News
John Paul’s secretary says it was mistake to meet Legionary founder
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Blessed John Paul II's 2004 meeting with and praise of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ -- who later was banished to a life of penance because of sexual abuse -- was a mistake, said the late pope's longtime secretary. "The Holy Father should not have received that individual," said Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz about the Legionaries' founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.
Catholics must make space for the soul online, Vatican official says
BRAINTREE, Mass. (CNS) -- The Internet will host the parish community of the future, according to Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. "Social media is redefining how we understand local community," he said. "The digital parish will be where people cluster around shared interests and shared ideas."
Appeals court OKs admitting privileges for abortion doctors in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (CNS) -- A panel of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 31 that a provision in a Texas law requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital can take effect. The panel made the ruling three days after Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court in Austin said the provision was unconstitutional.
Another appeals court rules on religious rights of for-profit entities
WASHINGTON (CNS) --The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled Nov. 1 that two Catholic brothers from Ohio were wrongly denied a preliminary injunction exempting them from providing contraceptive coverage in employee health insurance, sending the case back to a lower court.
Cardinal to Congress: Disclose abortion coverage in health care law
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley urged members of Congress to support the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, a measure that would require health plans to disclose if they subsidize abortion coverage. Cardinal O’Malley, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the legislation would address […]
Bishops asked to assess marriage, family life to prepare for synod
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishops around the world are being asked to take a realistic look at the situation of families under their care and at how effective pastoral and educational programs have been at promoting church teaching on sexuality, marriage and family life.
Four petitions on high court docket ask intervention on health law
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Supreme Court now has petitions asking it to review lower court rulings in three different lawsuits that challenge the federal government’s requirement for employer-sponsored health insurance to include contraceptive coverage. Three petitions filed in the last six weeks involve private, for-profit companies owned by Christians who object to their employee insurance […]
For some Mexican migrant families, Day of Dead ritual offers closure
MALINALCO, Mexico (CNS) -- Ana Lilia Vazquez brought a photo of her late father, Anselmo Vazquez, to Divine Savior Parish in this village of farmers and weekenders in the mountains southwest of Mexico City. There, she placed it on a Day of the Dead altar built by the families of migrants whose loved ones died while working in the United States -- or, in the case of her father, died shortly after being deported from the States.
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.