News
Ministries getting food, diapers to families during pandemic
Staff at archdiocesan social service agencies are seeing a "100% increase" in demand and a ripple effect of needs due to the coronavirus. See our list of 23 food cupboards in the region and their hours of operation.
Unity of Mass comes to Spanish-speaking Catholics at home
For 11 years in Philadelphia the Misa Televisada has been broadcast in Spanish on Univision, but a proposed fee hike placed the Mass in jeopardy. But it remains on the air because it truly is a public service.
If you can’t go to confession, take your sorrow to God, pope says
Pope Francis invited people who cannot find a priest to speak directly with the Father, tell him the truth, make an act of contrition and "draw near to God's forgiveness. Think about it. This is the moment."
Vatican says general absolution may be OK in pandemic
With the severe limits on people leaving their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, forgiveness of sins may be granted to the faithful without them personally confessing their sins first, the Vatican said.
No Mass, no offertory: Church collections take a hit
Parishes cannot function long without receiving revenue from parishioners. Dioceses that assess parishes a percentage of offertory income also would feel the pinch, as would planned national collections for church ministries.
Across Europe, shrines close in coronavirus fight
In Poland, France, Spain, Austria, Bosnia and Germany, Catholics are praying from home as priests and religious mounted "a great prayer to end" COVID-19.
Chinese diocese donates masks to Vatican, Italy, to help fight COVID-19
The Xi'an Diocese has donated 24,000 disposable medical masks to the Vatican and Italian religious communities and dioceses after the church in Italy earlier gave the same supplies to the Chinese.
Portland Archdiocese cancels Masses through Easter
Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample announced March 16 that all Masses -- including those for Holy Week and Easter -- are canceled through April 14. Oregon has banned all gatherings of more than 25 people for four weeks.
Rosary Rally for vocations still on, going all-digital, March 25
A major push to promote vocations to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia next week is moving forward, even amidst the unexpected disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Forty years after his martyrdom, St. Romero influences U.S. church
Since his martyrdom March 24, 1980, St. Oscar Romero's example and legacy of solidarity with the poor has remained a mission for the the Catholic Church in the U.S.