News
Pope names international panel of cardinals to advise on Vatican reform
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Amid rising concerns about corruption and mismanagement in the central administration of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis named an international panel of cardinals -- including Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley -- to advise him on the latest reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.
Archbishop gives stark, frank assessment of archdiocese at Philos dinner
Archbishop Charles Chaput accepted the 2013 award of the Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute April 12. “This is an extraordinary place,” Archbishop Chaput said of the Philadelphia Archdiocese. “But things have changed immensely.” “The problems we have financially are not admitting we have to change. Not in terms of our values and enthusiasm but in terms of how we look at our structures." Change, he said, is going to be awkward and difficult, but “if we are going to be the Church that Jesus Christ wants us to be, we have to be different.”
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.