News
Adult stem cells offer ethical, effective cures, speakers say
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Finding safe and effective cures to disease and illness does not have to go against moral and ethical principles; that was the message of a three-day conference at the Vatican on adult stem-cell therapies.
Pope Francis reaffirms Vatican’s call for reform of U.S. nuns’ group
Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious that he had "recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform for this conference of major superiors." The doctrinal congregation met April 15 with the LCWR leadership and Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, who had been assigned by the Vatican to oversee the reform of the pontifically recognized leadership group.
St. Charles Seminary professor pens book for Year of Faith
Redemptorist Father Dennis J. Billy, the John Cardinal Krol chair of moral theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, will present his book for the Year of Faith, “Tending the Mustard Seed: Living the Faith in Today’s World” on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ryan Memorial Library at the seminary, 100 East Wynnewood […]
North American College breaks ground for $7 million expansion
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Fresh soil on compact dirt, a small pile of rubble, incense, gold-trimmed liturgical vestments and the sound of dozens of young men singing "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" meant it was groundbreaking day at the Pontifical North American College, the Vatican seminary sponsored by the U.S. bishops.
Rally shows range of issues central to immigration reform
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At a massive rally on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol April 10, the underlying demand -- comprehensive immigration reform -- came with different primary interests for different people. A look at the range of issues underlying the effort to produce a bill that can pass in both the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House helps explain why it's taking so long for a bipartisan Senate panel to produce a bill, reported to be 1,500 pages long.
Turkey to set up separate camp for Christians near Syrian border
ISTANBUL (CNS) -- Christians escaping the two-year civil war in Syria will soon have their own humanitarian aid camp in which to live, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey told local media.
Growing presence demands increased responsibilities, say Latino leaders
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Aware of the sign of the times, the Catholic Church is reaching out and assigning greater responsibility to the growing Latino Catholic population, said a group of U.S. Catholic Latino leaders. The March 13 election by the College of Cardinals of a pope from Latin America made that task even more evident, three top leaders of the Los Angeles-based Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) told Catholic News Service.
‘Shepherd in combat boots’ awarded Medal of Honor for Korean service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Catholic Korean War chaplain who selflessly pulled wounded men from enemy fire and helped his fellow prisoners of war keep a sense of hope was honored posthumously with the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, in an April 11 White House ceremony.
Chaplain deserves ‘three or four’ Medals of Honor, say Korean War veterans
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor April 11 to famed Korean War chaplain Father Emil Kapaun, presenting it to the priest's nephew, Ray Kapaun, nearly 22,604 days after his uncle's death in a prisoner of war camp. "By his very presence, somehow, he could turn a stinking, louse-ridden mud hut, for a little while, into a cathedral," wrote Mike Dowe, a fellow soldier of Father Kapaun. Yet, he added, there was nothing "ethereal about him, nothing soft or unctuous or holier-than-thou."
Curbing gun violence ‘builds a culture of life,’ bishop tells senators
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Days before the Senate began debate over gun-control legislation, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., urged senators to support a bill that "builds a culture of life by promoting policies that reduce gun violence and saves people's lives in homes and communities." On April 10, the day before debate began, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced a compromise deal on the background-checks provision of the bill that they believe will win bipartisan support.