ROCK ISLAND — The bricks, mortar, and stained glass of Sacred Heart Church here were replaced with gingerbread, frosting, and crushed lollipops in a tiny replica that may go a long way to help fix a boiler at the 106-year-old church. The edible edifice was a part of the Gingerbread Village at this year’s Festival […]
Continue readingFinal in a series GENESEO — United in faith and love, Darin Ries and Molly McKean are now united in marriage. They joined their lives on Nov. 8, during a Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Bradford. The daughter of Peter and Mary McKean, Molly was a lifelong member of the parish. One […]
Continue readingRating: A-I (PG) NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The canine star of a TV show (voice of John Travolta), raised to believe he has superpowers and that the program on which he continually […]
Continue readingRating: A-III (PG-13) Routine comedy in which an airport shutdown ruins an unmarried couple’s (Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) usual Christmas getaway, forcing them instead to spend the holiday visiting each of their divorced parents (Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek and Jon Voight). Despite the innovative casting of dramatic actors in comic roles, documentarian […]
Continue readingRating: O (R) A carefree salesman (Seann William Scott) and his caustic partner (Paul Rudd), sentenced to community service, ineptly mentor a tough-talking fifth-grader (Bobb’e J. Thompson) and a socially awkward teen (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Despite a redemptive story line and some solid performances, director and co-writer David Wain’s buddy comedy — which also features Jane […]
Continue readingRating: A-II (PG-13) NEW YORK (CNS) — The following is a capsule review of a movie recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Gothic romance about a self-possessed high school student (Kristen Stewart) who moves to Washington state to live with her divorced father (Billy Burke) […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican said the current market crisis calls for a new international agreement to effectively monitor global financial operations and give poorer countries a greater voice in economic policies. In particular, steps are needed to curb the abuses of offshore financial institutions, which many see as one of the causes of […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christian martyrdom is the fullest expression of human freedom and reflects the supreme act of love, said a top Vatican official at a Mass beatifying 188 Japanese martyrs. “It is not the punishment or the torture that creates a martyr,” but rather the fact the person suffered and died for Christ, […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican newspaper said the musical compositions of the Beatles were far more creative than the “standardized and stereotyped” pop music of today. The Beatles’ songs have demonstrated “remarkable staying power, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians,” it said. The newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published […]
Continue readingDescribing what tradition recalls as the first Thanksgiving festival nearly 400 years ago with their helpful Indian friends at Plymouth Plantation, Pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote that “although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God we are . . . far from want.” […]
Continue reading
