News
Bicycling Santas bring gifts to foster children served by Catholic Social Services
Santa Claus arrived early Friday, Dec. 21 with Christmas presents for little boys and girls, at perhaps an unaccustomed stop: the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia. In this case, the Santa suit was donned by real estate developer Carl Dranoff, as he led a horse-drawn carriage loaded with more than 100 gifts through center city.
Pope says false ideas of human nature threaten basis of the family
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said the family in Western society is undergoing a "crisis that threatens it to its foundations," owing to false ideas of human nature that equate freedom with selfishness and present God-given sexual identities as a matter of individual choice to the profound detriment of humanity dignity.
Catholic author taps fond memories of orphanage, now captures finest Christmas carols
Ron Clancy loves Christmas and most of all Christmas music, especially the fine old carols that have been passed down from generation to generation. You could call him a modern day Scrooge, who after seeing the light, “holds Christmas in his heart and tries to keep it all the year.” Except in this case, Ron was not an old man when he received his epiphany.
Msgr. Wendrychowicz, pastor of St. Agnes in Sellersville, dies
Msgr. John B. Wendrychowicz Msgr. John B. Wendrychowicz, pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Sellersville, died Dec. 20 at Villa St. Joseph, Darby. The reception of the body will be held at St Agnes Church on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at 4 p.m., followed by a viewing. A parish Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m. […]
Budget deal must shield charitable deductions, tax credits, bishops say
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Deductions for charitable giving, tax credits for working families and vital programs that serve poor and vulnerable people in the United States and abroad must be protected in any budget deal that reduces the country’s $16 trillion deficit, the chairman of two U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committees told Congress. In letter […]
Parishes to join in moment of remembrance for victims of Sandy Hook tragedy
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has asked all 256 parishes in the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia to honor a day of mourning Dec. 21 in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14. Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy called for the day of mourning, and will observe a moment of silence followed […]
Bishops remain focused on ‘responsible restrictions’ on gun ownership
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As momentum builds to implement new limits on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips, the Catholic bishops of the United States remain focused on seeking "reasonable restrictions" on gun ownership without infringing upon Second Amendment rights. "The bishops continue to support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and continue to call for sensible regulations on handguns," Kathy Saile, the bishops' director of domestic social development, told Catholic News Service.
Judge Bork, who lost fierce fight for high court nomination, dies
ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) — Judge Robert Bork, former circuit judge, U.S. solicitor general and 1987 Supreme Court judicial nominee, died Dec. 19 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington of complications from heart disease. He was 85. Bork became a Catholic in 2003 at age 76. In an interview with the National Catholic Register after he […]
Pope Paul VI among 850 whose causes for sainthood advance
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI advanced the sainthood cause of Pope Paul VI by recognizing the Italian pope as having lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way. He also recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of an Italian martyr who, with an estimated 800 other people, died at the hands of […]
Bishop Pates urges White House to negotiate with Iran to prevent war
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace called on the White House’s national security adviser to pursue negotiations with Iran on its nuclear research to head off the possibility of war. Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, called for “bold steps” to be considered to […]