News
Pope Francis says Christians should have restless hearts like St. Augustine’s
ROME (CNS) -- St. Augustine famously said that people's hearts are restless until they rest in God. But too many people have allowed their hearts to be "anesthetized" and no longer search for God and for love, Pope Francis said when he met with members of the Order of St. Augustine on the saint's feast day Aug. 28.
Salesians send out three local young adults among 28 lay missionaries
Natalie Baker of Springfield, Delaware County, Matthew Pirrall of Schwenksville and Patrick Sabol of Wayne were among three of the 28 mostly young women and men commissioned Aug. 17 as lay missionary volunteers by the Salesians of Don Bosco. They will serve in five countries and the United States.
Syrian-born patriarch: ‘Enough with the intervention’
BEIRUIT (CNS) — Syrian-born Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham warned against armed intervention in his country, saying, “It has brought us to the tragedy we are now living in Syria.” Speaking to Catholic News Service by phone Aug. 27 from the patriarchal summer residence in Ain Traz, Lebanon, the patriarch said such a step […]
Latino leaders urged to put the Gospel in action at their workplace
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Peter J. Coulchinsky arrived in the United States from Argentina in 1986 as a young man seeking to earn a law degree. As his time in the U.S. lengthened, the more he decided he wanted to stay. There was just one problem: He had only a student visa.
Utah parish vandalized for the fourth time in two years
MAGNA, Utah (CNS) -- Vandals kicked in the basement door of the rectory to break into Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church for the second time this year, smashing statues and glass doors and spraying a fire extinguisher throughout the chapel. The intruders left behind blood stains, fingerprints and a cellphone, police said. When Father Christopher Gray arrived at 8:25 a.m., to prepare for the Sunday liturgy, he saw people standing outside, some weeping, and police cars all around.
Russian Catholic leader: No church stance on Olympic boycott calls
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Calls for an Olympic boycott because of a Russian law banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" have become "highly politicized," said an official of the Russian bishops' conference. Msgr. Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of the bishops' conference, said the Catholic Church would not be adopting an official stance on either the boycott or the law.
St. John’s U probe reveals ‘errors in judgment’ but no crime
JAMAICA, N.Y. (CNS) -- An independent investigation by St. John's University found "no criminal wrongdoing" on the part of its recently retired president, but "errors in judgment" by top university officials over financial conflicts of interest and lack of disclosure to the school's board of trustees.
Dozens of World Youth Day pilgrims seek asylum in Brazil
SAO PAULO (CNS) — More than 50 pilgrims who attended World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro are seeking asylum in Brazil. Aline Thuller, Caritas’ coordinator for refugees in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, said the archdiocese received approximately 40 asylum requests from pilgrims from Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Congo. Thuller said two parishes […]
Here comes the cavalry! Nashville Dominicans join Scottish diocese
ABERDEEN, Scotland (CNS) -- A bishop has likened the arrival of American nuns in his Scottish diocese to a Western, with the cavalry coming over the hill at the moment Catholics thought they were going to be scalped. In a homily during an Aug. 24 Mass to welcome the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia into the Diocese of Aberdeen, Bishop Hugh Gilbert said the nuns were rescuing the local church in the same way that the U.S. Cavalry saved cowboys from Indians in the movies.
Nations ponder what to do about chemical attack in Syria
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were consulting with other world leaders about how to respond to Syria's apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron was convening an emergency session of Parliament to consider a motion allowing a British military response.. Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo told Vatican Radio Aug. 26 that "If there were a military intervention, I think this would lead to a world war. There is this risk."