We set the stage for the October 5 opening of the Vatican’s two-week discussion and debate, called by Pope Francis, on the church and the pastoral challenges of contemporary family life, including topics such as marriage, divorce, remarriage, annulments, and cohabitation. More →

October 3, 2014

Of all the tourists who go to Israel and its surroundings each year, it’s estimated that more than half of them are Christian pilgrims visiting the holiest sites of the Christian story. It was Pope Clement VI who made the Franciscans the official guardians of these sites seven centuries ago. More →

March 28, 2014

In a panel discussion at Catholic University, four lay Catholics describe the single most important quality they want to see in the next pope. More →

March 1, 2013

Watch National Catholic Reporter senior correspondent John L. Allen Jr. and Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly managing editor Kim Lawton discuss the Roman Catholic Church’s plan to absorb unhappy Anglicans wishing to become Catholics. More →

October 23, 2009