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Densy Jaime Ramos, front center, stands with her family while awaiting papal Mass Nov. 13, 2026, at Pampas de Pimentel outside of Chiclayo, Peru, during Pope Leo XIV's Nov. 6-17 apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. (NCR photo/Justin McLellan)

'The pope is Chiclayano': Leo receives joyful welcome in his former diocese

"He knows very well everything that we have lived through here in the diocese, so it was very special," one local Catholic told NCR immediately after seeing the pope ride by. "He is back here in his land."

Justin McLellan

A supporter of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico holds up a sign before a campaign event in Plano, Texas, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP/LM Otero)

News

Though the religious left showed up in midterms, not everyone sees a new trend

Brian Fraga

U.S. Vice President JD Vance greets Pope Leo XIV as his wife, Usha Vance, looks on in St. Peter's Basilica following the pope's inaugural Mass at the Vatican May 18, 2025. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

Opinion

Pope Leo and politics: Faggioli has penned the best book to date

Michael Sean Winters

The Latest

November 13, 2026

After midterm losses, the religious right blames Trump, voters and each other

Kathryn Post, Bob Smietana, Religion News Service

November 13, 2026

Aging Sisters of St. Agnes turn to Bernardine Franciscans to preserve Catholic university's mission

Dan Stockman

November 13, 2026

Leading a community of nuns in Ukraine under the shadow of war

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV receives a hug as he greets people during a meeting on the challenges and hopes for the country's future at Plaza de Armas in Lima, Peru, Nov. 12, 2026. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

Vatican News

Vatican

In Lima, Peru, Pope Leo rails against abuse and subordination of women

Justin McLellan

An image of Dorothy Day is seen during ceremonies marking the maiden voyage of the Dorothy Day ferry boat at the St. George Ferry Terminal in Staten Island, N.Y., April 28, 2023. The vessel in the Staten Island Ferry fleet is named for the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, who was received into the Catholic Church on Staten Island. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Opinion

US Catholics are left-curious. They should look to Dorothy Day.

Ryan Byrnes

Vatican

Pope Leo begins deeply personal homecoming in Peru: 'I am returning to my homeland'

Vatican

Pope Leo's Peru visit marks return to papal homecoming tradition

New members of the 120th Congress gather for the first day of new member orientation at the Capitol Nov. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Allison Robbert)

Opinion

DC bishop says 'collective action' trounces big money and other midterm takeaways

Michael J. O'Loughlin

Pope Leo XIV speaks to people gathered outside the apostolic nunciature in Montevideo, Uruguay, Nov. 6, 2026, at the end of the first day of his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. (CNS/Vatican Media)

In Focus

Pope Leo's vote in US, but not Peru, raises questions about papal identity

Does Robert Prevost understand himself to be as Peruvian as he is perceived?

Justin McLellan

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Most Read Stories

The reliquary of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the 17th-century French nun who received visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is pictured on display at the Parish of St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull, Connecticut in September 2026. (Maureen O'Brien)

#1
My visit with the relics of the 'Sacred Heart' nun felt like a divine encounter

Maureen O'Brien describes her experience of praying with the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

ByMaureen O'Brien

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed smiles after his victory in the U.S. midterm elections, during an Election Night rally in Detroit, Nov. 4, 2026. (OSV News/Reuters/Brian Snyder)

NCR Voices

#2
Treatment of El-Sayed's faith, language during midterms was deeply un-Catholic

"Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's Arabic name, his Muslim identity and his religious vocabulary were too often treated this campaign season as if he, and by extension Muslims and Arabic speakers, do not belong in American public life."

ByKaren E. Park

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Turkmenbasy, Turkmenistan, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool/Sergei Bobylev)

#3
Belarus sentences Catholic priest to 3 years after he opposed Ukraine war

Fr. Anatoly Parakhnevich was accused of "insulting the authorities" and "extremism" during a closed-door trial, said the Viasna Human Rights Center. Parakhnevich ministers in Alkovichy in northwestern Belarus.

ByYuras Karmanau, Associated Press

#4
She almost became a nun. Now her voice fills the Metropolitan Opera.

#5
Pope Leo arrives in Argentina under the shadow of his predecessor

#6
Pope Leo's vote in US, but not Peru, raises questions about papal identity

Opinion

Clarence Devadass

Mission and proclamation can take many forms while remaining faithful to Christ

Guest Voices

John Dear

Podcast: 'Jesus doesn't win by violence, only by nonviolence,' says John Ashworth

Guest Voices

A voter enters the parish hall at St. John the Baptist Church in Wading River, N.Y., on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026. The parish serves as a Suffolk County, N.Y., voting location. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Joe Ferullo

What's the matter with Catholic voters?

Guest Voices

In a blue tsunami that saw dramatic shifts among nearly every major voting category, one group decided to merely dip its toe in the water: Catholics, Joe Ferullo writes.

Matthew N. Green

Pope Leo "wants the church to take nonviolence seriously and put it into practice," said the activist, author and professor.

Vatican

'The pope is Chiclayano': Leo receives joyful welcome in his former diocese

Justin McLellan

Vatican News

In Lima, Peru, Pope Leo rails against abuse and subordination of women

On his first full day in his adopted home of Peru, Pope Leo XIV said the church must confront abuse perpetrated by its members, and, in his first address to the Peruvian public, he decried the mistreatment of women.

ByJustin McLellan

Named for Pope Leo's late mother, Peruvian goddaughter joins crowds for homecoming as volunteer

Though she bears the name of Pope Leo XIV's late mother, Mildred Camacho says she prefers to be among the crowds rather than in the front row to welcome her godfather back to Peru.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

A sign welcomes Pope Leo XIV to the "Capital of Friendship" in Chiclayo, Peru, on November 9, 2026. Leo, the former "Padre Roberto," was bishop of Chiclayo from 2015-2023. (OSV News/Junno Arocho Esteves)

Pope Leo's Peru visit marks return to papal homecoming tradition

Peruvians have good reason to celebrate Leo's return, especially since Pope Francis never returned to his homeland of Argentina after departing for the 2013 conclave where he was elected pope.

ByAbby Strelow

Pope Leo begins deeply personal homecoming in Peru: 'I am returning to my homeland'

At Argentina's national shrine, Pope Leo calls country to reconciliation, communion and mission

Vatican News

Chiclayo: A tale of two tables and one pope

EarthBeat

Uruguay shows the way on renewable energy

When the pope visited Uruguay, the media noted it is the most secular country in Latin America, with the lowest percentage of Catholics. What was not noted is that Uruguay is powered almost entirely by renewable energy: wind, solar and hydro.

A key focus at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, will be how countries address means to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Emissions released from burning coal, oil and gas are the main driver of climate change. (UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth)

Nations must advance climate funding, fossil fuel phaseout at COP31, Catholic groups say

Catholics attending the United Nations climate change summit in Turkey urged countries to refocus on phasing out fossil fuels and delivering funds to communities facing climate impacts.

ByBrian Roewe

Activists check the vital signs of an inflatable Earth at the COP17 United Nations biodiversity summit in Yerevan, Armenia. (UN Biodiversity/Mike Muzurakis)

Faith leaders resist despair as UN summit shows slow progress on conservation goals

"Frustration is real because we have the science, because we know what we need to do [and] the trajectory that we're on," said Amy Echeverria of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.

ByBrian Roewe

The people who participated in the Sept. 26 walk in San Francisco Angulo, El Salvador, called for the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, ecology and the environment. (Lissette Lemus)

Religious orders in El Salvador seek to protect community from mega-prison’s pollution

At event tied to Season of Creation, Catholic sisters and Franciscan friars in El Salvador support a rural community fighting water contamination and a landfill near CECOT, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates.

ByRhina Guidos

At Cadillac Mountain, a missing Wabanaki marker and the fight over what national parks should tell

Soul Seeing

In praise of a wild, unfettered God

In midterms, Catholic voters must keep national parks in mind

Culture

Saioa Hernández plays the title role in the Puccini opera "Tosca" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. SeokJong Baek plays her lover, Mario Cavaradossi. (Met Opera/Marty Sohl)

She almost became a nun. Now her voice fills the Metropolitan Opera.

Internationally recognized opera star Saioa Hernández speaks with NCR on vocation, discernment and practicing faith in the public eye.

Camillo Barone

For post-election season, 2 new Catholic books tackle polarization

In a time of global unrest, the church has an opportunity to model connection and dialogue. Toward a More Perfect Communion and An Inspired Word in Season offer suggestions.

ByJeannine M. Pitas

Vanessa Redgrave played Sr. Jeanne des Anges in Ken Russell's 1971 film "The Devils," now restored and rereleased. (Warner Bros.)

Mark Kermode on restoration of 'The Devils' and the director's Catholicism

The movie, based on a 1951 Aldous Huxley book, met intense controversy, and it was heavily edited and censored. Now the full version is in theaters, tackling topics of power and corruption between church and state.

ByZachary Lee