News
Syria’s Armenians risk a winter without food, shelter in ancestral home
YEREVAN, Armenia (CNS) — Thousands of previously middle-class Syrians now stranded in Armenia are rapidly running out of resources and could soon have no shelter, food or medicine, said an international aid group official. “There is a big need on the humanitarian side: food, shelter, medical needs,” said Walter Hajek, head of international disaster management […]
Children make up half the Syrian refugee population
KILIS, Turkey (CNS) — Fifteen-year-old Abdullah Haji Mustafa wants to fight. He has been living in a refugee camp in Turkey for a year, since his family fled Tall Rifat, an embattled Syrian town just north of Aleppo. “Who wants not to go back?” he asks, standing between the gates of the camp and a […]
Players say concussions a concern, but joy of game outweighs risk
LAUREL, Md. (CNS) -- St. Vincent Pallotti High School senior Rudolfo Garcia said, despite having two concussions back-to-back, he never thinks about the possibility of becoming injured before stepping out on the football field to play. "You don't think of being scared," Garcia, 17, said. "If one man is going 100 percent and you're going only 50 percent, you're probably going to get hurt."
Cardinal sees religion’s soul, head, heart embodied in three popes
RYE, N.Y. (CNS) — The three most recent popes exemplify the soul, head and heart of religion, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York told an interfaith group Sept. 29. “All religions come to look to the pope for spiritual guidance and example,” he said. “Every religion, faith, church, organization, family needs a soul, a […]
Eucharistic congress celebrates ‘youth, vitality’ of Knoxville Diocese
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — The Diocese of Knoxville celebrated its 25th anniversary in grand fashion by holding its first eucharistic congress, which drew about 5,000 Catholics from throughout Tennessee and around the country to gather in prayer and song, fellowship and worship. “My wife, Karen, and I attended this conference and were just blown away […]
Newly resigned U.S. surgeon general takes public health chair at Xavier
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — Sister Grace Mary Flickinger has been a teacher at Xavier University of Louisiana for “only 46 years,” but she fought back tears as one of her former students, Dr. Regina Benjamin, the 18th U.S. surgeon general, returned home to run the university’s newly created Department of Public Health Sciences. “I’m fighting […]
Priest chef to show value of family meals in Pennsburg parish visit
Father Leo Patalinghug, host of EWTN’s “Savoring Our Faith” program and winner of the steak fajita “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay” on Food Network, will visit St. Philip Neri Church in Pennsburg Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. to promote his nationwide movement “Grace Before Meals.” Father Leo will speak about the importance of family dinners […]
Pope Francis calls for less ‘Vatican-centric,’ more socially conscious church
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In his latest wide-ranging interview, Pope Francis told an Italian journalist that he briefly considered turning down the papacy in the moments following his election last March, and identified the "most urgent problem" the church should address today as youth unemployment and the abandonment of elderly people. Their conversation touched on a range of topics, including economic justice, dialogue between Christians and nonbelievers, and reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.
Humility, service attract people to church, not power, pride, pope says
The strength of the Gospel "is precisely in humility, the humility of a child who lets himself be guided by the love and tenderness of his father," Pope Francis said Oct. 1 during morning Mass in his residence. He concelebrated the Mass with the eight cardinals he chose in April to advise him on reforming the governance of the Roman Curia.
Furthering transparency efforts, Vatican bank publishes annual report
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As part of its continuing efforts to promote transparency and to demonstrate its stability and adherence to industry standards, the Vatican bank published its annual report for the first time in its history. The Institute for the Works of Religion, as the bank is formally known, released its independently audited report […]