Jonathan Liedl

Jonathan Liedl

Jonathan Liedl is senior editor for the National Catholic Register. His background includes state Catholic conference work, three years of seminary formation, and tutoring at a university Christian study center. Liedl holds a B.A. in Political Science and Arabic Studies (Univ. of Notre Dame), an M.A. in Catholic Studies (Univ. of St. Thomas), and is currently completing an M.A. in Theology at the Saint Paul Seminary.

Articles by Jonathan Liedl

Pope Francis participates in vespers at Jerónimos Monastery in Portugal, Aug. 2, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

‘Sail boldly into sea of evangelization,’ pope tells clergy, religious in Lisbon

Aug 2, 2023 / 12:35 pm

The Holy Father encouraged Church leaders in Portugal to overcome discouragement by spending time in adoration.

Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, where the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences is located. calu777/flickr (CC BY 2.0).

‘The pope’s university’ gets a new rector

Aug 1, 2023 / 13:02 pm

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Alfonso Amarante, CSsR, to head the Pontifical Lateran University.

The Church of Santa Maria di Gesù in Palermo, Italy. Credit: Kiev.Victor/Shutterstock

Body of saint, patron of African Americans, significantly damaged in Sicilian church fire 

Aug 1, 2023 / 09:48 am

St. Benedict the Moor, a 16th-century Franciscan whose incorrupt body was interned at Santa Maria di Gesù Parish in Sicily, has been mostly incinerated.

Bishop Thomas Zinkula, who has led the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa since 2017, was named the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, on July 26, 2023. Diocese of Davenport.

Pope Francis names Davenport, Iowa’s Bishop Zinkula to lead Archdiocese of Dubuque

Jul 26, 2023 / 05:51 am

Bishop Thomas Zinkula, 66, has led the Davenport Diocese in southeast Iowa since 2017. 

Father Marko Rupnik. Credit: Screen shot/ACI Prensa

Jesuit superior blames ‘Vatican norms’ for blocking harsher penalties for Rupnik

Jul 24, 2023 / 11:30 am

Famed mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik remains a priest and could be put into ministry by a sympathetic bishop.

Pope Francis meets with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, July 24, 2023, in a private Vatican audience. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope meets with head of World Health Organization

Jul 24, 2023 / 07:32 am

Pope Francis met with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, Monday morning.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein was the personal secretary of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Credit: ACI Press

Archbishop Gänswein’s post-Vatican future beginning to take shape

Jul 18, 2023 / 10:30 am

The longtime personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI has been given no permanent position in his home archdiocese but is living in the local seminary.

President of the Italian Bishops' Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi (center) attends the consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica on Aug. 27, 2022, in Vatican City. Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Cardinal Zuppi to meet with President Biden to discuss Ukraine

Jul 17, 2023 / 05:25 am

The visit to Washington comes weeks after the Biden administration announced it would send controversial “cluster bombs” to Ukraine.

Top From Left to Right - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Bishop Robert Barron, Cardinal Blase Cupich Bottom From Left to Right - Father James Martin, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Cardinal Wilton Gregory Top From Left to Right - Alan Koppschall/EWTN, Courtesy of DeChant-Hughes Public Relations, Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Bottom From Left to Right - Flickr by Shawn (CC BY-NC 2.0), lev radin / Shutterstock, Georgia Bulletin/Michael Alexander

Synod on Synodality: Here are the delegates representing the U.S. and Canada

Jul 8, 2023 / 09:21 am

A pair of U.S. college students, a religious sister who does karate, and two distinct sets of American bishops are among the voting members of the Synod of Bishops. 

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas. null

UPDATE: Vatican-ordered investigation targets Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas

Jun 25, 2023 / 11:11 am

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops has completed a formal investigation of Bishop Joseph E. Strickland and the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.

Delegates at the fifth assembly of the German Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 11, 2023, applaud after the he passage of a text calling for changes to the German Church's approach to gender identity. Jonathan Liedl/National Catholic Register

Women’s ordination, transgender ideology move forward at German Synodal Way

Mar 11, 2023 / 07:30 am

Delegates also elected members for a commission tasked with establishing a permanent, national Synodal Council.

Delegates at the fifth assembly of the German Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 10, 2023, applaud after the he passage of a measure to establish official blessings for same-sex sexual relations. The motion passed with only 14 of 202 delegates opposing. Jonathan Liedl/National Catholic Register

German Synodal Way approves same-sex blessings, lay preaching, and reexamination of priestly celibacy

Mar 10, 2023 / 15:36 pm

Delegates also voted to delay addressing perhaps the most controversial topic: establishing synodal councils at the parish and diocesan level.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein and Pope Francis Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis meets with Benedict XVI’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Gänswein

Jan 9, 2023 / 09:24 am

The private audience with the pope took place shortly before the public release of Gänswein’s forthcoming book detailing his nearly 20 years of service to Benedict XVI. 

Pope Francis addresses international diplomats to the Holy See on Jan. 9, 2023, in the Vatican's Blessing Hall. Vatican Media

To counter ‘third world war,’ Pope Francis proposes ‘truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom’

Jan 9, 2023 / 06:28 am

Pope Francis Monday gave his annual address to Vatican diplomats, describing the speech as “a call for peace in a world that is witnessing heightened divisions and war.”

University of Notre Dame Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman Notre Dame Athletics

Update: Notre Dame football coach calls conversion to Catholic faith ‘a personal decision’

Sep 16, 2022 / 11:10 am

Head football coach Marcus Freeman told members of the press Sept. 15 that he had tried to keep his recent conversion to the Catholic faith under wraps.

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman Notre Dame Athletics

Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman joins the Catholic Church

Sep 14, 2022 / 12:10 pm

“Welcome to our newest Catholic, Marcus Freeman,” read an announcement in the Sept. 11 bulletin published by St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, Indiana.