Morning Briefing

Renew yourself this Lent with daily scripture reflections. Join NCR's sister publication, Celebration, for Daily Bread, a series of short reflections written by four authors who meet regularly to share the readings.

Or reflect on Pencil Preaching by Pat Marrin. Every morning Pat Marrin breaks open the Word with a pencil sketch and a short meditation.

Celebrate the sisters! National Catholic Sisters Week starts March 8

Election 2016: Last night's GOP debate was a doozy (I couldn't copy the actual headline from this story for this link because it, like the debate, was vulgar.)

Off with his hat! Why we want to see cardinals punished in the abuse scandal I don’t need to see handcuffs on cardinals but the optical equivalent would work: A photo of Pell, sans cardinal regalia, toting his own suitcase back to Sydney to face the music there, would work for me.

Vatican City -- Francis did not receive Australian abuse survivors' request for meeting, says spokesman

Sydney priest slams Cardinal George Pell in damning radio interview (Text and video)

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Bishop breaks his silence on grand report claiming church cover-up and sex abuse claims. Pledges to publish list of abusive priests.

Fr. Tom Reese takes an historical perspective: Political parties: Chaos and gridlock

Of wineskins, old and new - mostly new Encountering a new form of religious community and service

An estimated 20 million people have obtained health insurance since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, representing a historic reduction in the size of the nation’s uninsured population, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has reported.

Jobs Report Shows Brisk U.S. Hiring in February: The unemployment rate has dropped sharply to 4.9 percent and the private sector has chalked up 72 months of uninterrupted job gains, the longest streak on record. Why then the palpable dissatisfaction of many voters to the record of unbroken job creation. “This is one of those times when the economic cycle has hit a weird political cycle,” said William Spriggs, chief economist at the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference business roundtable on Catholic Church growth in West Africa: Catholic Church challenged to embrace new media. Another topic: topic, "How to maximise the church’s socio-economic projects and reduce unemployment"