News
Vigil remembers Sandy Hook shooting victims
All are welcome to join the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia in a Candle Light Prayer Vigil on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 4:30 p.m. to honor the victims of gun violence and to stand together in friendship, community, prayer and hope for a better world.
Support meeting slated for care givers of the mentally ill
St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in West Philadelphia will host a support group meeting of the National Alliance for Mental Illness on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Today’s teaching on the family
See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”
N.Y. religious leaders ask for progress through peace
The day after a grand jury did not indict a New York police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner on Staten Island, a mostly-Catholic religious commission asked that protests arising from the matter remain peaceful.
Couples learn joys of marriage before tying the knot
About 1,100 engaged couples in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are learning Catholic teaching on marriage this year through the Joy-Filled Marriage program, almost double the number from 2012. CatholicPhilly.com’s Lou Baldwin sits down with coordinator Katie Greene from Ascension Press, which developed and runs the program.
Investigation of U.S. women religious wraps up, report due soon
The final report of a five-year, Vatican-ordered study of religious communities covering nearly all of the roughly 60,000 sisters in the United States will be released by the Vatican Dec. 16.
Filipinos batten down hatches as typhoon takes aim on islands
Catholic agencies prepared for another potentially devastating storm in the Philippines as Typhoon Hagupit continued to gain strength and approached the same region devastated 13 months ago.
Retired pastor of ‘South Philadelphia’s cathedral’ dies at 94
Parishioners and fellow priests fondly recall Father Philip Barr, who was the beloved pastor of St. Edmond Parish for 16 years. He is remembered as a compassionate confessor who spent time with his extended family.
Alumna of Wayne parish, Sister Marita David Kirsch, dies at 87
A long-time Catholic school teacher, the Immaculate Heart of Mary sister also served as librarian at Immaculata University for 28 years.
Dominican sister with local ties laid to rest in Kentucky
Drexel University-educated Sister Ruth Elsner, who gave retreats at the Dominican Sisters' retreat house in Elkins Park for years, died Nov. 24 at age 88.