Year in Review 2021: Catholics Stood Up for Christ in the Most Vulnerable, Living Out the Virtues of the Year of St. Joseph
Ricardo Balaca, ‘St. Joseph With the Infant Jesus’ (1861) A lookback at the past 365 days in our nation and world and at the Vatican
Five years after his death, Leonard Cohen is more than ever a man for our times
As a pandemic continues to beset the world, the economy blindsides us, and our cultural and political polarization worsens, we need someone like Cohen to help us answer: How did we get here?
Your thoughts on Jesus' birth to an unwed mother
Your thoughts: NCR readers respond to a recent column that asks what better witness the power of an unpredictable God than to raise up the Messiah from the least powerful of humans.
On Toni Morrison, divine feminine power and Afro-Catholicism
Book excerpt: Toni Morrison recognized that her many accolades wouldn’t prevent critics and scholars from dismissing her seventh novel, Paradise, “about this unimportant intellectual topic, which is religion.”
A 'Catholic' diocese that values internet hierarchy over religious expertise
The Catholic Diocese of Discord — where they “discuss theology, troll Protestants, play Minecraft, and pray the rosary” — may be the only U.S. Catholic community that has attracted most of its members through internet memes.
EarthBeat Weekly: The stories that captured our readers' attention most in 2021
EarthBeat Weekly: We look through the top news of 2021, including the reports and opinions that readers read the most.
The Epiphany of the Lord: Look to the Magi as models
Scripture for Life: As a synodal people, let us be on the move, discerning the signs of our times while refusing to be awestruck by self-important leaders. Let us share the Magi’s humble curiosity.
Al-Azhar Grand Imam sends Christmas greetings to Pope Francis, other Christian leaders (Egypt Today)
Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb of Al-Azhar (located in Cairo) signed the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Some Sunni Muslims regard the Grand Imam as the highest Muslim authority.
Africa poised to become an ‘even more important global center of Catholicism’ (Pillar)
Analyzing demographic trends, The Pillar notes that “the growing prominence of Africa in the global Church is driven by two different stories: the conversion of sub-Saharan Africa in the first half of the 20th century, and the growth of Africa’s population — unique among all regions of the world — in the 21st.” In addition, […]
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew released from hospital (The National Herald)
Born in 1940, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was installed in 1991 as Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, and holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches. He was recently hospitalized with Covid.