News
Colorado wildfire destroys homes, land, forces thousands to flee
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CNS) -- For the second year in a row, a wildfire got out of hand on a hot and windy afternoon in Colorado Springs June 12, leaving thousands of people fleeing for safety and thousands of others reliving a nightmare. More than 360 homes have been destroyed in the blaze that has consumed nearly 15,000 acres. No injuries have been reported, and it is not known yet how the fire started.
Judge dismisses Serra suit; aim is for both parties to settle dispute
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CNS) -- A Chicago circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Serra International against Serra's USA Council to pave the way for bishops to help settle the dispute. But the more than two years of internal strife in the vocations organization has caused at least one former U.S. Serra Club to strike out on its own. "Some of our members agonized over this, hoping that a satisfactory resolution might unfold. But it took so long that everyone lost heart and we voted unanimously to leave Serra," read the June newsletter of the Vocations Ministry of Savannah, Ga., formerly a Serra club.
What the pope’s leaked comments really tells us about the church
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A report that Pope Francis privately acknowledged the existence of a "gay lobby" inside the Vatican offers a sensational example of his unvarnished speaking style and a reminder of the challenge that style poses for the papacy in the age of digital communications and vanishing privacy. But the context of the comment is a series of remarks most illuminating for what they reveal: not about divisions within the church, but about Pope Francis' vision of its harmony and unity.
Quebec’s end-of-life bill decried as Belgian-style euthanasia
OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) -- Pro-life and other groups joined forces to denounce a bill governing end-of-life care introduced by the Quebec government June 12 as a form of Belgian-style euthanasia. The head of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said the bill redefines palliative care to include "terminal medical sedation" and "medical aid in dying," which he called a euphemism for euthanasia.
Bishop McDevitt grad last of a long line of high-achieving siblings
There had to be a bit of déjà vu for Mike and Mary DiCamillo and their family when Sophia, the youngest of their six children, stepped up to the podium on June 5 at Arcadia University as valedictorian for the Bishop McDevitt High School, Class of 2013, commencement exercises. She is the fourth member of the family to be McDevitt’s valedictorian.
In announcing new encyclical, Pope Francis reveals his decisive style
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis told members of the ordinary council of the Synod of Bishops that he was preparing to publish an encyclical on faith written “with four hands” — his own and those of Pope Benedict XVI. While a formal speech was prepared for the pope’s meeting with the council responsible for […]
50 million new jobs needed to boost global economy, Vatican urges U.N.
GENEVA (CNS) -- Job creation must become a key component of any United Nations plan to lift people out of poverty around the world, said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's observer to the United Nations. He also stressed that people must be seen as more than consumers but as integral members of society whose dignity can be upheld through employment.
Pope Francis talks with bishops about working together more closely
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A meeting with Pope Francis designed as reflection on the last Synod of Bishops turned into a group reflection on strengthening the synod itself and the way the world's bishops assist the pope.
Theologian urges church to give Holy Spirit more ‘breathing room’
MIAMI (CNS) -- Although the Second Vatican Council called on the Catholic Church to mirror the life of the Trinity, the church is still far from being converted to that vision, a leading Australian theologian said June 8. "The major issue is that the Holy Spirit is given very little institutional breathing room," Father Ormond Rush said in a plenary address to the annual convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America in Miami.
Cardinal Monsengwo sees church’s pastoral work helping stabilize Congo
MONTREAL (CNS) -- The Catholic Church, through its pastoral work and the promotion of justice, can help bring stability and peace in violence-torn Congo, said a cardinal who once helped guide the country from dictatorship to democracy.