Pope Francis has expressed openness to Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, under the condition they are not confused with marriage ceremonies for men and women, in what could be a watershed...

In a late vote May 27, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a measure condemning the Chinese Communist Party for forcing Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities into indoctrination camps...

A new Vatican document officially declares it possible for Catholic priests to bless same-sex unions and divorced and remarried couples. The pastoral shift may be among the most significant in the...

NCR Connections: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning 10-minute speech on the House floor last week has been called a lot of things, including "a lesson in sexism and decency." I just call...

The Vatican announced Nov. 11 that Pope Francis had effectively fired Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland, a firebrand prelate who called synodality "garbage" and endorsed a video that attacked Francis as...

In a departure from many diocesan policies on the topic, a new document from the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, stresses the first response to LGBTQ individuals should be "one of welcome, love, and...

Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church law to make explicit that laywomen can act as readers and altar servers in liturgical celebrations, effectively removing a previous option for individual...

People who act shocked that a priest would bless a gay couple but have no problem with him blessing a crooked businessman are hypocrites, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has sent a message of support to a conference that will discuss LGBTQ ministry in the Catholic Church, after right-wing online influencers organized a petition to try and stop the event....

Wanting to meet potential partners through dating apps like Tinder is "normal," and the church's teaching on sex is "still in diapers," Pope Francis said in a conversation with a group of young...

When Joe Biden leaves the Oval Office, so, too, will a Catholic commander-in-chief who always carried a rosary in his pocket, and arranged his public schedule to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days...

Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan asks, if Jesus entrusted Mary of Magdala to be the first witness to his Resurrection and St. Paul entrusted the Deacon Phoebe to be a minister in the early Christian...

Pope Francis on Oct. 17 held a meeting with Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick, a longtime advocate for LGBTQ Catholics who had previously been reprimanded by the Vatican and U.S. bishops. 

A meeting between Germany's Catholic bishops and lay representatives agreed Friday to call for the church to approve blessings of same-sex unions.

Commentary: On average, 10 women are murdered every day in Mexico. Says one human rights activist, "We live in a society where a social acceptance of violence against women is normalized."

The bishops have avoided being sucked into partisan politics at the cost of supporting democracy, argues Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese.

The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See told a Washington audience July 24 that "promoting and securing religious freedom as a human right is a shared priority" of the Vatican and the United States.

Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the disgraced former papal nuncio to the United States who questioned the legitimacy of Pope Francis and the authority of the Second Vatican Council, has been...

Distinctly Catholic: Fr. Jim Martin is a treasure. He has endured vulgar and childish tweets from others, but his works will be read long after such fire-eaters have been forgotten.

During a press conference on the papal plane from Lisbon, Portugal, Pope Francis reiterated his message that the church is open to everyone including LGBTQ people and all marginalized groups. 

For all the worry about Biden's Catholic bona fides in some circles, Republican candidate J.D. Vance and his brand of Christian nationalism represent a far greater threat to Catholic identity, says...

Fr. James Altman, who became known in 2020 for saying faithful Catholics cannot be Democrats, for ignoring COVID-19 protocols and for anti-immigrant and racist remarks, has been asked to step down as...

All forms of clerical abuse begin with a priest thinking he is better than others and somehow over them, Pope Francis said.

San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy sharply criticized the Eternal Word Television Network, the conservative Catholic U.S. media conglomerate, in an interview with Spanish magazine Vida Nueva published...

We say: After four years of racism, misogyny and narcissism in the White House, we look forward to a dignified, honest leader who might restore a level of respect for the office and for our nation.

Prolife activist Frank Pavone has been dismissed from the priesthood, according to a Dec. 13 letter to U.S. bishops.

Commentary: We don't need to wait for women to be ordained — there have been laypeople in the College of Cardinals before. Let women have a place at the table now.

More than 3,000 theologians, educators and lay leaders have called for all U.S. bishops to submit their resignations to Pope Francis, much like Chile's 34 bishops did in May after revelations of...

Feminist and liberation theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether influenced generations of men and women in the causes of justice for women, the poor, people of color, the Middle East and the Earth. The...

Assuring Rome priests of his gratitude and prayers, Pope Francis asked them to use part of their summer rest to reflect on ways to strengthen the unity of the church and promote greater collaboration...

The archbishop of Miami said Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida had hit a "new low" after the politician said it was "disgusting" to compare Cubans who fled the island-nation as unaccompanied...

As Catholic officials in Tigray continue to call for meaningful peace talks, an international refugees organization is warning that Eritrean refugees in the northern region have nowhere to run.

Five conservative cardinals from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have challenged Pope Francis to affirm current Catholic teaching on homosexuality and women's ordination ahead of a big Vatican...

During Vatican II, a group of Catholics in Kansas City decided laypeople should take the lead in church journalism. The result was the National Catholic Reporter, a key player in the life of the U.S....

Pope Francis praised actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg for helping people laugh and feel joy, telling her, "You are very important."

JD Vance’s views on childless women are sharply at odds with the attitude of his present Catholic faith. Catholic history is full of childless women respected for their work, many of them members of...

We say: Among those with some culpability for yesterday's failed insurrection are more than a few leaders in our church. Catholic apologists for President Trump have blood on their hands.

The Synod of Bishops for the Amazon has called on Pope Francis to allow for the priestly ordination of married men on a regional basis to address a lack of ministers across the nine-nation region.

U.S. Jesuit Fr. James Martin set out a series of ways in which parishes can show welcome and respect to LGBT Catholics.

Pope Francis used his 2023 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation message to call for an end to "the fossil fuel era," saying it is "madness to permit continued exploration and expansion of...

President Joe Biden's call for unity, his care for the poor, the environment and true peace in our fractured world make him an example of what public service ought to be, writes contributor Msgr....

A Catholic bishop in Michigan vilified President Joe Biden as a "stupid" Catholic "who is not living the life Jesus wants for him" during an April 5 presentation after a celebration of daily Mass.

Pope Francis issued a plea on behalf of prison inmates, saying they should never be deprived of hope and always be given the opportunity to redeem themselves.

After Harrison Butker, outspoken Catholic and kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, delivered a  controversial commencement speech, Madison Chastain suggests he take his own oft-delivered advice and...

Prominent Catholic leaders sent messages of video support to the LGBTQ community for Pride Month after Outreach 2020, a Catholic LGBTQ conference hosted by Fordham University, was canceled due to the...

Pope Francis is pressing Catholic theologians to be more in tune with the challenges of ordinary people and urging them to dialogue with non-believers as well as believers of various religions.

Pope Francis on April 26 dramatically expanded participation in the Vatican's upcoming Synod of Bishops to include lay men and women, for the first time granting them a right to be appointed as full...

A priest from the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray says killings, abductions and rape are still occurring in the region where a military offensive launched in...

In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the concept of gender transition, leaving many transgender Catholics feeling excluded. On Nov. 8, the Vatican made public a...

Pope Francis has defended his controversial decision to let priests bless same-sex couples but admitted that "solitude is a price you have to pay" when you make difficult decisions.

We say: After four years of racism, misogyny and narcissism in the White House, we look forward to a dignified, honest leader who might restore a level of respect for the office and for our nation.

No stranger to internet trolls, the media-savvy Jesuit says attacks have "really intensified" since the publication of his book Building a Bridge, about LGBT Catholics and the church.

The Harris/Walz ticket has energized young voters across the country, including young Catholics. They say a candidate's overall values and character are more important than any single issue or their...

What allows some to sustain prejudice, suspicion and uncertainty toward LGBTQ people is the fact that too many of us keep silent. It's easy to demonize people who never get to speak for themselves. 

While Catholic bishops may take a cautious approach to the Vatican's new guidance on blessing same-sex couples, they should not deny their priests the possibility of discerning and imparting blessi...

We say: The past four years have revealed that the U.S. bishops' conference is a group unable to represent the full range of Catholic teaching and unfit to act in the name of American Catholics.

Pope Francis greeted the leaders of an international association for LGBTQ Catholics at the end of his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 25.

Social Service Sr. Simone Campbell, the former executive director of the Catholic social justice lobby Network, will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden at the White...

Grace on the Margins: Pope Benedict XVI's letter achieves something he likely did not intend: He demonstrates precisely how the institutional church got into its current psychosexual mess. 

The Vatican on March 30 formally repudiated the "Doctrine of Discovery," officially declaring that the historic policy used to justify colonial exploitation is "not part of the teaching of the...

Church membership among Catholics has declined sharply in recent decades. Many who have left since 2016 cite their coreligionists' alliance with the MAGA movement as a key factor in their decision.

Pope Francis on appointed Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Raffaella Petrini as the new secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, making her the first woman to ever hold the post...

Nothing chases a person out of the Catholic Church and away from Christ faster than a bad priest. The priest does not have to be a child molester. He may simply be arrogant, patriarchal, insensitive...

In a recorded address to the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle suggested that resistance to the synod process is rooted in fear of change and insecurity about Catholic...

Church Militant, the far-right Catholic media network, will cease operating at the end of April, according to a press release issued March 1 by the law firm Todd & Weld LLP. 

Decrying the unimaginable "hell" migrants experience in detention centers, Pope Francis urged all Christians to examine how they do or don't help — as Jesus commanded — the people God has placed in...

We say: Among those with some culpability for yesterday's failed insurrection are more than a few leaders in our church. Catholic apologists for President Trump have blood on their hands.

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley on Dec. 17 defended Pope Francis against criticisms from the U.S.-based Eternal Word Television Network, known as EWTN, saying the Catholic media empire's attacks on...