National News
Signature on same-sex marriage referendum brings employer sanction
BALTIMORE (CNS) — The executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference called it alarming that a university would sanction one of its officials for signing a petition to bring Maryland’s same-sex marriage law to a public referendum. “To express a desire that marriage is and should remain a union between one man and one woman […]
Defending life, liberty part of the new evangelization, archbishop says
At what is a critical time for American Catholics to stand up in defense of life and religious freedom, they must engage in the church's new evangelization effort, deepening their faith and sharing it in their everyday lives and in the public square, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said Oct. 14. He made the comments in the homily at a Mass and Pilgrimage for Life and Liberty at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, which drew a standing room crowd of an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 people, and for which he was celebrant and homilist.
‘No religious affiliation’ now describes nearly fifth of US population
WASHINGTON (CNS) — People who say they are unaffiliated with any religion constitute nearly 20 percent of the American public, making them almost as numerous as Catholics, who accounted for 22 percent of participants in a new Pew Research Center study released Oct. 9. The survey of 2,973 adults conducted this summer found people who […]
Georgia’s Catholic archdiocese, diocese file suit against HHS mandate
ATLANTA (CNS) — The Archdiocese of Atlanta, the Diocese of Savannah and other Catholic entities in Georgia, including Catholic Charities and Christ the King School in Atlanta, filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 5 challenging the Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta. Defendants are the […]
Archbishop Chaput consecrates new bishop of Erie
ERIE, Pa. (CNS) — Live television coverage of the ordination of Bishop Lawrence T. Persico revealed a humanity that is already endearing him to the northwest Pennsylvania flock he will now shepherd as Erie’s 10th bishop. The microphone he was wearing picked up private comments he made during the nearly three-hour-long ceremony, which required a […]
Religious orders say social media use spurs more interest in vocations
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Several religious congregations and organizations are taking advantage of social media to “introduce” individuals discerning a call to a vocation and the seminary, convent or monastery that fits them. With more than 1,400 likes on Facebook, the National Religious Vocation Conference takes full advantage of social networking, through its Vision Vocation Guide […]
Catholic media urged to help church find best way to use new media
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (CNS) — The new culture of communication requires that Catholic media rethink their approach, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications told a Fort Wayne audience gathered to celebrate the centennial of Our Sunday Visitor. Archbishop Claudio Celli spoke about the Catholic Church’s focus on new evangelization and addressed new […]
Conference to explore life, death of Pope John Paul I
DOUGLASTON, N.Y. (CNS) -- Experts from Europe and the United States will speak at an international conference focusing on the life of Pope John Paul I and his brief pontificate Oct. 12-13 at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston. Speakers at the conference on "The True Pope John Paul I: A Man of Faith for Our Time" will include the pope's niece, Pia Luciani; Italian journalist Stefania Falasca, one of the prime movers in his sainthood cause; and Paul Spackman of Corwen, Wales, author of "God's Candidate: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul I."
Cardinal Rigali had back stage pass to Vatican II’s proceedings
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- Cardinal Justin Rigali, former archbishop of Philadelphia and St. Louis who is currently in residence in Knoxville, was a priest assistant at the Second Vatican Council -- a spot that essentially gave him a backstage pass. The significance wasn't lost on the then-27-year-old Los Angeles priest, who called it a privilege to play a minor role at the council.
Catholic group enlists young adults to help people ‘lift themselves up’
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- When Towana Bowers-Scott looks at Anthony Newman, she doesn't see a youthful do-gooder spending his second post-college year doing a year of service for a Catholic organization. The 30-year-old Baltimore high school dropout sees a tireless tutor determined to help her pass her GED high-school equivalency exam. "He don't give up on us," Bowers-Scott said, following a tutoring session with Newman at the McElderry Park Community Resource Center in an east Baltimore neighborhood littered with boarded-up houses and all of the markings of extreme poverty.