News
50 years on, moon landing still generates a wistful sense of wonderment
When Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong gingerly stepped onto the surface of the moon July 20, 1969, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno had no idea that some day he would become the director of the Vatican Observatory.
English bishops praise ruling that mentally disabled woman can give birth
On June 24, the court overturned an earlier Court of Protection ruling that the Nigerian Catholic woman in her 20s must undergo the abortion because it was in her "best interests." The woman has the mental age of between 6 and 9 years.
Purging silence: Vatican expands abuse prevention to lay movements
While much of the church's recent focus has been on clerical sexual abuse and the accountability of diocesan bishops, the Vatican is making child protection a priority for new movements and lay associations, too.
Screening of ‘Divine Plan’ marks anniversary of pope’s 1979 Poland trip
UPDATED - White House officials marked the 40th anniversary of St. John Paul II's first pilgrimage to Poland by watching a new film about President Ronald Reagan's and the late pontiff's anti-communism efforts.
Institute helps priests, seminarians be ‘better instrument’ of God’s love
For the past 25 years, the Broom Tree Retreat Center's spiritual formation programs have helped thousands of priests and seminarians from around the United States to experience God's love and pass it on to their flocks.
As raid threats stoke fears, church leaders try to comfort immigrants
Panic had set in among immigrant communities across the U.S. bracing for roundups starting June 23 that would target families. Though deportations were delayed, President Trump threatened them again if talks over asylum failed.
Brooklyn Collars vs. Scholars game part of Catholic education celebration
A friendly softball game in the Brooklyn Diocese saw the clergy edge a team of principals and teachers of diocesan schools. It was a way to toast Catholic education, "honor our students and have a nice evening," said a priest.
Court overturns conviction of death-row inmate for jury selection bias
In the 7-2 decision June 21, the court reversed the 2010 conviction of Curtis Flowers, who had argued that the prosecutor, who is white, had prevented African Americans from serving as jurors in his case.
Without a word of English, he found friends at Christ the King
It was hard for Sebastian Buritica, 15, when he arrived in Northeast Philadelphia at age 7 from Colombia. But because so many kids accepted him as a friend, he mastered the language, the food and even snow.
Syriac Catholic bishops optimistic amid dispersion of their faithful
Faced with the migration of Christians from Syria and Iraq, Syriac Catholic bishops meeting in Lebanon for their annual synod called upon church members "scattered everywhere in the East and West" to cling to their faith with hope.