WASHINGTON – Meeting less than a week after the election of a new U.S. president, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will discuss “the practical and pastoral implications of political support for abortion.”Read More
Ruth Harrison of Churchville has visited famous churches throughout Europe and found her January tour of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be among the best – made especially unique by the historical knowledge imparted by volunteer docent Frank Twardzik. The retired radiologist from Howard County,...Read More
WASHINGTON – As Democratic and Republican senators pressed their divergent views on the New START agreement with Russia outlining the next phase of nuclear disarmament during final debate in December, a wide array of Catholics played a major role in getting the pact ratified.Read More
Rep. Nancy Pelosi hardly deserves mention as being an asset in advancing church agenda (CR, Jan 11). I find nothing commendable in her being helpful on “certain” issues. Her stand on abortion represents a scandal of monumental proportions considering the number of lives lost in our nation’s abortion clinics. That some bishops remain mute on...Read More
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – In front of a national cathedral that lay in rubble, Catholic leaders marked the anniversary of Haiti’s deadly earthquake by praying for its victims and calling for reconstruction of this tattered Caribbean country.Read More
ROME – At a Mass to open the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible, Pope Benedict XVI said knowledge of Scripture was essential to the church’s evangelizing mission in an increasingly godless society.Read More
Standing next to toppled plastic figures of St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary and assorted sheep, Loretta Hoffman shook her head sadly and pointed to an empty manger flipped on its side by vandals. “That’s where the baby Jesus was,” she said, noting that her husband, Gil, had secured the figure with wires to prevent...Read More
TUCSON, Ariz. – With flags nationwide flying at half-staff and people pausing for a moment of silence Jan. 10, the victims of the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson were being remembered for their warmth and goodness, some for their sense of public service, and several for their involvement in their churches.Read More
WASHINGTON – To those entrusted with husbanding the financial portfolios of Catholic foundations and institutions, the Sept. 29 rejection by the U.S. House of a $700 billion package to shore up the nation’s financial systems posed new concerns about the economy and those charged with overseeing it.Read More
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At first glance, the ambassadors accredited to the Vatican seem to be a group of elegant, older men gracefully ending their diplomatic careers in a posting filled with pomp and circumstance. The suits with tails, the swords, the plumed hats, sashes and medals highlight the formality of public occasions and the...Read More