National News

Minnesota bishop denies coercing abuse victim from reporting allegation

The diocese issued the statement in response to a lawsuit filed that day against the bishop and the diocese.

Convocation delegate said becoming Catholic was something he ‘had to do’

When Isaiah Burroughs, a 20-year-old student at The Catholic University of America in Washington, gets an idea in his head, he follows through with it pretty much immediately.

Since ’47, donor has asked flowers be put at Mary statue for Mother’s Day

For the past 69 years, flowers have shown up at the statue of Mary courtesy of an anonymous donor. Though parishioners enjoy the sight of the lovely flowers, no one has figured out who the donor is.

Italian archdiocese, five religious orders to divest from fossil fuels

The announcement came as part of a broader global divestment campaign running May 5-13 that finds organizations pulling funds from companies involved in the extraction of coal, oil and natural gas, and turning to firms developing renewable energy instead.

Bishops among first signatories to pledge to end death penalty

Each person taking the pledge promises to educate, advocate and pray for an end to capital punishment.

Hartford Archdiocese’s pastoral plan calls for parish closings, mergers

In Connecticut, 212 parishes will be pared to 127. Church officials cited changing demographics, lower Mass attendance and fewer priests, but said the plan would be "bringing people more closely together."

Congolese priest finds science, medicine help in service of the Gospel

Following more than a decade of scientific and medical education in the United States, Father Ikanga is a neuropsychologist and a fellow at Emory. He has found that faith and science build on one another.

USCCB communications restructuring shifts focus from print to digital

"It's an exercise in enculturation," said James Rogers, USCCB chief communications officer. "If you're going to evangelize, you need to reach people where they are."

Jesuits to return 525 acres of South Dakota land to Rosebud Sioux

The property had been given by the U.S. government to the Jesuits in the 1880s for churches and cemeteries, most of which became unnecessary when people were moved off the prairie onto cluster housing.

New York center reaches people ‘about the genius of Catholicism’

Theater is the lingua franca of New York City and the Catholic Church has used art in myriad forms through the centuries to spread the message of the Gospels.