PEDRO BETANCOURT, Cuba – As a summer afternoon rainstorm brewed, nearly two dozen Cubans gathered on a friend’s covered porch to celebrate Mass.Read More

ROME – The Christian life is a journey that involves moving forward each day, recognizing one’s fragility, overcoming obstacles and continually refocusing on God and his love, Pope Benedict XVI told Rome diocesan seminarians. The fact that Jesus repeatedly had to scold his apostles for their lack of faith and understanding “shows that none of...Read More

Forty-eight years old seems too young to die. The hole a man’s death leaves in his family never seems to shrink as they forge ahead without him.Read More

WASHINGTON – Freedom of religion, and all freedom, can be placed at risk by an “aggressive secularism” that asserts its dominance in society, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago warned in a Feb. 13 talk at the Library of Congress. In his talk – titled “What Kind of Democracy Leads to Secularization?” – Cardinal George...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI warned that racism is alive in modern society, and he urged the church to help overcome all forms of racial intolerance.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI said people’s lives will be judged not on the basis of abstract ideals but on the concrete acts of charity. In a Feb. 10 talk to Italian volunteer groups that provide medical assistance and blood donation programs, the pope said the organizations were helping to spread the “Gospel of...Read More

WASHINGTON – In the not-too-distant future, songs such as “You Are Near,” “I Will Bless Yahweh” and “Rise, O Yahweh” will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States.Read More

FORT WORTH, Texas – Tarek Saab became an instant celebrity after appearing on NBC’s “The Apprentice,” one of the most highly rated and critiqued shows on network television. He spent 10 weeks on the reality show last year before hearing the words “you’re fired” from the program’s executive producer and host, Donald Trump. While the...Read More