Carol Zimmermann

Washington, D.C., United States

News Editor at National Catholic Reporter

News editor for @ncronline Catholic news tips: [email protected]. Not really on X anymore. You can find me here: @carolmaczim.bsky.social

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Articles

Watching and waiting for a new pope

1 month ago | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Camillo Barone |Christopher White

Help us raise $300,000 for NCR!We have raised $66,694 from 421 supporters. We are 22.2% of the way to our goal! Pilgrims cheer and wave a banner saying "Viva il papa" ("Long live the pope") as white smoke rises from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, indicating a new pope has been elected at the Vatican, March 13, 2013. The conclave to elect a new pope met over two days before making a decision.
White or black smoke? I couldn't tell when Francis was elected

1 month ago | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Rhina Guidos

Help us raise $300,000 for NCR!We have raised $69,576 from 459 supporters. We are 23.1% of the way to our goal! Pilgrims cheer and wave a banner saying "Viva il papa" ("Long live the pope") as white smoke rises from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, indicating a new pope has been elected at the Vatican, March 13, 2013. The conclave to elect a new pope met over two days before making a decision.
5 years after COVID-19: What we can't shake

Mar 14, 2025 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Gina Christian

The comedian John Mulaney has a bit where he talks about going to Mass on Christmas Eve with his parents and says he was "batting like 400" with his responses even though he had stopped going to church. But when it came to the Sign of Peace, all bets were off. He said he was "like the one pre-Y2K [ahem, person] going 'and also with you'" while the rest of the congregation said "and with your Spirit.""They changed [the wording] because that's what needed revamping in the Catholic Church," he riffs.
As Catholic Relief Services' Rice Bowl turns 50 this Lent, an urgent plea for help

Mar 5, 2025 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Michael Sean Winters |Stephanie Yeagle

The colorful cardboard boxes of Catholic Relief Services' Rice Bowl program are a Lenten mainstay. Many of us are so accustomed to them, we might not even see them in piles on the back tables in our parishes, college Catholic student centers or diocesan offices. We also might not find them deep in our kids' backpacks from their Catholic schools or religious education programs.
How a crossword puzzle can be a connection to the past

Dec 30, 2024 | baltimoresun.com | Carol Zimmermann

Critics have called out crossword puzzles in recent years for their editors and content being too old, white and male. I get that, but I also urge puzzle makers not to completely do away with the old-style clues that still have something to say.
Christians in Aleppo feel an uneasy calm amid rebel takeover of Syrian city

Dec 5, 2024 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Dale Gavlak

An uneasy calm hangs over Aleppo, Christian leaders report, following the recent lightning takeover of Syria's second-largest city by Islamist rebels driving out forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Concerns also mount over government airstrikes. "A relatively calm day compared to previous days," a Catholic priest in Aleppo, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity of the situation, wrote in a letter made available to OSV News.
AI-generated religious imagery prioritizes novelty over God's commandments

Dec 5, 2024 | ncronline.org | Céire Kealty |Carol Zimmermann

As the presence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives expands, so too do the ethical problems posed by the technology. As a Christian, I'm increasingly concerned with AI's presence in one of the most powerful artistic forms: religious art. While preparing a guest lecture in a colleague's classroom, I turned to the web to find electronic scans of religious artworks for my slide deck.
He left the priesthood, was spied on by the FBI. She helped Omaha's poor. Together they changed lives.

Dec 5, 2024 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Erin Grace

Mary Ann Beckman awaited the late-arriving guest from her open front porch on a quaint postcard of a block that might have faded into Omaha oblivion had it not been for people like her husband, Mel. Saving Bemis Park was among Mel Beckman's many noble aims. He rehabbed old houses, pushed the city of Omaha, Nebraska, to save single-family homes from being chopped into apartments, and started one of the city's first neighborhood associations.
Notre Dame’s resurrection: Its chief architect on rebuilding France’s 'heart' in 5 years

Dec 4, 2024 | ncronline.org | Carol Zimmermann |Thomas Adamson

The day after the inferno struck Notre Dame on April 15, 2019, Philippe Villeneuve walked despondently into the remains of his cathedral. Smoke choked the spring air, the spire lay in rubble, and charred beams littered the nave. “We had lost the framework, the roof, the spire, and three sections of the vault,” Villeneuve, its chief architect since 2013, said. Yet just hours earlier, President Emmanuel Macron had issued an extraordinary decree: Notre Dame would rise again — in just five years.
CLAR president expresses worries over 'weakening of democracies'

Dec 4, 2024 | ncronline.org | Rhina Guidos |Carol Zimmermann

The president of the largest group of women and men religious in Latin America and the Caribbean expressed her support Nov. 24 for religious life in Nicaragua as it lives out its mission under "tyranny."Sr. Liliana Franco, president of the Confederation of Latin American and Caribbean Religious, known as CLAR, said, "to the religious men and women in Nicaragua, we are with you."At the conclusion of the Nov.