Don Clemmer

Recent guidelines on hymn lyrics from the U.S. bishops' conference encountered some pushback from Catholics. Catholic music directors and composers shared their thoughts with NCR.

Half of U.S. Catholics who voted in the 2020 presidential election chose Donald Trump. Processing Trump's loss and reflecting on the turmoil facing the country, they share a mix of subdued disappointment and resignation.

White Catholics can bear witness to racial justice in their relationships and in their public witness, said a panel of Black Catholics on the second day of the Catholic Summit on Racial Justice, a virtual event Nov. 14-15 for college students.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson issued a letter calling on Catholics to "lean in with compassion" when encountering transgender people, but it also asserted "Catholic understanding of the human person holds that sex and gender cannot be separated."

Catholic pastors in West Virginia tell NCR about pandemic hardships, including the cancellation of a service trip that was vital for the area, and now, living the reality of the rigors of reopening.

Bishop Mitch Rozanski spoke to NCR the day after his appointment to St. Louis, sharing the perspective he brings to this latest assignment and how the church can follow Pope Francis in making the Gospel message clear.

After 22 years as a Catholic lay minister, "trying to do everything I was allowed to do and hoping that would fulfill my call," Shanon Sterringer found liberating grace in ordination and a new community.

When Mary Symes, 75, died after testing positive for COVID-19, her family had to find a way to adapt her funeral. Livestreaming the service was one creative way that helped provide comfort.

Fr. Frank Pavone enthusiastically supports President Donald Trump's reelection. Some Catholics and pro-lifers see major disconnects between Pavone's embrace of Trump and the church's witness in the public square.

The constraints of stay-at-home policies aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus are affecting workers — in parishes, the service industries, small businesses, etc. — and Catholic agencies and social advocates are trying to keep up with need while noting this crisis could bring about lasting societal transformation

Behind the news of suspended Masses, COVID-19 has prompted layers of response that bring into focus how the church is intertwined with the wider society, reliant on revenue and served by people on payrolls.

In today's Manhattan, the original Catholic Worker facilities are surrounded by towers that rent one-bedroom apartments for $4,000 a month, and Catholic Worker centers in South Bend, Indiana, and Philadelphia are also learning to adapt to changes.

Book review: The enemy is right there in the title of Running Against the Devil by Rick Wilson, whose decadeslong career as a Republican strategist was upended by Donald Trump's emergence in 2016.

The Chicago document doesn't exactly break new ground in its recommendations, but it does put heavy stipulations on how a eulogy can be given. This rule draws a firm line through a sensitive pastoral context, in which grieving families are processing their loss and navigating how to say goodbye. 

David Newell, who got his start with Fred Rogers in the late '60s, just as "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was beginning, spoke with NCR about the personal faith and sense of mission that animated Rogers' work and how that revealed itself in his daily life with "kindnesses," big and small.

Barron's Word on Fire gave him experience to bring to chairing the U.S. bishops' evangelization committee — though some say the Los Angeles auxiliary bishop's approach is more about apologetics.

A non-profit that stands against all forms of aggressive violence hosted a event with an unorthodox range of programming that explicitly invoked Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's "seamless garment" articulation of a consistent ethic of life.

The pro-life Democrat spoke at Loyola University New Orleans for the sixth annual conference organized by Rehumanize International, an organization dedicated to promoting a consistent life ethic.

A Catholic chaplain at General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly plant talks about her roles as both afflicted and comforter, and the evangelical churches mobilize to help the workers who have been on strike since Sept. 15.

Security experts say Catholic institutions can implement safety measures that enhance Catholic values — like warmly welcoming the stranger who walks into Mass or even knowing how to tend to the wounded.