Pope Leo hosts Pulitzer Prize-winning authors at Vatican for discussion on power of written word June 25, 2026By Courtney Mares OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel laureate, celebrated novelists and authors from nearly a dozen countries met at the Vatican June 24 for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who reflected on the importance of books to reveal who we are and “our inner dialogue with God.”
Vance’s new book ‘Communion’ details his religious and political conversions June 18, 2026By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, World News Vice President JD Vance’s new book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith,” is a story of several of his conversions: from Protestant Christian to atheist to Christian again as a Catholic; from Appalachia to Washington; from a vocal skeptic of President Donald Trump to his running mate.
‘Communion’: JD Vance’s spiritual memoir released as 2028 race heats up June 15, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, World News On June 16, Vice President JD Vance will release his second book, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” (HarperCollins). As a presumed 2028 U.S. presidential candidate, the timing couldn’t be more critical for Vance, who joined the Catholic Church in 2019.
Catholic sci-fi novel demonstrates the dangers of replacing faith with ideology June 11, 2026By Madelyn Reichert OSV News Filed Under: Books, Commentary Longtime fans of Karina Fabian’s “Rescue Sisters” stories will be quick to point out that the review of this month’s novel is a decade overdue. To them one can only reply that, after all, Christ gave the full day’s pay to the latecomers in his parable of the vineyard workers, and this reviewer is similarly grateful to have discovered such an excellent work of speculative fiction, even if a bit belatedly. Discovered, of course, being the operative word, as in any good work of science fiction.
Pope Leo’s summer spiritual reading list recommendation: ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ June 5, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican It’s a slim volume; the Ascension Press edition of “The Practice of the Presence of God” by the 17th-century French Carmelite friar Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection runs just 131 pages in the print edition, with notes.
Why Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a Catholic journey May 28, 2026By Leonard J. DeLorenzo OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, World News Because J.R.R. Tolkien was a serious Catholic, one might assume that religion would be evident in his literary masterpiece. Yet, there is no religion in “The Lord of the Rings.” There is magic and even glimpses of the demonic, but the world Tolkien creates is a world wholly contained within itself. It is a large world, an old world, even a mythological world in its own way, but everything is within that world.
A seagull on the Sistine Chapel inspires a story about being loved as you are May 7, 2026By George P. Matysek Jr. Catholic Review Filed Under: Books, Feature, Local News, News Eric Clayton was sitting in a barbershop when a viral photo of a seagull atop the Sistine Chapel sparked an idea. Weeks later, he had a children’s book — and a message about God’s love he hopes will reach kids, families, and maybe even the pope.
Radio Interview: Prolific Catholic author Emily Stimpson Chapman on wine, monasteries and the art of hospitality May 4, 2026By Catholic Review Staff Catholic Review Filed Under: Books, CR Radio, Feature, Local News, News, Radio Interview Host Rita Buettner speaks with Emily Stimpson Chapman, a bestselling Catholic author, who explains how monks preserved and elevated winemaking after the fall of the Roman Empire
Radio Interview: Pope Leo XIV’s biographer shares insights on the Augustinian who became pope April 27, 2026By Catholic Review Staff Catholic Review Filed Under: Books, CR Radio, Feature, Local News, News, Radio Interview, Vatican George Matysek talks with Elise Ann Allen about her new biography of Pope Leo XIV, published this April in English. She traces how his years as an Augustinian missionary in crisis-torn Peru shaped his pastoral vision, his instinct for synodality and his quiet but effective leadership style.
Pope Francis remembered in Buenos Aires as ‘guiding light’ for Argentine Church April 20, 2026By David Agren OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican, World News María Rico ambled along a busy Buenos Aires boulevard as part of a caravan through Barrio Flores — the childhood neighbourhood of the late Pope Francis — to commemorate the first anniversary of the Argentine pontiff’s death.
A father’s farewell: Journalist recalls personal bond with Pope Francis in new book April 19, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Books, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The world had its eyes fixed on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in 2025, waiting, hoping and praying that Pope Francis would recover.
Vance to publish book exploring his conversion to Catholicism March 31, 2026By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Books, News, World News Vice President JD Vance will publish a new book this summer exploring his conversion to Catholicism as an adult, The Associated Press reported March 31.
