News
Holiness and the spiritual battle
Oct. 17 The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes: He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no […]
Maternity BVM School seeks alumni for celebration
Maternity B.V.M. School, 9322 Old Bustleton Ave. in Philadelphia, is having an Alumni Day Saturday, Nov. 3 beginning with 4:30 p.m. Mass in the upper church. There will be school tours, dinner, refreshments and a cash bar for beer and wine. We are looking for alumni to make this a success. Respond by Oct. 25 […]
Sister Patrick Marie Doherty, I.H.M.
Sister Patrick Marie, I.H.M., formerly Rose Kathleen Doherty, died in Camilla Hall Oct. 6 in the 64th year of her religious life. She was 81. Born in Littleton, Colo., Sister Patrick Marie entered the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1948 from St. Philomena Parish in Lansdowne and professed […]
Video series teaches confirmation prep for deaf, hard of hearing people
Catechists and others working with deaf people have a new tool for religious formation. The National Catholic Office for the Deaf (NCOD) has produced a video series titled “Strengthen in the Faith: Confirmation.” Teenagers and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing and are preparing to receive the sacrament of confirmation can now study […]
Signature on same-sex marriage referendum brings employer sanction
BALTIMORE (CNS) — The executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference called it alarming that a university would sanction one of its officials for signing a petition to bring Maryland’s same-sex marriage law to a public referendum. “To express a desire that marriage is and should remain a union between one man and one woman […]
Defending life, liberty part of the new evangelization, archbishop says
At what is a critical time for American Catholics to stand up in defense of life and religious freedom, they must engage in the church's new evangelization effort, deepening their faith and sharing it in their everyday lives and in the public square, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said Oct. 14. He made the comments in the homily at a Mass and Pilgrimage for Life and Liberty at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, which drew a standing room crowd of an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 people, and for which he was celebrant and homilist.
St. Albert Parish celebrates 50 years serving Huntingdon Valley
June 6, D-Day, is certainly auspicious in American history. It’s auspicious too in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia because that’s the date 50 years ago St. Albert the Great Parish was erected. One of the larger parishes in the Archdiocese, its campus is in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, but many parishioners live in adjacent Northeast Philadelphia. […]
Bishops tell synod church needs lively parishes, Bible literacy
The liturgies of African Catholic churches are a model for other Catholic communities seeking to invigorate their parishes and reach out to lapsed members, a Nigerian bishop told the world Synod of Bishops. Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo told the synod Oct. 15 that "the solemn, but exuberant multimedia liturgy" found in many African parishes helps people focus on the action of the Holy Spirit. He said church leaders need to leave the "catacombs of fear and self-consciousness" and go where people spend their time, including "the streets, town squares, market places, nightclubs, shopping malls, even pubs and the slums."
Cardinal says converts’ top 3 Catholic things are penance, pope, Mary
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Adult converts to Catholicism regularly cite three things about Catholicism that they find attractive: the sacrament of confession, the pope and devotion to Mary, said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. “Those three things, guess what, were kind of de-emphasized” after the Second Vatican Council, the cardinal said Oct. 15 during […]
Vienna to reduce its parishes by more than 75 percent over 10 years
Austria's Vienna Archdiocese will press ahead with a major reorganization that will including liquidating most of its parishes over 10 years, despite objections from some local Catholics. The archdiocese's 660 parishes will be merged over the next decade into around 150 larger parishes, each served by three-five priests and offering regular Masses.