Wednesday, September 30, 2026

In the footsteps of St. Francis: How my travels through Italy brought me closer to a beloved saint

In the footsteps of St. Francis: How my travels through Italy brought me closer to a beloved saint

by Stephanie Saldaña September 10, 2026

The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi Credit: OSV News photo/courtesy Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

All of life was a pilgrimage for St. Francis of Assisi. It only made sense, 800 years after his death, that I would go on my own pilgrimage in search of him.

It was 7:30 a.m. in Assisi during the third week of March, and I was standing with hundreds of pilgrims waiting in lines. Beside me, a man named Francis was tracing his lineage out loud—a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather all named Francis, after the saint. On my other side, a young Italian woman introduced herself as Chiara, or Clare in English, and told me that she lived in Gubbio, the town made famous as the place where legend claims St. Francis tamed a wolf. “We really do have wolves in Gubbio,” she insisted.

Fulton Sheen’s beatification ceremony was a model of evangelization for the whole church

Faith in Focus

Fulton Sheen’s beatification ceremony was a model of evangelization for the whole church

by Joe Hoover, S.J. September 29, 2026

A major relic of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen is displayed next to his official portrait at his beatification Mass Sept. 24, 2026, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. Credit: OSV News photo/Margaret Murray

What was effective about the beatification ceremony for Blessed Fulton Sheen last week on Sept. 24, 2026? How was it effective or “successful” as a model of Catholic evangelization? Or are those even the right words to use to describe a celebration like this?

One day on an East Coast tour of “Twelfth Night” in the late ’90s (it was my first professional acting job; I played the servant Curio and had approximately four lines—not that actors ever count their lines), I got to talking about faith and prayer with another actor in the show who was also a baptized Catholic but no longer went to church.

Trump with a model of his proposed triumphal arch, October 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell, File)

“Nobody builds walls better than me.” I don’t have to tell you who said that, do I? When Donald Trump launched his campaign for president in front of a crowd of hired extras at Trump Tower in 2015, he was counting on his reputation as a real-estate developer to lend him credibility. His name was on the building, after all. That day, he made headlines with his racist anti-immigrant rhetoric. He also floated a promise that became a major part of his sales pitch: “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”

Cyborgs, centaurs and LLeMmings: Why Pope Leo calls us to 'remain human'

Guest Voices ncr

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Empowered by Love

A close up of small blue wildflowers in a field of wheat.

Thérèse of Lisieux: The Way of Love

Empowered by Love

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

READ ON CAC.ORG

The author Gina Loehr describes how God’s love empowered Thérèse of Lisieux to embrace the fullness of her own humanity and that of others:

Thérèse’s teachings were never scholarly or academic; they were simply the insights she gained through prayerful reflection on her personal experiences.

Pope Leo is not ‘in panic mode’ about an A.I. catastrophe, but ‘we can’t just sit back’ and do nothing

Vatican Dispatch

Pope Leo is not ‘in panic mode’ about an A.I. catastrophe, but ‘we can’t just sit back’ and do nothing

by Colleen Dulle September 28, 2026

Pope Leo XIV speaks to journalists aboard the flight from Metz, France, to Rome, at the end of his four-day visit to France, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Credit: Alberto Pizzoli/Pool Photo via AP

Asked this evening about possible “catastrophic” or even existential threats to humanity posed by artificial intelligence, Pope Leo said that he is not “in panic mode” but that “we can’t just sit back and pretend that nothing is going to happen.”

The pope made the comments during an in-flight press conference on his return trip to Rome from France the evening of Sept. 28.

In July, multiple cases were reported of A.I. models escaping their isolated testing environments and hacking into outside organizations—one was an OpenAI model and three were Anthropic models. In September, industry insiders made headlines by warning that A.I. could “destroy all humans” within 10 years.

Pope Leo XIV descends the stairs of the papal plane upon arriving at Metz-Nancy-Lorraine International Airport Sept. 28, 2026, during his apostolic journey to France. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Vatican

Wednesday, September 30, 2026