News
First Communion to be received by children in 2nd grade, confirmation in 6th, archbishop says
The ages at which Catholic children in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia receive the sacraments of first holy Communion and confirmation will remain as they are today, Archbishop Chaput told priests of the archdiocese in a letter Nov. 30. Currently most children in grade two receive first holy Communion, and most children receive confirmation in grade six. Some parishes routinely confirm their children in seventh or eighth grades, while other parishes with small congregations combine sixth, seventh or eighth graders into a single group for confirmation.
Our Lady of Guadalupe’s devotion extends beyond the Americas
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Ana Rita Valero received an unlikely request in 2008. Valero, an anthropologist and president of the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was asked by an official with the Mexican consulate in Shanghai to send two large images of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "It was the least likely place we could have sent images," Valero said, recalling the cool commercial relations between Mexico and China at the time. "The Chinese population liked them and began going (to Beijing and Shanghai) to pray."
So far, St. Charles Seminary’s fund drive topping last year
Everybody knows St. Charles Borromeo Seminary provides formation for Philadelphia’s future priests. Right now there are 50 men studying for Philadelphia at St. Charles, but there are 85 others studying for eight other dioceses and two religious congregations. “You see magnificent buildings and get a sense of history, but the seminary is not a museum or Independence Hall,” Bishop Senior said. “This is a place where formation is happening today."
Palestinian question key to Mideast peace, say Catholic leaders
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — At the end of a three-day meeting in Lebanon, the Catholic patriarchs and bishops of the Middle East said peace in the region will be impossible without a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The 77 Catholic leaders said the greatest contribution to peace in the region would be to finally find […]
Amid ongoing violence, Chicago-area Catholics challenged to build peace
CHICAGO (CNS) -- In a metropolitan area rocked by crime, Chicago-area Catholics are being challenged to respond and realize their spiritual responsibility to build peace. More than 200 children and adults gathered on a street corner on Chicago's South Side Nov. 30 to pray for peace on their streets. Earlier that week, shots rang out at nearby St. Columbanus Church following the funeral of a reputed gang member. One man was killed and another injured in the shooting.
Catholic jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dies; known for ‘Take Five’
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Dave Brubeck, the influential and prolific pianist whose composition "Take Five" became a standard in the annals of jazz, died of heart failure Dec. 5 at age 91, one day before his 92nd birthday. Brubeck played his "cool" brand of West Coast jazz before Blessed John Paul II and eight presidents. He became a Catholic in 1980 after completing a commission from Our Sunday Visitor -- a Mass titled "To Hope." Brubeck said in a PBS biographical profile, "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from. I just joined the Catholic Church."
Six seminarians return to alma mater Shanahan for liturgy
Deacon John Stokely (back row, third from right) recently returned to his alma mater, Bishop Shanahan High School in Downingtown, to preach at the school’s Thanksgiving Mass Nov. 21. It was Deacon Stokely’s first homily given at the school since his diaconate ordination last May. He was joined by fellow St. Charles Borromeo seminarians and […]
Advent is time to renew faith, bring God’s love to others, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Advent's liturgical preparation for Christmas calls Christians to renew their faith in the reality of God's great love and to make a commitment to bringing his love to the world today, Pope Benedict XVI said. Advent, he said, "places before us the bright mystery of the coming of God's son, the great plan of God's goodness through which he desires to draw us to himself to let us live in full communion, joy and peace with him."
Reform must respect immigrants’ human rights, dignity, says archbishop
ATLANTA (CNS) — Some 200 national immigration leaders surveyed the landscape of immigration reform at the federal and state level during a three-day Catholic conference in Atlanta Dec. 3-5. Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta told the leaders that while the federal government recently acted to offer young people brought into the country as children […]
Thousands rally in Ireland to block abortion bill
DUBLIN (CNS) — Thousands of pro-life demonstrators held a candlelight vigil outside the Irish parliament Dec. 4, calling on the government not to introduce abortion legislation. An estimated crowd of 8,000 people braved bitterly cold weather to hear speakers from a coalition of pro-life organizations call on Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to keep a […]