News
St. Helena’s Knights of Columbus honor first responders at Blue Mass on 9/11
The St. Helena’s Knights of Columbus will celebrate its seventh annual Blue Mass on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. at St. Helena Church, 1489 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell. The Mass will honor police officers, fire fighters and emergency medical responders who serve and protect the Blue Bell area in Montgomery County. This year is […]
Pope, Bolivian president discuss poverty, discrimination, Middle East
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The problems of poverty, discrimination and conflict in the Middle East took center stage in private talks between Pope Francis and Bolivian President Evo Morales at the Vatican. During the 32-minute meeting in the pope's library Sept. 6, the two leaders held "cordial talks" concerning Bolivia's "social-economic and religious situation" as well as "the promotion of peace in Syria and the Middle East," said a written statement released by the Vatican.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral in midst of meticulous $177 million restoration
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Tall metal scaffolding not only fills but surrounds New York's famed St. Patrick's Cathedral. What looks to the uninitiated like a zealous cleaning job is actually a painstaking $177 million restoration. If all goes according to plan, worshippers should appreciate how magnificent the iconic church looks when the work is finished without identifying anything that is truly different or out of place.
Carmen Errotaberea, 91, was social worker for Philadelphia Archdiocese
Carmen L. Errotaberea (nee Silva) of Monroe Township, N.J., died Aug. 16 at the Cranbury Center, a Genesis Healthcare facility in Monroe. She was 91. Born in Havana, Cuba, she and her husband Rogelio immigrated to the United States in February 1961 with their two oldest children. She worked for the Philadelphia Archdiocese as a […]
Villanova Augustinian priest paints icon as gift to Pope Francis
What do you give to the pope, who pretty much has everything he could want, especially if he is a simple man at heart? That was the problem facing the Order of St. Augustine, whose leadership gathered in Rome on Aug. 28 for a general chapter. After it was announced that Pope Francis would celebrate the opening liturgy at the general chapter, Augustinian Father Richard Cannuli, who is chair of the art department at Villanova University, offered to paint an icon for the pope as an appropriate gift.
Writing to Putin, pope leads diplomatic push against strikes on Syria
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis asked leaders of the world's 20 largest economies to "lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution" to the Syrian civil war and promote instead a "peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation." The pope's words appeared in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, host of the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5-6. The letter was dated Sept. 4 and released by the Vatican the following day, as U.S. lawmakers prepared to vote on President Barack Obama's proposal for a military attack on Syria.
Military archdiocese remembers sainthood candidate killed in Vietnam
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the sainthood cause for a Vietnam War chaplain gathers momentum, the priest was remembered at a Sept. 4 memorial Mass as a man "completely dedicated to the spiritual care of his Marines." Father Vincent Capodanno, who died in Vietnam Sept. 4,1967, was one of the "great priest chaplains," said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services in his homily at the Mass, celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
Mexican bishops’ ministry urges action after derailment kills migrants
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Mexican bishops' ministry for people on the move called for prayer, reflection and action after a train carrying northbound Central Americans derailed in southern Mexico, killing 11 migrants. "Let us act so that this situation may be resolved; that people have the right to free transit; sufficient security to reach their destination; (and) ... in their own nation, possibilities for development, security and peace," said the statement, signed by Bishop Guillermo Ortiz Mondragon of Cuautitlan, director of the ministry.
Special students start new year with blessing at St. Katherine Day School
The sun was shining brightly in the Philadelphia area on Sept. 4 and nowhere more brightly than at a little school tucked away at 930 Bowman Avenue in Wynnewood. That would be St. Katherine Day School, where some very special children with learning and in some cases physical disabilities were starting their very first day of the school year, and there was not an unhappy face among them. (See a photo gallery and watch a video.)
USCCB weighs in on Syria with letters to Obama, Congress
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Echoing the appeal of Pope Francis and Catholic prelates in Syria, two leaders of the U.S. bishops' conference urged President Barack Obama to seek a political solution in Syria.