Home Page

Father Augustus Tolton, the first African-American priest, took a step closer to sainthood this week when Chicago Cardinal Francis George announced that the priest’s sainthood cause has been introduced in the Archdiocese of Chicago. According to an archdiocesan press release, the cardinal will appoint a historical commission to assemble the facts about Father Tolton’s heroic virtues. Some time […]

WASHINGTON – The U.S. bishops’ Office of General Counsel said the Obama administration’s decision to no longer support the Defense of Marriage Act in legal challenges ahead “represents an abdication” of its “constitutional obligation to ensure that laws of the United States are faithfully executed.”

Charlestown residents are on the go! In May of 2000, I interviewed the now deceased Father Bernard S. Bak about his role as a retired priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “Retired? You mean re-hired!” quipped the then 78-year-old priest. The clergyman’s point was that even in retirement, he was as busy as ever, celebrating […]

One of the underappreciated jobs for those of us in the news business is writing headlines. Sometimes it’s fun, as when we get to write clever little puns, such as “Love and Loyola go hand in hand,” over a story about Loyola University alums renewing their marriage vows; it accompanied a photo of couples holding […]

It seems that what’s now known as “traditional marriage” can’t get a break these days. At the same time Maryland is on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage (see this story about how some local Catholics feel about that), the Obama administration announced today that it has instructed the Department of Justice to stop defending the Defense […]

A touching story from The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. Lying in a hospital bed, his heart failing, Allan Wood met a priest. The two were sharing a room at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center when Wood discerned the priest’s Dutch accent. They struck up a conversation, and soon these two men, ages 89 and 88, uncovered […]

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican released a three-day schedule of events for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, and warned against people selling counterfeit tickets to the beatification liturgy, which is free and open to all.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay has reinstated the collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development in his diocese and established a new diocesan commission that will be in charge of teaching about and implementing Catholic social teaching.