News
Pope invites people to rediscover importance of Sunday liturgy
Pope Francis is encouraging new courses of action for parishes to help people understand the importance of Sunday Mass, a top Vatican official wrote, adding that in Italy the pandemic's restrictions on Masses were "an alarming indication of the advanced stage of an epochal change."
Pope accepts resignation of outspoken Spanish bishop
Bishop Xavier Novell Gomà, 52 and one of Spain's youngest bishops, offered his resignation and Pope Francis accepted. The bishop had backed independence for Spain's Catalan region, in opposition to a key Spanish cardinal.
Vatican orders Polish archbishop to life of prayer, penance
Public sanctions and a financial penalty on Archbishop Marian Golebiewski, 83, came after a Vatican investigation looked into negligence in handling allegations of abuse against minors by priests under his authority in two dioceses over 17 years.
Local Rice Bowl campaign rebounds 65% amid year two of pandemic
Catholic Relief Services' annual collection has raised more than $354,000 in the Philadelphia Archdiocese so far -- and those funds are urgently needed at home and across the world, said area director Anne Ayella.
Face masks make comeback at Mass as COVID variant surges
The rising spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus is leading U.S. church leaders to strongly encourage or even require Massgoers to use facial coverings. Dioceses are also reporting a rise in Mass attendance.
Arlington Diocese explains teaching on human person, transgenderism
In offering a new catechetical document, Bishop Michael Burbidge said it was the church's "sacred duty" to teach on gender ideology in response to a rise in families reporting gender dysphoria.
Faith leaders raise concerns over online censorship
YouTube's blocking of a theologian's talk on the Christian view of sex as a "content violation" raises concerns that "religious speech is being censored online," said San Francisco's archbishop and Focus on the Family's president.
Indiana Catholic hospitals set timelines for worker-required vaccinations
As the delta variant of COVID-19 has led to a dramatic surge in infections across the country, more Catholic health care providers across the nation are requiring vaccinations.
Young adult ministries help next generation connect, share faith
Parish-based, regional and national outreaches are ready to engage the next generation of believers in the five-county area, with the help of two archdiocesan offices.
British Museum exhibit on St. Thomas Becket gives sympathetic look at past
On the 850th anniversary of the saint's martyrdom, record crowds in London are seeing the exhibition's warm evocation of the country's Catholic past and reconstruction of the centrality of faith. "The anti-Catholicism long embedded here is dissipating now," said a historian.