Heidi Schlumpf

Heidi Schlumpf is NCR senior correspondent. Her email address is hschlumpf@ncronline.org. Follow her on Twitter: @HeidiSchlumpf.

Schlumpf was previously NCR's executive editor and a national correspondent. As national correspondent, Schlumpf did in-depth coverage on the influence of money in the church, sex abuse, politics, women's issues, racism and young people in the church. Her work has included investigations into Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) and popular Catholic author Matthew Kelly. She previously wrote an opinion column for NCR for almost a decade.

Schlumpf has three decades of experience covering religion, spirituality, social justice and women's issues, having previously served as managing editor of U.S. Catholic magazine and as a reporter at Chicago's archdiocesan newspaper and secular newspapers in California and Wisconsin. Her work has been published by CNN Opinion, Sojourners and Huffington Post. She taught journalism as an associate professor of communication at Aurora University in Illinois.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, she also earned a master's of theological studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University, where she studied with feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether.

She is the author/editor of three books, including Elizabeth A. Johnson: Questing for God (Liturgical Press, 2016), the Notre Dame Book of Prayer (Ave Maria, 2010) and While We Wait: Spiritual & Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt (ACTA, 2009).

Schlumpf is based in Chicago, where she lives with her husband, Edmund, and their two children, and where she is a member of St. Gertrude Parish.

By this Author

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: RIP Barbara Bush, prolife white nationalists and troubles at CUA

 

Bishop McElroy to address partisan polarization in lecture at Loyola in Chicago

April 18, Bishop Robert McElroy analyzes the breakdown of U.S. political culture and offers suggestions for addressing it in a talk, "Forming a Catholic Political Imagination," at Loyola University Chicago.

New papal document provides practical help for parishes

Many say Pope Francis' new exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate ("Rejoice and Be Glad"), is practical, accessible and applicable to the challenges in today's U.S. church and society. 

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: Catholic universities and union organizing, news from Willow Creek and “Red Letter” Christians

Panelists look at 'new lens' of Pope Francis

Francis at Five Years: Although Pope Francis remains popular, controversy about his pontificate is real, especially among inner-circle Catholics deeply invested in the church, said speakers at the April 3 event, sponsored by Notre Dame's Center for Social Concerns.

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: A somber anniversary, labor justice issues and women in the church

Maryknoll Lay Missioner Anne Berry demonstrates emergency care in the skills lab at Bukumbi Hospital's maternity ward in Tanzania.

Loan assistance programs help post-grad volunteers during years of service

Franciscan Volunteer Ministry offers a repayment program that provides up to $400 a month toward volunteers' student loans during their year of service, clearing a hurdle for many young volunteers.

Scholars urge dialogue, compromise in religious freedom debates

Too often these questions are not debated in a reasoned discussion, but in culture war attacks aimed more at winning the argument than finding a solution that respects both sides, speakers said at a Loyola University conference.

Christendom College

Christendom College alumni call for Title IX response to sexual assaults

A group of Christendom College alumni — including as many as 19 who allege they were raped, sexually assaulted or harassed there over the past two decades — are calling for the school, which sees itself as a bulwark against an aggressive secular society, to voluntarily submit to Title IX rules.

Hundreds of campus ministers gather for a session of FOCUS' 2018 Student Leadership Summit Jan. 3 in Chicago. (CNS/Chicago Catholic/Karen Callaway)

FOCUS plans to graduate to parishes with 'spiritual multiplication'

Part 3 of 3: A new pilot program is sending FOCUS missionaries to implement "Win, build, send" in parishes, similar to the organization's current model on college campuses.

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: FOCUS' financials, a Vatican resignation and NCR's review of Douthat's new book

A sign for reserved seating is seen as young people pray during the closing Mass Jan. 6 for the Student Leadership Summit sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students in Chicago. (CNS/Chicago Catholic/Karen Callaway)

FOCUS campus ministry has big money, conservative connections

Part 2 of 3: FOCUS' financial model of ministry sponsorship has helped it achieve extraordinary financial success and facilitated massive growth in its 20-year history

Students involved with FOCUS attend Mass. The group reports that it has more than 660 missionaries on 137 campuses in 38 U.S. states and at four international locations, with an estimated 24,000 students involved. (Courtesy of FOCUS)

FOCUS promises to 'fight for this generation' on college campuses

Part 1 of 3: FOCUS has seen success in reaching students, but is also criticized for a narrow interpretation of Catholicism, a lack of diversity, and insufficient pastoral training.

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing (politics edition): The student walkout and other anti-gun activism, and a pro-life Democrat wins (maybe).

Young people seen as urgent crisis at pre-synod conference at Notre Dame

South Bend, Indiana -- Presenters at the "Cultures of Formation" conference called for the church to be countercultural in response to contemporary attitudes toward technology, sexuality and what one speaker called the "uncritical valorization of diversity."

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: St. Romero, the pope's popularity and a pre-synod gathering on youth and young adults

Cardinal Cupich calls for action on gun legislation

The voices of student survivors of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, "are a wake-up call that should have been heard years ago," Chicago archbishop says at Illinois state capital as he calls for action on gun legislation 

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: College of Cardinals on clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Cupich on gun violence and Catholic protesters on Dreamers—and four female columnists!

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: Billy Graham dies; the church helps hungry Venezuelans; defending the Pope Francis’ China policy; and a lesbian couple sues the bishops

Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day/Winter Olympics edition. Without a dispensation from fasting, Catholics will have to move their romantic dinner plans to another day. 

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