Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, sit in a bus after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., Aug. 31, 2021. Commonwealth Catholic Charities in Virginia is among local Catholic Charities agencies that have challenged the federal government's abrupt suspension of the refugee resettlement program on Jan. 24, 2025. (AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Catholic Charities agencies halt refugee programs in wake of US aid freeze

News

Due to frozen federal funding, at least a dozen local Catholic Charities agencies since late January have laid off hundreds of employees, and some have begun to wind down their refugee resettlement programs.

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Focus

Pope Francis and his cousin Carla Rabezzana sit down for lunch in her home in Portacomaro, near Asti, Nov. 19, 2022. The pope traveled to the northern Italian town to help celebrate Rabezzana's 90th birthday, to visit other relatives and to celebrate Mass the next day in the Asti cathedral. (CNS/Vatican Media)

In Focus

We call him Pope Francis, but she calls him 'cousin Giorgio'

While the pope's health struggles have left Carla Rabezzana uneasy, the lack of direct contact has also heightened her anxiety for her beloved cousin, who can "cheer you up with just a few words."

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Pope Francis and his cousin Carla Rabezzana sit down for lunch in her home in Portacomaro, near Asti, Nov. 19, 2022. The pope traveled to the northern Italian town to help celebrate Rabezzana's 90th birthday, to visit other relatives and to celebrate Mass the next day in the Asti cathedral. (CNS/Vatican Media)
Vatican News

#1
We call him Pope Francis, but she calls him 'cousin Giorgio'

While the pope's health struggles have left Carla Rabezzana uneasy, the lack of direct contact has also heightened her anxiety for her beloved cousin, who can "cheer you up with just a few words."

ByCamillo Barone
A stained-glass window at Sacred Heart Church in Freeport, Minnesota, depicts the good Samaritan. The 2,000-year-old parable of the good Samaritan is the anchor of the encyclical "Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship." (CNS/The Crosiers/Gene Plaisted)
NCR Voices

#2
Catholic leaders gather to unpack 'Fratelli Tutti'

Last week more than 30 bishops and cardinals joined with theologians, journalists and other Catholic leaders at Fordham University for the fourth "Way Forward" ecclesial gathering.

ByMichael Sean Winters
U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is seen in Palm Beach, Fla., Feb. 8, 2021. (CNS/Reuters/Marco Bello)
NCR Voices

#3
Catholics for Catholics host schismatic gala at Mar-a-Lago

These alt-right folks may shout "Viva Christo Rey!" but they act like they have found their king and Mar-a-Lago is his kingdom. That is the problem, points out NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters.

ByMichael Sean Winters

#4
As Trump silences Voice of America, an archbishop raises his voice and leads

#5
'Popes come and popes go, what else is there?'

#6
A weak Pope Francis is wielding power and rewriting narrative of how popes exercise authority

Opinion

Catholics for Catholics host schismatic gala at Mar-a-Lago

NCR Voices

'Our love doesn't stop at our borders,' Shane Claiborne tells John Dear

Guest Voices
Letters to the Editor

Your letters: Barron and Byrne

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor: NCR readers respond to John Grosso's coverage of Bishop Robert Barron's reflection on President Trump's address to Congress.

As Trump silences Voice of America, an archbishop raises his voice and leads

NCR Voices

Pope Francis called for an end to child labor, and we must act

Guest Voices
Silhouette of person looking at stars and sky

NYT columnist Ross Douthat promotes value of belief

Guest Voices

While Douthat and I disagree on many things, we can both affirm that there is something "more" to our lives and the universe than generally meets the eye or that can be explained purely by empirical analysis. 

Vatican

Vatican News

Pope knew he 'might not make it,' physician says

For Pope Francis' medical team at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Feb. 28 was the worst day.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, speaks during a news conference at the Vatican, on Jan. 18, 2024. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Top Vatican diplomat says Trump's USAID cuts have created 'problem worldwide'

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, warned on March 25 that the Trump administration's decision to gut the United States' foreign aid assistance has created a "problem worldwide."

ByChristopher White
Brother Leo and Gabby discuss President Trump's showy executive orders.
Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip: Trump's giant pen

Francis, the comic strip: Brother Leo and Gabby discuss President Trump's showy executive orders.

ByPat Marrin
Vatican News

Hallelujah! A day to celebrate the Pope's release from the hospital — and his beloved gelato

"Hallelujah!" That's what countless Catholics exclaimed as Pope Francis left the hospital Sunday after more than a month fighting pneumonia. It's also the name of a new gelato flavor.

ByGiada Zampano, Associated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Vatican News

As Pope Francis leaves hospital, his almoner and doctors bring medical care to migrants

Vatican News

Pope Francis appears in public, returns to Vatican after long hospitalization

Vatican News

A weak Pope Francis is wielding power and rewriting narrative of how popes exercise authority

Organizations, like the Wolf Conservation Center and the International Wildlife Coexistence Network, strive to educate and inspire a global community to respect the role of wolves and foster peaceful coexistence. (Nancy F. Castaldo)
Viewpoints

What St. Francis and Brother Wolf teach us about cooperating with creation

The legend of St. Francis of Assisi and Brother Wolf tells a story not of taming a wild creature, but of cooperation and mutual understanding with our siblings in creation. Today, ranchers and farmers use nonlethal methods to coexist with wolves.

pipeline
Justice

SEC clears investor nuns to file Indigenous rights resolution against Citigroup

Sr. Susan Francois has spent the past four years filing shareholder resolutions against Citigroup, urging the company to rethink its financial ties to fossil fuel projects that impact Indigenous communities. 

ByFiona Murphy, Religion News Service
Cacio e pepe in a white bowl with ingredients on a wooden table (Wikimedia Commons/Popo le Chien)
Viewpoints

NCR recipes for Lent: Cacio e pepe

NCR digital editor John Grosso shares a favorite meatless meal for Lent: cacio e pepe, one of the "four horsemen" of Roman pasta. Three ingredients and 30 minutes make for a unique, delicious challenge.

ByJohn Grosso
Man rides bike, with fire and windstorm in background
Politics

Faith groups blast 'evil' EPA rollback plans, 'climate change religion' comment

The Trump administration's blueprints for remaking the EPA outline 31 regulations to eliminate or significantly scale back. Faith leaders say the rollbacks would harm human and environmental health.

ByBrian Roewe

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Laudato Si' inspires multimedia art exhibit at Jesuit Fairfield University

Justice

Priests, nuns join protest to Indonesia's geothermal project

Viewpoints

Lenten food 'doesn't mean boring,' says Catholic chef

Culture

Boy swings baseball bat.

This spring, ask questions about exclusion and solidarity in youth sports

As hand-picked travel teams become the norm, the poor are left out. If sport presents us with an opportunity for solidarity, we swing and miss. 

2 stacks of books with a rosary(NCR photo/Teresa Malcolm)
Book Reviews

How do you know when you are 'Reading Culture Through Catholic Eyes'?

James Keane's book Reading Culture Through Catholic Eyes highlights "50 Writers, Thinkers, and Firebrands" whose Catholicism-informed work can inspire a reader's soul-making with some thinking outside the box.

ByDiane Scharper

Flannery O'Connor's 100th birthday parties celebrate author's quirks, talents — and love of birds

Long before Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor raised her famous peacocks as an adult in rural Georgia, she kept canaries and chickens at 207 E. Charlton St., her childhood home in Savannah. A century later, it is a museum dedicated to her literary genius and fascinating personality, with big plans to mark the 100th anniversary of O'Connor's birth.

ByMaria Wiering, OSV News
An Israeli flag flies next to the rubble of destroyed buildings Dec. 26, 2023, as smoke rises in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel.
Book Reviews

Review: 'Stress Test: The Israel-Hamas War and Christian-Jewish Relations'

Drawing from scholarly research and years of personal dialogue with their Jewish counterparts, the authors recognize that the suffering witnessed in the past 18 months could upend peace efforts and limit fraternal dialogue.

ByMichael Sean Winters

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Controversial Mexico City exhibit raises questions about art, faith and censorship

Documentary chronicles history of liberation theology-inspired movements in Latin America

Book Reviews

'Stone Yard Devotional' sets forgiveness, empathy and death in an Australian convent

After signing her handwritten monastic vows, she removes the ring of her former community, leaves it with the document at the altar and after singing "Receive me, o Lord as you have promised that I may live, disappoint me not in my hope" three times, she receives the Benedictine ring, as a sign of her total incorporation into the Benedictine community of Mount St. Scholastica. (Courtesy of Helga Leija)

Professing monastic vows with dragons at the gate

The monastic life may seem predictable, safe and structured, but in reality, it can be just as challenging as a barren wasteland. When we remain in one place long enough, we cannot hide from ourselves or from others.

Our Lady of Sorrows Sr. Delnise Silva shares a light moment with children from Our Lady of Sorrows Primary School in rural Zimbabwe. (Marko Phiri)

Q&A with Sr. Delnise Silva, working with orphans in rural Zimbabwe

Sr. Delnise Silva belongs to the Our Lady of Sorrows congregation, which runs a school and an orphanage for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in two impoverished rural communities in Zimbabwe.

ByMarko Phiri
Students gather outside Don Bosco Ngozi High School in Burundi. (Courtesy of ANS Agenzia Info Salesiana)

Monday Starter: Salesians mark UN's World Water Day

 Salesian Missions joined other humanitarian groups on March 22 in marking World Water Day, a United Nations-led commemoration to bring attention to the need for safe, clean water.

ByChris Herlinger
Hands holding seeds (Pixabay/Markus Spiske)
Columns

Jesus' seed parables teach us hope as we confront the immigration crisis

My friend Jean and I are just two people trying to offer hope and decrease fear for Haitian migrants in Florida. As we share important information with the Haitian community, I reflect on the "seed" parables of Jesus.

ByJudy Dohner

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Catholic sisters at UN session speak out against 'crisis' of gender-based violence

SEC clears investor nuns to file Indigenous rights resolution against Citigroup

A global Mercy movement reaches out to girls in need

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