Tom Roberts

For Christians, the search for our moral bearings amid the horrific violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may lie not so much in a conclusive statement of right and wrong. It may, instead, lie in encounter.

I am no longer surprised at Gramick's resilience, her faith, her persistence, her endurance, her generosity, her capacity to absorb institutional assaults and remain hopeful. A prophetic talk in 1999 exemplified that.

For Spirit Catholic Community in Minneapolis, holding true to tradition doesn't mean mere imitation. Are such independent communities simply outside the fold? Or could they teach the Roman Catholic Church a thing or two?

Formed in Cleveland after a parish closing in 2010, the Community of St. Peter continues to work out matters of theology and practice, including recently considering: What about the Eucharist? Who will say the words?

When Catholics from Corpus Christi Parish in Rochester, New York, began Spiritus Christi in the late '90s, Myra Brown was among them. Today, she is the independent eucharistic community's ordained pastor.

This is no longer your grandmother's Catholic Church, but one that is increasingly multicultural and non-European, with fewer ordained priests every year. Part 2 of a 5-part series on the Catholic diaspora.

Former Catholics are everywhere. This diaspora, in differing degrees detached from institutional Roman Catholicism, often takes shape in communities that still claim the name Catholic. Part 1 of a 5-part series.

President Joe Biden's recent decision to send Ukraine cluster bombs has begun to erode the moral high ground for U.S. involvement in the conflict with Russia, writes former NCR editor Tom Roberts.

Money, not religion, is the motivating issue of the Catholic right, according to Mary Jo McConahay's new book. Former NCR editor Tom Roberts' review says the book does U.S. Catholicism a great service.

Appreciation: Reporter Patricia Lefevere was an editor's dream, ready to go anywhere on a moment's notice and eager to talk to as many people as she could to get the story, remembers retired NCR editor Tom Roberts.

Rather than continue to define itself by a few culture war issues, the U.S. church should follow Cardinal McElroy's lead in moving nonviolence to the center of Catholic teaching on war and peace, says Tom Roberts.

Synodality is an empty exercise unless true reform of the hierarchy comes from the top, says former NCR editor Tom Roberts.

Benedictine Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, a major force behind the ministries and outreach that shaped the Benedictines of Erie, Pennsylvania, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, died Jan. 6 at age 81.

Two writers draw together the data and connect the dots, finding the long-running, indisputable and inconvenient truth about organized religion.

Msgr. Michael Doyle, an Irish-born priest who served in Camden, New Jersey for decades, died on Nov. 4. We are republishing former NCR editor Tom Roberts' report about Doyle's ministry, first published in December 2009.

Commentary: The U.S. hierarchy decided to shut down Catholic News Service operations in this country. So what should Catholics seek in their sources of information if they're looking for good journalism?

Commentary: In retrospect, I've unwittingly had meaningful encounters with three cardinals-to-be, very unlikely candidates, saying and doing the kinds of things that aspiring cardinal types normally avoid.

Book review: Whatever flaws the 1619 Project may have, it is a valuable view of a shadow stream of U.S. history through the eyes of those who understand, more clearly than anyone without dark skin can, the lasting effects of it.

Commentary: A drama in Maryland holds significance for the next presidential election cycle, while highlighting the ever-shrinking role of Catholic witness in the public square as it becomes a casualty of the culture wars.

Commentary: What cannot be overstated is the force that the hierarchical culture — that privileged, secretive, unaccountable, male-only construct — can apply against any movement toward radical truth-telling.