WASHINGTON (CNS) — With a roomful of theologians, college professors and presidents, political activists, leaders of various church organizations, and family and longtime friends looking on, Catholic theologian Miguel Diaz was sworn in as ambassador to the Vatican Aug. 21. In a brief, invitation-only ceremony in the ornate Benjamin Franklin room at the State Department, […]
Continue readingNEW ORLEANS (CNS) — As a native New Orleanian, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond had walked through the front doors of venerable St. Louis Cathedral hundreds of times as a seminarian, priest and auxiliary bishop. But as applause erupted inside a packed cathedral Aug. 20, he suddenly realized he was walking not only into the cathedral […]
Continue readingBEIJING (CNS) — The Catholic Diocese of Beijing has run its first training course for lay catechists, introducing them to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other reference books to help them with lesson plans. The 10-day intensive course in late July attracted more than 120 laypeople from more than 20 parishes, reported the […]
Continue readingPHOENIX (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called upon the Knights of Columbus Aug. 5 to bear witness to the necessity of God in an increasingly secular America. “Our nation has been blessed with many gifts and resources, and at times that abundance […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Judge Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, after the Senate confirmed her appointment Aug. 6 by a 68-31 vote. Sotomayor, 55, will be the sixth Catholic on the nine-member court, the most ever at one time. She was scheduled to be sworn in Aug. 8. A New […]
Continue readingNAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) — Nairobi Cardinal John Njue has lifted a suspension he had imposed on the activities of the Catholic charismatic renewal movement in his archdiocese. The cardinal made the announcement July 31 after a special meeting with the members of the movement at Nairobi’s Holy Family Basilica. Cardinal Njue, who suspended the movement’s […]
Continue readingBOSTON (CNS) — New billboards featuring the Eucharist displayed in a monstrance aim to get the word out about the return of perpetual adoration to Boston after a 40-year absence. The two giant signboards tower over the streets in two Boston communities, Brighton and East Boston. The words under the image read “The Son’s rays […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic theologian Miguel Diaz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Aug. 4 as the ninth U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. A professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., Diaz is the first Hispanic to serve in the post. Diaz […]
Continue readingWASHINGTON (CNS) — Thousands of Catholics marched on Vietnamese streets July 26 to protest the beating of two Catholic priests and the detainment of seven Catholics after a violent police raid at a disputed church site. In a series of coordinated marches throughout the Vinh Diocese, about 500,000 people gathered to demand the release of […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Vatican concerns about how some recent decisions of the U.S. Episcopal Church will impact the search for full Anglican-Roman Catholic unity are echoed in a reflection by Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Communion. Writing July 27 about the Episcopal Church’s recent general convention, Archbishop Williams […]
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