National News
Alaska to appeal ruling that invalidates its ban on same-sex marriage
Alaska will appeal a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess that invalidates the state's constitutional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Biloxi’s retired bishop has been eyewitness to racial division, healing
The harsh realities of racial segregation were spelled out for Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze at an early age.
Christians must treat others with gentleness, love, says priest
Scripture, sexual ethics, and a healthy dose of wit and personal stories helped Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe convey that people are a combination of body, soul and spirit during an Oct. 10 presentation in Salt Lake City.
Court blocks law that had closed most Texas abortion clinics
The Supreme Court Oct. 14 blocked a Texas law that had meant all but seven of the state's abortion clinics were closed because they failed to meet new standards.
At 50, ‘Mass for Shut-ins’ helps homebound feel part of faith community
Fifteen minutes before a recent taping of the "Mass for Shut-ins" television program, Serra Club of Omaha members moved quickly about the WOWT studio in Omaha, each with a specific job.
Texas nurse with Ebola supported by prayers from her home parish
During an Oct. 13 Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Fort Worth, the pastor, Father Jim Khoi asked for prayers for Nina Pham, a Dallas nurse who grew up in the parish and is now in the news as the first person known to have contracted the Ebola virus in the United States.
Speaker talks to teens about virtue of chastity, calls purity ‘a gift’
Research shows that people who get married as virgins have a divorce rate about 70 percent lower than couples who don't wait for marriage to have sex, Jason Evert told a recent gathering of Iowa high school students.
Daily recitation of rosary ‘key to world peace,’ priest says at rally
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone carried the exposed Eucharist in a monstrance through the streets of San Francisco, as more than a thousand Catholics processed in a public display of faith from St. Mary's Cathedral to United Nations Plaza for the 4th annual rosary rally Oct. 11.
Lawyer says agreement ‘a new day, new way’ in church response to abuse
With a historic courtroom in downtown St. Paul as the backdrop, attorney Jeff Anderson and officials from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Oct. 13 announced a settlement of one of the first cases filed under the Minnesota Child Victims Act.
Archbishop urges peace in streets during new round of Ferguson protests
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis urged protesters to turn away from violence as a new round of protests began over the shooting death of African-American teenager Michael Brown this past summer in the small town of Ferguson.