News
Religion teachers reflect on vocation to hand on the faith to children
Catechists and Parish Religious Education Program (P.R.E.P.) teachers from across the Archdiocese came together on March 10 at Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor for the 23rd annual Catechist Convocation. The yearly faith formation event was cosponsored by the Office for Catechetical Formation and the Archdiocesan Association of Parish Directors, Coordinators and Administrators of […]
Priests trial continues, marked by tension, tears
A young man took the stand this week for two days and repeated numerous times that he had been allegedly abused by Father James J. Brennan, one of two priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on trial in the landmark case. At turns both emotional in his testimony on April 4 and combative with Father […]
Emotional moment: Havana seminarians had chance to meet pope
HAVANA (CNS) — Kenny Fernandez Delgado was 13 when Blessed John Paul II came to the tropical Cuban capital. His remembers little about the 1998 event other than arriving late for the Mass at Revolution Square with his mother and a brother. Today, Fernandez is in his first year of theology studies at the new […]
First week of priests’ trial examines patterns of administrative actions
Prosecutors in the landmark trial of two priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia this week portrayed through witnesses an apparent longstanding pattern of archdiocesan officials failing to inform parishioners or parish pastors about priests assigned to their parish who had been accused of sexual misconduct or sexual abuse of children. The court examined cases of priests previously mentioned in the grand jury reports of 2005 or 2011, including Fathers Francis X. Trauger, Raymond O. Leneweaver, Albert T. Kostelnick and Michael G. Murtha. Only the latter involved actions from 1995 onward. The others involved incidents from the late 1960s until 1991.
Day of prayer and fasting to be observed today
Catholics from parishes throughout the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia will join in spiritual union with their brothers and sisters throughout the state to preserve their religious liberty March 30. In a letter issued earlier this month through the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC), all of the Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania called on the faithful throughout the […]
Pope asks Castro for more church freedom, Good Friday holiday
HAVANA (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI spent more than 40 minutes meeting privately with Cuban President Raul Castro and asked the Cuban leader for further freedoms for the Catholic Church in Cuba and attention to certain “humanitarian” situations. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters late March 27 that Cuban President Raul Castro […]
Landmark clergy sex abuse trial begins in Philadelphia
State prosecutors and defense lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn and Father James J. Brennan all decried the issue of sexual abuse of children at the start of a criminal trial March 26 in Philadelphia. Despite that apparent agreement, the attorneys embarked on sharply divergent paths as they made opening arguments before presiding Judge Teresa […]
Archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools resigns
With great reluctance, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announces that it has accepted the resignation of Mary E. Rochford, Superintendent of Schools. Her decision was made in order to devote time to providing physical care for members of her family unable to do so on their own. Rochford said, “It has been my privilege to serve […]
Pope bids warm farewell to Mexico, heads to Cuba
SILAO, Mexico (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI bade Mexico a warm “adios,” emphasizing he meant, “Remain with God,” concluding a trip marked by outpourings of faith and affection from people in the world’s second-most populous Catholic country. “I leave full of unforgettable experiences, not the least of which are the innumerable courtesies and signs of […]
Rally for Religious Freedom held at Independence Hall
As one of approximately 140 such demonstrations around the country, on March 23 a throng of about 800 gathered for a noonday rally at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the birthplace of American liberty, to protest what they firmly believe is an infringement on their freedom of religion – the new requirement imposed by the Obama administration […]