News
Growing Hispanic presence in U.S. church seen as blessing and challenge
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (CNS) -- The fact that Spanish-speaking and Latino Catholics are fast becoming a major segment -- already about one-third -- of the Catholic population in the U.S. wasn't lost on a range of Catholic Hispanic leadership gathered Oct. 17-20 for a regional encounter.
Cardinal Maida dedicates mosaic of late pope at national shrine
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Polish-Americans, including Cornell University senior Adrian Poniatowski, filled the Chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa to honor the Catholic Church's first Polish pontiff, who encouraged people throughout the world to be active members of the church.
Thomas Foley dies at 84; was House speaker for nearly six years
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The nation lost "a true American statesman" with the passing of Thomas S. Foley, former speaker of the House, said the president of his alma mater, Jesuit-run Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.
NFL execs, alumnus give $10 million to Catholic school in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CNS) -- Walking out of the Catholic High School locker rooms en route to practice, three freshmen football players turned a corner and came face to face with a white-haired man briskly descending the stairs in a well-cut navy suit. As they stopped to let the man pass, their eyes widened in recognition of Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.
Elections, marriage and confirmation texts among bishops’ agenda items
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Elections for a new president and vice president, a discussion and vote on a Spanish-language book of prayers at Mass, and a proposal to develop a statement on pornography are among the items awaiting the U.S. bishops when they gather in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly.
Vatican ambassador tells U.N.: ‘Without life, all other rights are meaningless’
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — In remarks Oct. 18 to a U.N. General Assembly committee focusing on the promotion and protection of children’s rights, the Vatican’s nuncio to the U.N. said, “Without life, all other rights are meaningless.” Archbishop Francis Chullikatt was commenting on a U.N. report on child mortality, which concluded that the U.N.’s goal […]
Vatican’s media adviser offers ‘Top 10’ ways to understand Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- No matter how some media may want to spin it, Pope Francis won't fit into the political categories of left or right, and he will challenge everyone with the truth of the Gospel, said the Vatican's media adviser. "The pope's picture should have one of those warning labels" much like a pack of cigarettes, said Greg Burke, but with the words, "Danger: This man could change your life." Burke offered his take on decoding the pontiff with his own rundown of "Pope Francis in 10 Words."
Woman who left upscale life to minister to prisoners as nun dies at 86
TIJUANA, Mexico (CNS) -- Mother Antonia Brenner, a mother of seven and one-time Beverly Hills neighbor of movie stars, died Oct. 17 at the headquarters of the religious order she founded after she gave up her comfortable lifestyle to live among and minister to prisoners. She was 86.
Gov. Christie drops appeal of ruling to allow same-sex marriage in N.J.
TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) -- New Jersey's governor withdrew his appeal of a state judge's ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry, saying through a spokesman that he "strongly disagrees" with the court "substituting its judgment for the constitutional process ... or a vote of the people," but acknowledged such marriages are now "the law."
Vatican official reaffirms teaching on divorced, remarried Catholics
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's highest doctrinal official reaffirmed church teaching barring divorced and remarried Catholics from receiving Communion without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriage. But the official acknowledged that many Catholics' first marriages might be invalid, and thus eligible for annulment, if spouses had been influenced by prevailing contemporary conceptions of marriage as a temporary arrangement.