News
Victims of powerful Illinois tornado lose everything but faith, charity
Updated -- WASHINGTON, Ill. (CNS) -- As Father Stephen Willard was preparing to celebrate the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass at a filled St. Patrick Church in Washington Nov. 17, the most powerful tornado to hit Illinois in November since 1885 was taking aim at neighborhoods on the western edge of this community of 15,000. With sirens blaring, worshippers were instructed to go to the middle of the church. Father Willard went outside to hurry inside people who were just arriving.
Warrington students make, sell cupcakes for cancer cure
Students of St. Joseph/St. Robert School in Warrington held a “Cupcakes for a Cancer Cure” event this month that raised $200 to support families that have a loved one receiving cancer treatment. The above eighth-grade students who made and sold cupcakes during lunch at the school include (from left): Rebecca Alexander, Jessica Butler, Brianna Wade, […]
Almost gone: Photographer captures final stages of abandoned churches, factories
Local photography teacher Matthew Christopher specializes in recording for posterity abandoned buildings of all sorts – factories, power stations, hotels and yes, churches. He has documented the interiors of many abandoned factories, schools and resort hotels all over the country, plus local churches and Byberry Hospital in Philadelphia. Christopher exhibited some of his work at Philadelphia’s American Catholic Historical Society on Oct. 29 and he will have a reception at St. Joseph’s University on Nov. 21.
King of Prussia regional school sets ‘Tuesday Tours’ of school
Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School in King of Prussia will begin hosting “Tuesday Tours” on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. Parents will have the opportunity to tour the school while classes are in session, meet the principal, talk one-on-one with teachers, meet the CARES directors and place their name on the waiting list for […]
Acclaimed Russian pianist to perform Beethoven, Chopin works at Berwyn church
St. Monica Parish, Berwyn, welcomes virtuoso pianist Svetlana Smolina to the Music at Monica’s series with cellist Adrian Daurov at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 at the church located at 63 Main Avenue in Berwyn. They will perform a program of Beethoven sonatas for piano and cello and works by Chopin, Franck, Ginastera, Liszt, Piazzola and […]
Catholics must learn to make mission a priority, says Boston cardinal
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The United States is experiencing a "transition from a strong cultural Catholicism to an intentional Catholicism," and that requires "a new evangelization (that) responds to the questions of today," said Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley.
Pope’s embrace was heavenly, says man with disfiguring disease
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For someone who has frequently been shunned and humiliated because of a disease that has severely disfigured his entire body, receiving the pope's loving embrace was like being in paradise. Vinicio Riva, who is afflicted with neurofibromatosis, said his brief encounter with Pope Francis Nov. 6 at a general audience in St. Peter's Square "seemed like forever."
Photo of the day
A 6-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy hold their soft toys Nov. 19 in the devastated waterfront shanty town of Guiuan, Philippines, in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. (CNS photo/Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters)
‘Bishop Bling’ pays fine in perjury case
HAMBURG, Germany (CNS) -- The so-called "luxury bishop" or "Bishop Bling" of Limburg agreed to pay a fine of 20,000 euros rather than contest charges that he perjured himself before the Hamburg District Court.
Bishops: To respond to pope’s call for mission, parishes need new model
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Ontario, recalled once having a parish that needed a new furnace and was considering hiring a youth pastor. The parishioners raised $90,000 in three weeks for the furnace, but failed to find funds for the youth pastor, figuring there were few young people to serve. Archbishop Prendergast cited the story as an example of "the maintenance model of the church versus a missionary model of the church." It's a model that has been deployed by too many dioceses in the United States and Canada and one that some senior clergy recognize as outdated and doing nothing to put people in church pews or contribute to parish life -- much less increasing the kingdom of God.