WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced Amnesty International’s recent adoption of a policy to fight for the decriminalization of abortion around the world. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the conference, said in an Aug. 23 statement that the U.S. bishops urge Amnesty to “reconsider its error and reverse...Read More
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy – Salvation through Christ is open to all, but the way is not easy because it requires a real commitment to love and justice, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope, speaking Aug. 26 to hundreds of pilgrims at his summer residence outside Rome, said that when Christ told his disciples the gate...Read More
Before the first pitch was thrown at Oriole Park Aug. 24, a Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, student and a parishioner of St. Joseph, Taneytown, were honored during the Archdiocesan Holy Name Union Baseball Game at Camden Yards.Read More
WASHINGTON – After decades of being the behind-the-scenes – and consistently off-the-record – point man for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in lobbying on Capitol Hill, Frank Monahan seemed simultaneously tantalized by and wary at the prospect of talking openly with a reporter about the work he did for 36 years.Read More
VATICAN CITY – For the first time in a decade, summer tourists could make their way down steep stone steps deep into the dark, dank interior of a papal fortress and crawl into prison cells that housed countless common criminals as well as Rome’s errant elite. The 1,900-year-old Castel Sant’Angelo, which stands near the Tiber...Read More
CLARK, N.J. – Calling for unity among African missionaries and religious in the United States, a New Jersey pastor welcomed “those worthy ambassadors from the African soil” at the eighth annual convention of the African Conference of Catholic Clergy and Religious in the United States.Read More
As Our Lady of Pompei, Highlandtown, parishioner Paula Cisneros talked Aug. 23 about learning the English language and working to create a safer neighborhood, she noted that she and other members of the Latino group Proyecto Esperanza are not alone.Read More
The first Bishop of Mississippi recently made his final trip from Baltimore to Natchez, Miss. – 155 years after he died in Maryland. Born in Baltimore Oct. 4, 1795 to refugees of St. Domingue (now Haiti), Bishop John J. Chanche, S.S., was ordained a priest in the city in 1819, became the president of St....Read More
WASHINGTON – The Catholic Church in the western Asian nation of Kazakhstan is facing unprecedented growth spurred by the country’s burgeoning economy and an influx of foreigners working in the oil industry.Read More
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – “God is good,” Caribbean speaker Gerard Granado called out Aug. 17 during the second national convention of Caribbean Catholics of North America. “All the time,” participants answered in unison.Read More
ICA, Peru – The evening before his 12th birthday, Denis Sulca stood near the end of a line of more than 100 children, hoping for a ration of milk. Eight days earlier, Aug. 15, a magnitude 8 earthquake destroyed the adobe house where his family lived in a shantytown in this city of about 300,000...Read More
WASHINGTON – A dozen Catholic organizations have joined other religious groups in calling for U.S. leadership to increase access to safe water for the world’s people. “Water is a gift from God to be preserved and shared for the benefit of all people and the wider creation,” said the Religious Working Group on Water’s statement,...Read More