News
Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux retires; New Orleans auxiliary is successor
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Sam G. Jacobs of Houma-Thibodaux, La., and appointed as his successor Auxiliary Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of New Orleans.
Pope names Bishop Hebda of Gaylord to be Newark coadjutor archbishop
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Bernard A. Hebda of Gaylord, Mich., 54, to be coadjutor archbishop of Newark, N.J. As coadjutor, he would automatically succeed Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, 72, upon his retirement or death. Canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope at age 75.
Family, with help from Catholic shelter, seeks to get back on feet
FORT MEADE, Md. (CNS) -- According to Census Bureau estimates released Sept. 17, there are 46.5 million poor people in the United States. This is the story of one of them.
He used to be poor, but that was long ago
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Contrary to the beliefs of some, it is possible for people who are poor to break out of poverty. Clarence Simmons is one of them. Few people know him as Clarence. "Call me Clay," he says.
Religious order files HHS lawsuit; Catholic college joins another suit
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Little Sisters of the Poor and a Catholic college are the latest Catholic entities to file a lawsuit or join an existing suit against the Department of Health and Human Services over its mandate that most religious employers' health insurance plans cover contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs free of charge.
Pope: Church must show what unity looks like, avoid divisions, gossip
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Backstabbing and gossip hurt people and harm God's desire for a united human family, Pope Francis said. Unity is a gift from God, "but often we struggle to live it out," he said. "We are the ones who create lacerations."
Connecticut bishop urges Catholics to be builders of spiritual bridges
TRUMBULL, Conn. (CNS) -- Bridgeport's new bishop used a famous image of his hometown -- the Brooklyn Bridge -- to describe how, like a physical bridge, a "spiritual bridge" pulls communities together and draws Catholics closer to God, the Gospels and one another as members of the body of Christ.
Agencies stretching to meet needs of Syrians displaced by civil war
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Governments and nongovernmental agencies are struggling to keep up with the needs and pressures created by the displacement of nearly a third of Syria's population because of the country's civil war. Assistance to the refugees and displaced people is coming from around the world, although resources are thinly stretched.
As migration rises worldwide, pope calls for international cooperation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called for greater international cooperation to improve conditions for the world's rising numbers of migrants and called on the media to combat prejudices that make immigrants unwelcome in their new countries. The pope's words came in his annual message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated Jan. 19, 2014. The message was released by the Vatican Sept. 24.
Pope Benedict challenges atheist, says he never hid abuse cases
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a letter to an atheist Italian mathematician, retired Pope Benedict XVI defended his own handling of allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and politely criticized the logician's total reliance on scientific facts for meaning. "I never sought to conceal these things," the pope said of cases of clerical abuse, and lamented the scholar depicting the church as the only place where such "deviation" and "filth" occur.