News
Patchwork of murky laws emerges as more states OK use of marijuana
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CNS) -- Somewhere among the skateboarders, weight lifters, street artisans and moms pushing strollers at California's Venice Beach may be a high concentration of seriously ill Californians seeking alternative pain relief. That's the impression given by an omnipresent odor and abundance of Oceanfront medical marijuana dispensaries and one-stop "medical consultation" shops on the boardwalk -- some outfitted with mini-ATM machines, leaf-shaped signage and playful sidewalk barkers dressed in green and welcoming passersby.
Unused church properties to be auctioned for quick sale
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will auction off several properties in Philadelphia and the suburbs later this month in hopes of raising much-needed cash, it announced June 28. The two largest properties, a 48-acre tract in Plumstead, Bucks County and a 29.5-acre tract in Harleysville, Montgomery County had been purchased years ago in hopes they might be needed to accommodate an expansion of the Catholic population in those areas.
Archdiocesan financial report, 2011-2012
See the full Archdiocesan financial report. See the supplemental document to the report.
Archdiocesan Financial Report shows complex factors leading to huge deficits
Archbishop Charles Chaput in his column last week on CatholicPhilly.com called the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s new financial report “very serious – and that’s an understatement.” True to his word, a 37-page report of unprecedented detail released today shows an operating deficit of $39.1 million for the fiscal year spanning July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012. Grim figures of the report revealed 2011-2012 to be a very mean year, and pointed to serious long-term concerns.
Arizona fire rages as slain hotshot crew members are mourned
PHOENIX (CNS) -- As the people of central Arizona mourned the deaths June 30 of 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots, hundreds of other firefighters battled the still-uncontrolled blaze that threatened the small towns of Yarnell and Peeples Valley. The men from an elite firefighting crew based in Prescott, Ariz. -- where they made up a significant portion of the city's 92-employee fire department -- were trapped when winds shifted, turning the fast-moving wildfire in their direction.
U.S. bishops, religious leaders call for religious liberty protections
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals and a representative from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, issued an open letter July 2 urging the U.S. government to "expand conscience protections" in its Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate.
Bishops find problems in Colombia, Peru, echo issues at home in U.S.
LAMAS, Peru (CNS) -- Conflicts over natural resources and land rights in places like Peru and Colombia echo similar problems in the United States, said U.S. bishops who visited the two countries in late June. "We came to express solidarity with the church in Peru and Colombia, that we are one family in Christ, and the concerns of one part of the family are the concerns of the other," Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., told Catholic News Service.
Central African bishops: Insurgence has ruined nation’s social fabric
BANGUI, Central African Republic (CNS) -- Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic said their country's occupation by Islamist-led rebels has left its livelihood "looted and destroyed" and its "social fabric completely torn up." "Never has our country known a conflict so grave in its magnitude and duration -- never has any military-political disorder spread through our territory with such a violent impact," the bishops' conference said.
Saints’ congregation reportedly acts on causes of JP II, John XXIII
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The cardinals and archbishops who are members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes met July 2 and, according to Italian news reports, took steps to advance the sainthood causes of Blesseds John Paul II and John XXIII. The Vatican press office confirmed the meeting, but said that all deliberations in sainthood […]
U.K. may allow DNA changes to abolish disease; church institute critical
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A Catholic bioethics institute criticized plans by the British government to create "genetically modified children" free of hereditary disease and said the treatment could affect the child's descendants in unknown ways. The Department of Health announced June 28 that, later this year, it will publish draft regulations on two mitochondrial replacement techniques.