News
Writer accepts national justice award on St. Katharine’s feast
Lou Baldwin, a writer for the Catholic Standard and Times, Phaith magazine and CatholicPhilly.com, received the peace and justice award from the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament order founded by St. Katharine Drexel, who has connections to his own life.
Most cardinal electors in Rome, still no date set for conclave
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After completing their third pre-conclave meeting, the College of Cardinals still had not announced a date for the conclave. Instead, they used the March 4 and 5 meetings to discuss needs of the church. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that by the end of the March 5 session, 33 cardinals "from every continent" had addressed the group. The meeting was attended by 148 cardinals. Although he said the cardinals made "no decision" about the start of the conclave, there was a presentation that day about the modifications Pope Benedict XVI made to the conclave rules, allowing the cardinals to begin a conclave less than 15 days after the end of a pontificate.
Panel of lay Catholics weighs in with advice for electing new pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Laypeople have a right and duty to offer their ideas to the cardinals who will elect the next pope, one theologian observed as part of a panel of lay Catholics who proposed that characteristics such as joy and diplomacy were important to the selection. The pope matters even beyond the Catholic Church […]
St. Hubert High School celebrates anniversary of school remaining open
Hundreds of students, faculty, alumnae, family and friends of St. Hubert High School for Girls celebrated the one year anniversary of the school remaining open on Sunday February 24, 2013. The group gathered at the intersection of Cottman and Frankford Avenues and walked to the front steps of the school where they sung the school’s Alma […]
Father Maher, ordained late in life and known for kindness, is laid to rest
Father Edmund J. Maher, 84, whose vocation to the priesthood came to fruition later in life, died Feb. 26. Father Maher was born in New York City, the son of the late Bernard J. and Evelyn M. (Feeney) Maher. He attended Niagara University, La Salle College and Temple University, and taught social science and history […]
Advisory boards formed to support Catholic elementary schools in Archdiocese
One of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission for Catholic Education was that parish and regional Catholic grade schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia be advised by an Executive Board of Elementary Education. Little more than a year later, the recommendation has come to pass with the announcement March 4 of the creation of that board to serve the whole Archdiocese, and the commitment to create advisory councils in each of the five counties.
Between popes, a time of speculation and suspense
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The period immediately following a pontificate is one of excited speculation, more or less loose, about the identity of the next pope. Though secrecy rules do not forbid cardinals from naming their preferences, custom and prudence effectively do. In any case, as history shows, once the electors get behind locked doors, their deliberations take on a dynamic impossible to forecast or affect from outside.
Father Kapaun, Korean War hero, to receive Medal of Honor in April
WICHITA, Kan. (CNS) -- Father Emil Kapaun, whose actions as a U.S. Army chaplain during the Korean War saved the lives of dozens of soldiers in the field and in a North Korean prisoner of war camp before his death, will be awarded the Medal of Honor. A priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kan., Father Kapaun will be honored during ceremonies at the White House April 11 and at the Pentagon the next day.
Deficit forces layoffs, ministry consolidation in Chicago Archdiocese
CHICAGO (CNS) -- The Chicago Archdiocese has laid off 60 pastoral center employees and must consolidate some of its agencies because of a deficit in the budget of its administrative operations, according to Cardinal Francis E. George. The archdiocese's "administrative operations have run operating deficits of more than $30 million in each of the past four years," the cardinal said.
Christ the King Parish sets 50th anniversary celebration
Christ the King Parish in Morrell Park, Northeast Philadelphia, invites all present and past parishioners and friends of the parish for the closing of its 50th anniversary year. The celebration begins with Mass at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 23 in the recently renovated church. A banquet will follow at 4 p.m. at the Philadelphia Ballroom […]