News
High court ruling on children of immigrants splits Dominican Catholics
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CNS) -- A controversial high court ruling in the Dominican Republic that strips citizenship from children of illegal immigrants has drawn international criticism and split the Catholic Church here. The Sept. 23 Constitutional Court ruling will affect the citizenship status of potentially hundreds of thousands of people born in the country to undocumented immigrant parents as far back as 1929. It cannot be appealed.
Future of the church: Young people active participants at WCC assembly
BUSAN, South Korea (CNS) -- Often, people look at church congregations and meetings and wonder, "Where are the youth?" But at the World Council of Churches 10th Assembly in Busan, young people are everywhere.
Women religious ask pope for world day of prayer against trafficking
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After Pope Francis entrusted two Vatican academies to study the problem of human trafficking, a group of women religious asked the pope to raise greater awareness in the church about the issue by establishing a worldwide day of prayer and fasting. "The pope was very interested in our suggestion and asked us what date we would like the day to be," Consolata Sister Eugenia Bonetti told Catholic News Service.
Pope Francis set to create first batch of cardinals in February
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will create his first cardinals during a consistory Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. The pope also is expected to use the occasion "to have a meeting with the cardinals for consultations" immediately before the ceremony, as retired Pope Benedict XVI did in the run-up to his consistories, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. No specific dates were given for that meeting.
Pope moves causes, including of U.S.-born nun, toward beatification
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Moving four candidates closer to beatification, Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of a bishop in communist-controlled Romania and the heroic virtues of three religious women: one born in the United States, one Irish and one Italian. The recognition of the martyrdom of Bishop Anton Durcovici of Iasi, Romania, in 1951 clears the way for his beatification, a step toward sainthood.
Miss any Year of Faith lectures? Now hear them online
Archbishop Charles Chaput’s Year of Faith Lecture Series has ended, but the audio recordings of each lecture are now available online. The audio files from the series, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for the New Evangelization, were recorded by local radio station Holy Spirit Radio.
Catholic Women’s Conference coming to Phila. in December
The first-ever Catholic Women’s Conference in Philadelphia will be held Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The conference theme is “The Feminine Genius: Every Woman’s Gift,” and is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Endow (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women). More than 500 women — married, single and consecrated […]
Catholic program to energize parish life coming in new year
Are you looking for a good parish evangelization program? Consider the Discovering Christ Conference coming to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia early next year. The Catholic parish-centered lay initiative invites parishioners to bring family and friends to hear the Good News and personally encounter Jesus Christ. Members of St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Wales found the process has been a spectacular success and well worth the effort.
After decades, soccer’s elder statesmen still have the fire to coach, teach
At Archbishop Wood, Joe Krantz captured his 400th coaching victory Sept. 3. About six weeks later – Oct. 14 to be exact – St. Joseph’s Preparatory School’s Jim Murray reached coaching victory number 600. Come next fall, both men will be directing their young, impressionable troops from their respective sidelines. Murray and Krantz – both of them respected institutions at their high schools for a combined seven decades -- still possess the heart to keep going.
Special Mass remembers Sandy’s victims, celebrates parish’s resilience
BELLE HARBOR, N.Y. (CNS) -- Joyful prayers, songs and conversation could be heard along the street as the parish community of St. Francis de Sales in Belle Harbor gathered to observe the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was the main celebrant of a special evening Mass of remembrance and thanksgiving Oct. 26.