News
Shanahan speaker wows them at the podium, credits his ‘circle of faith’
Jonathan Weyand, who graduated from Bishop Shanahan High School on June 5 and is headed for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, is one heck of a speaker. He was not only the valedictorian for his high school, but he was chosen to represent all the Catholic high school graduates in a speech given at the Academic Honors Convocation presided over by Archbishop Charles Chaput May 21 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
Philadelphia selects Catholic Social Services as partner for serving at-risk youth
Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CSS) has been selected as a Community Umbrella Agency (CUA) for the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services (DHS) under its new model Improving Outcomes for Children. CSS is one of three community-based organizations most recently selected by DHS to manage the cases of the city’s most at-risk youth.
Father Aloysius Grass, C.M., former St. Thomas More H.S. principal, dies at 90
Vincentian Father Aloysius P. Grass died June 4 at St. Vincent’s Seminary in Philadelphia’s Germantown section. He was 90, and a priest for 62 years. Father Grass served in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at St. Thomas More High School in 1957 as prefect of discipline and then as principal from 1963 to 1969. From 1973 to […]
Church has led way in addressing abuse of minors, says board chairman
WORCESTER, Mass. (CNS) -- The Catholic Church has led the way in addressing the sexual abuse of minors, said the new chairman of the National Review Board. Francesco C. Cesareo, president of Assumption College in Worcester and a member of the review board for one year, will oversee the board as chairman at its first meeting in September.
For Mother Dolores Hart, it’s time for her close-up — again
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Don't look now, but Dolores Hart is about to become a star again, 50 years after her last movie. Hart -- that's Mother Dolores, the prioress of a Benedictine women's monastery in Bethlehem, Conn. -- has just had her memoir published a year after a documentary featuring her life in as a cloistered nun picked up an Oscar nomination for best documentary short subject.
Inner-city kids learn math through baseball fantasy league in CSS program
Fifty North Philadelphia children flexed their math muscles on Saturday, June 8, at the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center in Kensington by using baseball as a way to teach math concepts. Fourth- to eighth-grade students of local public and parochial schools and community-based organizations spent the last four months using the program to build fantasy teams, analyze data and play simulated baseball games with their peers, all while demonstrating their math ability on baseball statistics and developing critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Irish missionary says women can foster peace in Nigeria’s conflict
DUBLIN (CNS) — Women can play an important role in bringing peace and stability to violence-wracked northern Nigeria if some of the country’s discriminatory social rituals ended, an Irish missionary sister working in the West African nation said. Sister Kathleen McGarvey, 45, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles and a lecturer […]
Priest retirements announced
The following priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been named pastor emeritus or have retired. CatholicPhilly.com wishes each priest many more years in the Lord's service -- ad multos annos!
Bishops warn against changes in immigration bill that could kill it
SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- Three bishops weighed in on the ongoing congressional debate on immigration reform legislation June 10, warning against amending a Senate bill in ways that would block the path to legalization for undocumented immigrants. "Each day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals and schools, we witness the human consequences of a broken immigration system,” said Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Migration. "Families are separated, migrant workers are exploited, and our fellow human beings die in the desert."
Catholic schools advocate Sister Patricia Spingler, I.H.M., dies at 71
Sister M. K. Patricia Spingler, I.H.M., formerly Sister Patricia Marian, I.H.M., died in Camilla Hall, Immaculata, on June 3 in the 53rd year of her religious life. She was 71 years old.