the 1992 movie "Sister Act." (Newscom/Cover Images via ZUMA Press)

'Sister Act' and the gift of Blackness in the church

The 1992 comedy offers something worth considering: a reflection on what happens when a Black woman brings her culture, gifts and way of worship into a community that doesn't initially know what to do with them.

ByTulio Huggins, Black Catholic Messenger
Stephen Root, Matthew Rhys and Kate O'Flynn star in Apple TV's "Widow's Bay." In its first season, the mayor of a small town on a remote New England island hopes to turn his community into a tourist destination. But an ancient curse stands in the way. (Apple TV)

With 19 Emmy nods, 'Widow's Bay' gets the link between terror and togetherness

Apple TV's series is among the most critically acclaimed television shows of the year. Rebecca Bratten Weiss says Catholics could learn a few things from it.

ByRebecca Bratten Weiss
Tom Hollander as Treasurer Hales, Woody Norman as King Richard II and Katherine Waterston as The Countess interact in director Paul Greengrass' "The Uprising," which opens in theaters Sept. 11.(Focus Features/Betina La Plante)

Does 'The Uprising' really want us to rise up?

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 can inspire us to confront the problem of wealth disparity today. So why does Paul Greengrass' new movie feel more like a warning?

ByRobbie Wessel Kroeschell

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The insatiable spirituality of Andrew Garfield, star of 'The Uprising'

Why Black Catholic musicians should study Gregorian chant

Book Reviews

New book illuminates true barrier to women's diaconate

St. Joseph Sr. Bethany Welch paints with one of the transitional housing residents. (Courtesy of Cathie Meighan)

Q&A with Sr. Bethany Welch on adapting and reusing church property

A Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia, Welch's work has been focused on urban revitalization, particularly on the adaptive reuse of church property, both before and after entering the order. "How do we steward those properties to serve the Gospel?"

Jemima Cheruto bends to fetch water outside her home in Ortum, northern Kenya.

GSR correspondent Doreen Ajiambo wins climate journalism award for COP30 reporting

For the second year in a row, GSR's Africa regional correspondent Doreen Ajiambo wins a Covering Climate Now Journalism Award for her coverage of COP30.

ByGSR Staff

Catholic nuns face ongoing loss, uncertainty after deadly Colombia earthquake

Catholic sisters in Colombia are grappling with damaged ministries, displaced residents and an uncertain recovery weeks after a deadly earthquake devastated parts of the country.

By
The Peace Center, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, is seen in July 2026 in New Oleans' Gert Town neighborhood. (GSR photo/Dan Stockman)

Dominican nuns build community in New Orleans neighborhood shaped by poverty

For 13 years, the Dominican Sisters of Peace have built relationships in New Orleans' Gert Town neighborhood through a community center offering programs for children and seniors.

ByDan Stockman

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Seneca Falls' hallowed ground still stirs the flame: We are all created equal

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: God's incomprehensible generosity

Will 'nun girl summer' give way to another season of sisters?