News
Local events mark Year of Faith across Philadelphia Archdiocese
Archbishop Charles Chaput will launch the local efforts in the universal Church’s Year of Faith to deepen the faith of Catholics with a Mass Oct. 14 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. The Year of Faith began Oct. 11 with a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, which was also the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “The entire purpose of the Year of Faith is an encounter with the living Christ,” said Auxiliary Bishop John J. McIntyre, who with his staff is working to promote and coordinate activities for the year in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “Through his writings the Holy Father constantly points out that Christianity is an encounter with the living God and out of that flows everything else.”
The Year of Faith and how we’re called to live it
In leading us into the Year of Faith, which began October 11, Pope Benedict calls on each of us as believers to “rediscover [God’s] joy,” to “radiate [God’s] word,” and to make our Christian witness “frank and contagious.” Now those are wonderful words, but how do we actually live them? We need to begin by realizing that we’re not being asked to do the impossible – only the uncomfortable and inconvenient. Benedict is asking us to examine our hearts and our habits of life without excuses or alibis. He’s asking us to tear down the cathedral we build to ourselves, the whole interior architecture of our vanities, our resentments and our endless appetites, and to channel all the restless fears and longings of modern life into a hunger for the Holy Spirit. If you think that sounds easy or pious, try it this week.
‘No religious affiliation’ now describes nearly fifth of US population
WASHINGTON (CNS) — People who say they are unaffiliated with any religion constitute nearly 20 percent of the American public, making them almost as numerous as Catholics, who accounted for 22 percent of participants in a new Pew Research Center study released Oct. 9. The survey of 2,973 adults conducted this summer found people who […]
Study: Climate change could fry key crops for Central American farmers
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A small plot of land provides a single mother in Honduras with the corn and beans her family needs to eat, but as a result of recent droughts, she’s left peeling back the husk of her shrinking cornstalks asking, “What can I do?” Paul Hicks, regional coordinator for Global Water Initiative, an […]
South Sudan seminary limits students as it confronts challenges
JUBA, South Sudan (CNS) — Already facing a shortage of priests, the Catholic Church in the world’s newest nation has closed a portion of its seminary, leaving dozens of young men stranded on the road to the priesthood. When classes start at the end of October at St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Juba, only 64 […]
Evangelization must flow from experience, Anglican leader tells synod
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Evangelization is not a project, but the natural “overflow” of an experience of Christ and his church that transforms lives, giving them meaning and joy, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion told Pope Benedict XVI and the Synod of Bishops. “Those who know little and care even less about the […]
Georgia’s Catholic archdiocese, diocese file suit against HHS mandate
ATLANTA (CNS) — The Archdiocese of Atlanta, the Diocese of Savannah and other Catholic entities in Georgia, including Catholic Charities and Christ the King School in Atlanta, filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 5 challenging the Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta. Defendants are the […]
At anniversary Mass, pope recalls ‘authentic spirit’ of Vatican II
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the "authentic spirit" of Vatican II by re-proposing the church's ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. The pope spoke at a special Mass in St. Peter's Square Oct. 11, half a century to the day after the opening ceremonies of Vatican II. About 400 bishops from around the world, including 15 of the 70 surviving members of the 1962-65 council, attended. Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury attended as special guests.
Head of Legion of Christ, Regnum Christi hands powers to vicar general
ROME (CNS) — Citing health concerns, the head of the Legionaries of Christ handed over his governing powers to the order’s second highest official for an indefinite period of time. Legionary Father Alvaro Corcuera made the announcement in an Oct. 9 letter posted on the congregation’s website. “I do not have the health and energy […]
Archbishop Chaput consecrates new bishop of Erie
ERIE, Pa. (CNS) — Live television coverage of the ordination of Bishop Lawrence T. Persico revealed a humanity that is already endearing him to the northwest Pennsylvania flock he will now shepherd as Erie’s 10th bishop. The microphone he was wearing picked up private comments he made during the nearly three-hour-long ceremony, which required a […]