News
Dispute over $2.3 million water bill could hurt Jerusalem holy site
JERUSALEM (CNS) — A dispute over an unpaid water bill reportedly running to $2.3 million could threaten the daily functioning of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of Christendom’s most holy sites. The dispute stems from a unilateral cancellation of a long-term agreement — dating to Turkish rule — which exempted the Church of […]
Maryland passes in-state tuition law for undocumented immigrants
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The immigration status of Maryland students will no longer be an obstacle to them receiving lower tuition rates available to other in-state residents, after 59 percent of voters approved a referendum Nov. 6. The Maryland Catholic Conference and other church leaders were among supporters of the law, likened to the federal DREAM […]
New Jersey couple says Sandy didn’t destroy their faith in God, mankind
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CNS) — When Michael Santo returned to his Hurricane Sandy-ravaged neighborhood in Tuckerton, he was horrified by what he saw, and then thanked God he and his wife, Barbara, were still alive. “It really looked like it was bombed,” Santo told Catholic News Service as he looked at the storm […]
Mass offers ‘spark of fire’ for those coping with mess left by Sandy
BELMAR, N.J. (CNS) — Catholics from around the greater Belmar area and way beyond braved highways barren of traffic lights and a landscape badly mangled by Hurricane Sandy to attend Mass Nov. 4 at St. Rose Church with Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton. They came, despite gas rationing and hard-to-navigate roadways realigned by the […]
Christians, Hindus must educate young to be peacemakers, Vatican says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christian and Hindu parents, teachers and religious leaders must educate young people to recognize and resist ideologies that teach disrespect for certain groups of people and sow divisions in society, said the leaders of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Extending their best wishes to the world’s 1.1 billion Hindus for […]
States approve laws permitting same-sex marriage
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Voters in Maine, Washington state and Maryland approved ballot measures legalizing same-sex marriage Nov. 6. In Minnesota, voters rejected a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as only a union between a man and woman. The Catholic bishops in each state had urged voters to uphold the traditional definition of marriage between […]
Faith, science must cooperate to protect people, planet, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Dialogue and cooperation between faith and science are urgently needed for building a culture that respects people and the planet, Pope Benedict XVI told his own science academy. Without faith and science informing each other, “the great questions of humanity leave the domain of reason and truth, and are abandoned to […]
Massachusetts defeats assisted suicide; California keeps death penalty
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Massachusetts voters narrowly defeated a "death with dignity" measure, rejecting attempts to legalize assisted suicide. In California, an initiative to end the use of the death penalty was defeated as well in another close vote.
Sister Marita Anne McGonigle, I.H.M.
Sister Marita Anne McGonigle, I.H.M., formerly Marie M. McGonigle, died in Camilla Hall Oct. 27 in the 80th year of her religious life. She was 97 years old. Born in Bristol, Sister Marita Anne entered the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1932 from St. Mark Parish in Bristol […]
Catholic Life Congress ready to help deepen Philadelphia Catholics’ faith
Catholic Life Congress is the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s annual convention for the faith formation of lay people, religious and clergy. Held this year on Saturday, Nov. 17, it comes during the Year of Faith in the Catholic Church, a time for Catholics to “grow deeper into their faith and to be renewed in their faith,” said Connie Scharff, the archdiocesan point person for organizing the congress. “As a result of that, by virtue of our baptism, once we have gone into our own faith we’re able to evangelize others simply by the way we live our daily lives.” In a sense, she believes, Catholics are answering the question, how would Jesus have lived in this day and age?