Menlo Park, Calif., Sep 19, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- People need to learn how to argue better on the internet, especially about religion, Catholic media personality and Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron said in remarks at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters.
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Washington D.C., Sep 19, 2017 CNA.- Have compassion and empathy: especially for those dealing with struggles which are different than yours. This is the message Dan Mattson hopes all believers will take from his book, which encourages a new sense of compassion for those who have same-sex attractions.
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ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- When Francis "FX" Giaccio began his lawn-mowing business in May, the 11-year-old saw beyond the possibility of making enough money to buy a Lego set or a new phone. He saw an opportunity.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- How Protestants regarded Martin Luther has evolved as the Reformation he engendered has likewise evolved, according to German Catholic theologian Father Peter Neuner. "To us Luther is not only a historic person, but also a product of interested memory," Father Neuner said in a Sept. 15 address delivered on his behalf at during Georgetown University's conference on "1517-2017: Lutherans and Catholics, Then and Now."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A U.S. bishop vigorously defended Jesuit Father James Martin when a prominent U.S. seminary canceled an invitation it had extended to the well-known author, who was to speak about Jesus at an October event, after fringe groups unhappy with the priest's recent book about the church and the gay community mounted a series of attacks.
Read moreBOSTON (CNS) -- Boston College said Sept. 18 that four of its university students studying abroad who were victims of an acid attack a day earlier in Marseille, France, were doing well. The female students, all juniors, plan to remain in Europe for their studies and offered forgiveness to the woman who sprayed them with an acid solution outside of the Saint-Charles train station in Marseille, according to a statement posted on the university's website.
Read moreWASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Washington-based Judicial Crisis Network Sept. 15 launched a 10-day digital ad campaign objecting to a U.S. Democratic senator grilling a Catholic judicial nominee Sept. 6 about what impact her faith would have on her interpretation of the law.
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KEY WEST, Fla. (CNS) -- Robert Wright, principal of the Basilica School of St. Mary Star of the Sea in Key West, reluctantly left town before Hurricane Irma made its historic landfall, knowing it wouldn't be easy getting back to Florida's southernmost tip later on.
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Washington D.C., Sep 16, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- Fr. James Martin, S.J., an editor at America magazine, has been disinvited from speaking at the Theological College, a seminary affiliated with the Catholic University of America, following pressure from online-based groups.
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Detroit, Mich., Sep 15, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- A Michigan mother with a lethal form of brain cancer who declined treatment in order to save her unborn child has died, a few days after her sixth child was born.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After campaigning on a promise that he'd get rid of a program that helps a group of young migrants without documents remain in the country, President Donald Trump is working with Democrats to find a way to help the young migrants stay.
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Washington D.C., Sep 14, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- After a Democratic senator boasted on Wednesday that his party’s Medicare bill would repeal the Hyde Amendment, pro-life groups are pushing back, stressing that the longstanding policy has saved lives.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- She inspired many when she rolled up the sleeves of her habit to clean up after Hurricane Irma with a chainsaw. After the local police department posted a video Sept. 12 on Twitter of Carmelite Sister Margaret Ann Laechelin trimming branches off a fallen tree with a chainsaw, she became an instant hit and a symbol of sorts for the hurricane-ravaged Miami area.
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Washington D.C., Sep 13, 2017 CNA.- Catholic moral theologians have responded to Steve Bannon's accusation that the U.S. bishops are economically motivated in their stance on immigration, calling the former White House chief strategist “rash” in his take on the issue.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Carmelite Sister Margaret Ann Laechelin saw a motorist struggling to navigate a road obstructed by a fallen tree and worried for the safety of others.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' Executive Committee Sept. 12 prayed for "the safety and care of human life" after two catastrophic hurricanes and urged Catholics around the country to offer their prayers as well as financial support and volunteer help as they can.
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (CNS) -- When former White House strategist Steve Bannon criticized the Catholic Church and the U.S. bishops for their views on immigration, he resurrected widespread 19th-century anti-Catholic nativist charges against the church and immigrants to the United States.
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IMMOKALEE, Fla. (CNS) -- Peter Routsis-Arroyo, the CEO of the Diocese of Venice's Catholic Charities, said Hurricane Irma has brought normal life to a standstill in the entire Southwest Florida region.
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Washington D.C., Sep 12, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- A Colorado baker’s fight to maintain his freedom of expression could be the most influential religious freedom decisions of the US Supreme Court in years, as the court considers the case this term.
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CAWKER CITY, Kan. (CNS) -- In the cozy rectory behind Sts. Peter and Paul Church sits Father Don McCarthy with myriad items relating to his friend, Father Stanley Rother. "It's kind of like a shrine in here," he said, looking around.
Read moreALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) -- The director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference applauded the state's highest court for unanimously determining that the state constitution does not include a fundamental right to physician-assisted suicide.
Read moreWASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake to celebrate the wedding of a same-sex couple has gained an ally in the U.S. Justice Department. In a Sept. 7 brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall wrote that the government agreed with baker Jack Phillips' argument that his cakes are a form of expression and that he cannot be compelled to use talents for something that he does not believe in.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNS) -- It took years, but Arturo and Maria Perez and their children now receive Communion at Sunday Mass as a family. For some time, the couple didn't participate in the sacraments because their marriage was not valid in the eyes of the church although they had long been civilly married.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In an interview set to air Sept. 10 on the CBS TV program "60 Minutes," former White House strategist Steve Bannon criticized the Catholic Church and U.S. bishops for their views on immigration, saying "they need illegal aliens to fill the pews."
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- If "demography is destiny," as was claimed in the 2016 presidential election, the United States could be facing some highly interesting political times ahead. The American Values Atlas, released Sept. 6 by the Public Religion Research Institute, took note of the role religion plays in shaping trends in U.S. politics. The numbers may to some seem striking, but at the same time may provide confirmation of things long suspected.
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Washington D.C., Sep 7, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- A Catholic nominee to a federal circuit court faced hostile questions about her faith from U.S. senators on Wednesday, prompting outrage from Catholic leaders.
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Providence, R.I., Sep 5, 2017 CNA.- Many Americans are justifiably outraged at the lives that will be shattered by the cancellation of DACA – but that same sentiment should extend to the unborn lives cut short by abortion, said Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I.
Read morePEORIA, Ill. (CNS) -- Catholic officials in Illinois are applauding state education funding reforms that include a scholarship tax credit program designed to provide up to $75 million a year in scholarships for qualifying students attending nonpublic schools.
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CNS) -- A postage stamp honoring Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, was issued during a ceremony at the school Sept. 1.
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SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- Catholic Charities USA presented a $2 million check Sept. 4 representing donations received to date for immediate emergency assistance for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey and its catastrophic flooding.
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Mercy Sister Rita Parks stood near the large crowd in front of the White House that was almost silenced after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced shortly after 11 a.m. on Sept. 5 that the Trump administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic church leaders, immigration officials and university presidents were swift and unanimous in their condemnation of President Donald Trump's Sept. 5 decision to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals known as DACA.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Given the Ku Klux Klan's historical animus toward Catholics, one of the most unusual stories that emanated from the aftermath of the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" march and its deadly aftermath in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the self-penned admission by a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, that he had been a member of the Klan 40 years ago, before his entry into the seminary.
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Nashville, Tenn., Sep 1, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- An Evangelical Christian coalition’s statement on marriage, sexuality, and gender identity is “largely consonant” with Catholic thought, according to one commentator.
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Chicago, Ill., Aug 31, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- On Sept. 5, Saint Mark's Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago will receive a first class relic of Saint Teresa of Calcutta for public veneration, which will then be permanently kept in the church.
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New York City, N.Y., Sep 1, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- Catholic outreach to LGBT individuals must always include the truth about Catholic teaching and chastity, Cardinal Robert Sarah said in an article responding to Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin.
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Los Angeles, Calif. (CNA) -- President Donald Trump's promise to treat undocumented minors with "great heart" needs to be reflected in policy that gives them legal protection, not deportation, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles has said.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic agency leaders and the bishop who chairs the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration strongly urged President Donald Trump to continue the federal program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA.
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Washington D.C., Aug 31, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- Inside a Greek Orthodox Cathedral in the middle of Washington, D.C., self-described “geeks” decorated the meeting hall to look like the “Lantern Waste” of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
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WICHITA, Kan. (CNS) -- Sister Marita Rother really didn't get to know her brother, Father Stanley Rother, as a priest until she visited him in Guatemala in the 1970s. She was at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ convent in Wichita when he left to study for the priesthood.
Read moreWASHINGTON (CNS) -- Frustrated by federal court inaction and the Department of Justice blocking the way, the Catholic Benefits Association has called on President Trump to intervene directly in the legal battle over the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate.
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HOUSTON (CNS) -- The 200-home community of McDade Estates down the road from Sacred Heart Parish had just hours to evacuate Aug. 27. City officials knocked door-to-door, alerting residents to escape to higher ground.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "Excessive inequality" threatens cooperation among all people in society "and the social pact it supports," said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, in the U.S. bishops' annual Labor Day statement.
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ATLANTA (CNS) -- Perseverance has been Grant Aasen's longtime ally. In recovering from a life-threatening injury, walking on to the Georgia Tech football team as a punter, and discerning the priesthood, Aasen has demonstrated a desire to succeed.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Several organizations have established emergency relief operations for the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Harvey and the floods in Texas and Louisiana. Contributions can be made to:
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked bishops across the country to consider a special collection to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast.
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WHEELING, W.Va. (CNS) -- Catholic Charities West Virginia and parish communities in the state have worked to help provide refugees with a fresh start in a new country. Pa Tin, 42, his wife Biak Hlei Iang, 34, and their children -- 8-year-old Rebecca Rem Chin Par and Van Dawt Sung, who is almost 3 -- are happily living in Ranson in the Eastern Panhandle. They are among the newcomers the agency has assisted as they adjust to a new life.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Adorers of the Blood of Christ and other landowners in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, have lost their court case to keep a natural gas pipeline from being built on their property.
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HOUSTON (CNS) -- With floodwater as high as 20 feet from swelling bayous and waterways, thousands of homes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston flooded as Tropical Storm Harvey continued to batter southeast Texas Aug. 28.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic dioceses and charities are quickly organizing to help in the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall with heavy rains and winds of 130 miles per hour late Aug. 25 into the Rockport, Texas area, northeast of Corpus Christi. The National Weather Service said in a tweet Aug. 27 that the rainfall expected after the hurricane and storm are over "are beyond anything experienced before."
The hurricane, named Harvey, is said to be the strongest one to hit the United States in more than a decade and perhaps the strongest one to make landfall in Texas.
Charleston, S.C., Aug 27, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- In an executive order issued Aug. 25, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster directed state agencies to stop funding abortion clinics including Planned Parenthood.
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Washington D.C., Aug 27, 2017 CNA/EWTN News.- The damage done by Hurricane Harvey is a cause for prayer and preparation to help the storm’s victims, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has said.
Read moreBROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) -- Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn is forming a new commission to study the effects of racism in the Catholic Church and on the Brooklyn Diocese. He made the announcement Aug. 24 at a specially called Mass for Solidarity and Peace to counter recent display of racism in demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholics in Oklahoma have been preparing for a long time for this moment. Many, like Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, had faith it would come, but there's still a sense of awe, to think that a farm boy, one of their own, is about to take a step toward official sainthood.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Saying there is an "urgent need" to address "the sin of racism" in the country and find solutions to it, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has established a new Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and named one of the country's African-American Catholic bishops to chair it.
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ASSUMPTION, Ill. (CNS) -- More than 46 years after he was shot down and killed over Cambodia, U.S. Air Force Reserve Capt. Joseph S. Smith has finally been laid to rest in St. Mary Cemetery in Assumption.
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