VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with nearly 10,000 priests from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI expressed the church’s gratitude for their ministry and encouraged them to resist secularizing influences. At a vigil in St. Peter’s Square June 10 at the end of the Year for Priests, the pope said the clergy shortage cannot be […]
Continue readingCHICAGO (CNS) — Dialogue should neither demean nor demonize those with whom one disagrees, Bishop Michael W. Warfel of Great Falls-Billings, Mont., said in the annual Murnion lecture sponsored by the Catholic Common Ground Initiative. The bishop spoke June 4 at the Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. John J. McIntyre, secretary to Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, as an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia. The pope accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Maginnis, who has been a Philadelphia auxiliary since 1996. The changes were announced in Washington June 8 by Archbishop Pietro […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — When Katie Odette Washington of Gary, Ind., took the stage May 16 as what is believed to be the University of Notre Dame’s first black valedictorian, she told her fellow graduates to step outside of their comfort zone and challenge the conventional to make their imprint on the world. In an address […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — An estimated 120,000 people converged on St. Peter’s Square to express support for Pope Benedict XVI in dealing with the clerical sexual abuse scandal. Thanking the crowd for their presence and affection May 16, Pope Benedict said, “The true enemy to fear is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Fifty years ago this May, the Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for the use of a combination of the hormones progesterone and estrogen that the pharmaceutical company Searle said would prevent pregnancy 99.7 percent of the time. Known simply as “the pill,” it was a development that was heralded as […]
Continue readingEvangelization is a word that Catholics sometimes have trouble wrapping their minds around and putting into practice. But several times during his visit to Portugal May 11-14, Pope Benedict XVI prodded Catholics in plain language about the need to share their love for Christ. Here is some of what he said, compiled from Catholic News […]
Continue readingAUGSBURG, Germany (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of the Augsburg Bishop Walter Mixa, who has admitted hitting children but has denied sexually abusing them. In addition, Bishop Mixa will no longer be responsible for German military personnel, the Vatican announced May 8. Just before the Vatican’s announcement, the Augsburg Diocese confirmed […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the nominee to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court, probably will face Senate confirmation hearings in late June. Kagan, 50, would be the fourth woman to sit on the court and the first justice in 38 years to reach it without first serving as a […]
Continue readingNOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) — Unlike efforts at national unity in the United States, church unity does not depend on “bringing people’s diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the uniqueness and distinctiveness of people,” Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta said May 7 at a national meeting on cultural diversity. […]
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