News
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.
A year after fatal shooting of black teen, faith shines in Ferguson
Appropriately, the final "Faith in Ferguson" prayer service ended with a procession from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church to its grotto dedicated to the parish namesake, Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Pope designates Sept. 1 as World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation
The day of prayer, the pope said, will give individuals and communities an opportunity to implore God's help in protecting creation and an opportunity to ask God's forgiveness "for sins committed against the world in which we live."