NCR Editorial Staff

Trump prevailed with his domestic policy bill. The House vote was 218-214. And in doing so, he didn't just pass a bill — he marked a turning point in the nation's moral trajectory. This is not reform. It is retribution.

Will the United States uphold the dignity of its most vulnerable citizens, or will it sacrifice them for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful? Where are the U.S. bishops in this moral crisis?

Trump's entry into war with Iran is not merely a policy blunder; it represents a moral failure. We call on Catholics — especially those in leadership — to speak clearly and urgently for Gospel nonviolence.

More Catholic institutions must integrate environmental justice into their operations. Governments must swiftly transition away from fossil fuels. AI must be regulated to safeguard human dignity.

Jesus weeps over this cruelty. So do we.

As 133 cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel to begin voting for a new pope, the church's problems and perplexities remain bigger than the sum of the questions posed in the days since Francis died. 

The history of papal elections is filled with politics, strategy and intrigue. However, we would be naive to imagine that the Holy Spirit is absent from the process, too fragile to endure the rough handling of human hands.

We grieve not just the passing of a pope, but the loss of a holy witness who taught us that to see sacramentally is not to withdraw from the world, but to love it more fiercely.

In the shadow of the cross before us, where our faith calls us to ponder the vulnerable Jesus and the Christ of the marginalized, our government has erected a modern Golgotha for Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

Holy Week immerses us into the sacred pattern of reality itself. It mirrors our life: a journey marked by love, loss, waiting, surrender and — by grace — resurrection. And what carries us through this journey? Prayer.

The GOP plan strips dignity from the poor, rewards the wealthy and undermines the foundations of a just society. Will our economy serve the many or the few? 

These are not the stray provocations of a thin-skinned politician, but a sustained campaign to intimidate, manipulate and muzzle institutions that hold power accountable. We cannot let this sinister behavior succeed.

We must oppose President Donald Trump's anti-conservation agenda that promotes fossil fuels over the long-term health of our shared home and all who rely on it for life. 

Brad Sigmon chose to be the first person executed in the U.S. by firing squad in 15 years because he believed the alternatives — lethal injection and electrocution — are more horrific.

National Catholic Reporter has said that silence in the face of President Trump's cruelty is complicity. In this daunting national moment, will Bishop Robert Barron speak truth to the powerful, or continue his silence?

It is time to name the result of this chaos — unbounded cruelty. Complicit Catholics, in particular, must stop aiding and abetting cruelty by asserting that this administration is in any way pro-life. It is not. Yet we are not helpless in the face of the chaos. 

The Catholic vice president managed to insult not only the hierarchy and Pope Francis, but agencies such as Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities; diocesan and parish organizations; and ordinary Catholics.

Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde's plea to Trump gave a human face to those who, in the approach of a heartless administration, are a faceless group, shamefully maligned and made into a national scapegoat.

Forty years ago this June, the National Catholic Reporter began publishing stories about U.S. Catholic priests sexually abusing children. This is an NCR editorial that ran with that first coverage in 1985.

We are in a moment of unprecedented division and uncertainty in both the church and society. That's why Pope Francis could not have made a better choice to lead the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.