NCR In Conversation

NCR's Joshua McElwee, Heidi Schlumpf, Michael Sean Winters and Dennis Coday talk about the summer's events that have led to an internal power struggle and an emerging layer of the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

Released by Pope Paul VI in 1968, Humanae Vitae, or “Of Human Life,” established church teaching on family planning and artificial contraceptives. In this episode, NCR columnist Jamie Manson and Todd Salzman discuss the encyclical and its effect on generations of Catholics. Todd is the Amelia and Emil Graff Professor of Catholic Theology at Creighton University and co-author with Michael Lawler of The Sexual Person.

Sr. Mary McGlone, a contributor to NCR’s column Scripture for Life, talks about the liturgical season of Ordinary Time and its significance to the Catholic faith.

NCR staff writer Brian Roewe's three-part series "Reducing Waste" looks at the challenge posed by plastic pollution — the theme of Earth Day 2018 — and how Catholic parishes and communities are taking steps to reduce the waste and change lifestyles.

NCR Vatican correspondent Joshua McElwee and Fr. James Connell, a retired priest in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, canon lawyer, and a founding member of Catholic Whistleblowers, discuss recent news developments in Chile, including Francis’ recent meetings with victims of clergy sex abuse and the resignation of 34 Chilean bishops.

Sr. Joan Chittister, recently joined NCR staff and friends to ask Tom Roberts to reflect on his decades in Catholic journalism. Tom served over the years as editor, managing editor and editor-at-large. He retired at the end of 2017.

Dan Morris-Young, a reporter for our Field Hospital beat, covers Catholic life across the country, reporting on the ministries, issues and people that make American parishes tick. He recently visited and profiled Dolores Mission, a tiny Jesuit parish in East Los Angeles known for its big heart and vibrant ministries.

NCR Bertelsen intern Maria Benevento reports on the modern developments of the Catholic Worker movement. Jim Forest, author of "At Play in the Lions’ Den: A Biography and Memoir of Dan Berrigan," talks about Berrigan's legacy as a writer and activist.

In a newly released book, former presidents of the Leadership Congregation of Women Religious, LCWR executive staff and supporters share their experiences and insights from the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Annmarie Sanders, communications director for LCWR, and Betty Thompson, a founding member of Solidarity with Sisters, talk about the process of writing the book and reliving this critical moment in the organization's history.

With spring comes baseball—and this year, two brand-new columns on NCRonline.org. The Gospel of Sports, by Mike Jordan Laskey, will publish every six weeks and looks at the intersection of faith and sports. Theology en la Plaza will focus on matters impacting church and society with columns by four public theologians writing from distinctly Latin@ perspectives. In this episode, Mike and columnist Carmen Nanko-Fernández talk about how they and others look at the intersection between baseball and faith

On Monday April 9, the Vatican announced the release of a new papal document titled Gaudete et Exsultate, or “Rejoice and Be Glad!” NCR's Vatican correspondent Joshua McElwee and Marymount University theologian Brian Flanagan discuss the document on the call to holiness in today's world.

NCR contributors Patricia Lefevere and Alex Mikulich talk about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy and the shared inspiration that drove King and Thomas Merton to do parallel work for equality.

NCR columnist Melissa Musick Nussbaum and her daughter Anna Keating are the co-authors of The Catholic Catalogue: A Field Guide to the Daily Acts That Make Up a Catholic Life. Published by Image in 2016, the book breathes fresh life into the Catholic calendar. Melissa and Anna share their traditions of keeping the Triduum and the Easter season and talk about how these practices have strengthened their families and their faith lives.

One national ministry has had massive success reaching out to college-age Catholics: the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, or FOCUS. Today on the show, Heidi Schlumpf and Kevin Ahern, assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College and the editor of the forthcoming “God’s Quad: Small faith communities on campus and beyond,” discuss FOCUS and its influence on American Catholic students.

NCR's Joshua McElwee and Michael Sean Winters talk about Pope Francis' leadership and the legacy of his papacy, five years in.