News

Cardinal urges Salvadorans to pray, make time for family, remember roots

During a whirlwind three-day pastoral visit to the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez repeatedly urged people to pray, make time for family, express love and remember their roots.

CMSM speaker: Religious brothers often overlooked in church life

The church needs to look beyond ordained clergy for leadership, said Marianist Father James Heft during an address at the annual meeting of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in Phoenix in early August.

Chicago youth travel to Salvador, bring back ideas for dealing with gangs

The U.S. youth said that, unlike in Chicago, the young Salvadorans they met who were not involved in gangs care for one another.

Secret deal? Author hopes Vatican archives shed light on efforts to end Holocaust

Secret negotiations between Heinrich Himmler and a Swiss Catholic politician, hired by a Jewish woman and helped by an Italian papal nuncio, may have contributed to ending the mass extermination of the Jewish people, according to a Canadian researcher.

‘Blood flowing on sidewalks’: 2 Philippine prelates criticize drug war

Two prominent Philippine bishops criticized the government's war on drugs after a week in which more than 80 people were reportedly killed in stepped-up efforts to end drug use.

Pope leads prayers for an end to ‘inhuman violence’ of terrorism

Reciting the Angelus prayer at midday, the pope asked an estimated 10,000 people in St. Peter's Square to pray in silence and then to join him in reciting the Hail Mary for the victims of the attacks the previous week in Burkina Faso, Spain and Finland.

Christians must unite in witnessing hope to troubled world, pope says

Pope Francis sent a hand-signed message to the Italian synod of the Methodist and Waldensian churches, saying that it is more important than ever for Christians to witness together that God is stronger than the violence and evil taking place in the world.

Church leaders oppose Bolivian law stripping protection for native lands

The measure signed into law by President Evo Morales in mid-August opens the Isiboro Secure National Park and Indigenous Territory, known as TIPNIS for its Spanish initials, to highway construction and other development.

Blind priest of Allentown Diocese sees no obstacle in serving his flock

Father Bernard Ezaki, who studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, uses the power of the spoken word, and humor, to overcome blindness and serve his parishioners in Easton, Pa.

Countercultural San Francisco parish attracts growing congregation

Since Father Illo was appointed parish administrator of Star of the Sea Church, bringing his powerful commitment to traditional Catholic practices to the famously progressive city, Mass attendance and number of parishioners registered have increased about 10 percent each year.