Brian Fraga

1 week ago | ncronline.org | Catherine M. Odell |Heidi Schlumpf |Brian Fraga |Brian Roewe

Pope Leo XIV, the former Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, waves to the crowds in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after his election as pope May 8, 2025. The new pope was born in Chicago. (CNS/Vatican Media) Although the choice of the name "Leo" may have taken the world by surprise as the American-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost chose his papal name on May 8, church historians familiar with the cardinal's career and the needs of the church were probably not surprised.

1 week ago | ncronline.org | Nathaniel Tinner |Heidi Schlumpf |Brian Fraga |Brian Roewe

The Catholic Church has a new leader, with the Augustinian Cardinal Robert Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV, his chosen name as bishop of Rome. He is the first North American pope and, according to a prominent genealogist, a pope with African-Creole ancestry. The understated candidate triumphed on the second day of voting in a count kept under permanent Vatican seal.

1 week ago | ncronline.org | Brian Fraga |Michael Sean Winters

Timothy Busch, cofounder and board chair of the Napa Institute, speaks at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on Oct. 15, 2024. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz) In the days leading up to the conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor, a bevy of wealthy American business leaders, philanthropists and conservative activists have descended on Rome and Vatican City to meet, fete and dine with cardinals and churchmen in well-heeled settings.

2 weeks ago | ncronline.org | Brian Fraga

The U.S. Supreme Court heard more than two hours of often feisty arguments on April 30, in a potential landmark case involving a proposed Oklahoma Catholic school that, if approved, would be the nation's first religious public charter school. In their questioning, the court's conservative justices appeared sympathetic to arguments that the Catholic Church has the same right as any other private group in Oklahoma to operate a charter school.

3 weeks ago | ncronline.org | Katie Scott |Brian Fraga |Heidi Schlumpf |Camillo Barone

Massimiliano Strappetti, the nurse who is Pope Francis' primary medical caregiver at the Vatican, adjusts a microphone for the pope as he greets a crowd of well-wishers at Rome's Gemelli hospital before returning to the Vatican March 23, 2025. (CNS/Pablo Esparza) Pope Francis' final moments were peaceful, and he managed to give one last farewell to his nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, before slipping into a coma early April 21, Vatican News reported.