News
Sister teaches course for inmates, students at city prison visited by pope
St. Joseph's University professor Sister Elizabeth Linehan, R.S.M., hopes Pope Francis' visit to Curran-Fromhold prison will help build bridges with those marginalized in society, as her course intends to do.
Speaker at Festival of Families had link to Philadelphia saint
Amanda Wall spoke before Pope Francis and tens of thousands of people at the recent concert in Philadelphia. Few knew her cure from deafness as a toddler was the authenticated miracle for St. Katharine Drexel's canonization.
Saint’s relics travel to Philadelphia on ‘pilgrimage of mercy’
St. Maria Goretti's remains traveled to three churches in the Philadelphia Archdiocese during the World Meeting of Families, raising awareness and prayers for the Year of Mercy.
Pope says synod is not parliament, but place to listen to Holy Spirit
Opening the first working session of the synod Oct. 5, the pope said the synod's 270 voting members need courage, "pastoral and doctrinal zeal, wisdom, frankness and to keep always before our eyes the good of the church and of families and the supreme law -- the salvation of souls."
Fidelity, truth, love must guide church outreach to families, pope says
Formally opening the synod Oct. 4 with a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope said the church must encourage families and defend faithful love, the sacredness of every human life and "the unity and indissolubility" of marriage.
On synod’s eve, Vatican official declares his homosexuality
Msgr. Krzysztof Charamsa, 43, gave interviews to Polish and Italian media Oct. 2 and planned a news conference the following day outside the offices of the congregation. The conference, however, was moved to a restaurant nearby.
Hunger is a ‘scandal,’ a ‘sin’ in a world of plenty, pope says
"We must face this injustice, this sin," the pope told more than 7,000 volunteers and coordinators of Italian food banks, along with representatives from food banks in other countries.
‘Urban Trinity’ captures little-known nuggets of Catholic history
The documentary on the Church in Philadelphia presents some facts not seen before in diocesan histories, such as Cardinal Dougherty's clean up of the 1930s' film industry.
Philadelphia couple joins Rome synod as marriage experts
Cathy and Tony Witczak, local leaders in Marriage Encounter, are the rare lay people participating in the highly anticipated Synod of Bishops meeting at the Vatican.
U.S. House bill allows states to defund Planned Parenthood
With members citing Pope Francis' speech to Congress, the House this week passed a measure to give states the authority to defund Planned Parenthood.