News
Two Catholic high school bands will perform for Pope Francis
The Cardinal O'Hara and Bishop Shanahan bands will play music as the pope arrives in Philadelphia on Sept. 26 and when he departs the following night.
Immigrants, youth build papal furnishings for NYC visit
Day laborers and court-directed youths, who are "close to the heart of Pope Francis," are making the altar, ambo and chair he will use for the Mass at Madison Square Garden.
76ers, Villanova coaches build peace through hoops in Holy Land
Sixers coach Brett Brown and Villanova men's coach Jay Wright ran basketball clinics and conflict-resolution seminars in Jerusalem and Ramallah, West Bank for a week.
Across the Aisles: Warming up with the Papal Choir
Some of the 500 members of the choir that will sing during the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis Sept. 27 in Philadelphia rehearsed for the first time at the cathedral.
Pope Francis to use Abe Lincoln’s lectern in Philadelphia
The simple walnut stand used by President Lincoln in 1863 to deliver the Gettysburg Address will be used by the pope for his speech at Independence Hall in the city Sept. 26.
Dozens of Christians feared to be among 230 kidnapped in Syria
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syria-based activist Bebars al-Talawy said they have no information where militants took their captives after overrunning the heavily populated town of Qaryatain. Al-Talawy put the number of Christians abducted at 60.
Pope recognizes martyrdom of Syriac Catholic bishop killed in 1915
Signing the decree recognizing the martyrdom of Syriac Bishop Flavien-Michel Malke clears the way for his beatification. Pope Francis signed the decree Aug. 8.
Appeals court rules against N.Y. Catholic entities over contraceptives
In a case filed on behalf of Catholic health care organizations in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, as well as two Catholic high schools, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said what the Department of Health and Human Services calls an accommodation for such entities adequately protects them from participating in something that conflicts with Catholic teaching.
Pope marks Hiroshima anniversary by calling for nuclear weapons ban
Seventy years after the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later, "this tragic event still gives rise to horror and revulsion," the pope said Aug. 9 after reciting the Angelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square.
A trinity of a different kind on the pope’s U.S. agenda
Expect to hear the pope take on immigration, hunger and the environment when he visits in September, said three policy advisers helping reporters in Washington prepare for the pontiff's upcoming visit.