Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
(USCCB) The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe approved over $4.8 million in funding for 206 projects in 22 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.Projects approved for funding include: * The Don Bosco Center for Education in Albania, founded 21 years ago, provides cultural, social, and academic resources to over 1,000 children from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds. The center provides stability and aid to the rapidly growing population of people from rural areas moving into the city to find work. The center also offers elementary, middle and high school education and has a vocational training center, a youth center, and a day care center. The grant will assist with necessary updates to the building to welcome more children and provide a safe environment for them. * A grant to support seven priests, five hieromonks, and eight religious sisters that serve the parishes near the war zone in Eas...
Young Catholics from Sri Lanka will not be able to participate in next week’s Asian Youth Day celebrations in Indonesia due to financial strains. Father Malcolm Perera, National Chaplain for Catholic Youth Federation said on Thursday that several dioceses have informed him they were unable to send delegations as they could not cover the cost. Over 2000 young people from 21 Asian countries are expected to attend the Aug. 2-6 celebration in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, which has as its theme, "Joyful Asian Youth Living the Gospel in Multicultural Asia." But before gathering in Yogyakarta, participants will first spend “Days in Dioceses” (DID) in 11 of Indonesia’s 37 dioceses, July 30-August 2. "Sri Lanka has not been able to send young people to Asian church events for several years," said Father Perera who was appointed to the post recently. "We will not attend this time but we will strive to ...
(Vatican Radio) The relics of the 4th century saint Nicholas of Myra return to Italy on Friday after spending over two months in Moscow and St Petersburg.The relics, which have been preserved in the Italian city of Bari since 1087, were taken to Russia on May 21st and have been venerated by an estimated two million Orthodox pilgrims since then.Philippa Hitchen takes a closer look at the ecumenical significance of this event.Listen: Saint Nicholas, from Myra in modern day Turkey, is a popular figure in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. He’s the patron saint of several countries and cities besides Bari, but is best known as the benefactor who gave gold coins to be used as dowries for the daughters of a poor man who feared they would be sold into slavery if they couldn't marry. The coins, which were found inside the girls’ stockings, gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus or Father Christmas.Orthodox pilgrims queue for hoursBut a wealth of other stor...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Michael Roytek, courtesy Boy Scouts of AmericaBy GLEN JEAN, W.Va. (CNS) -- Scoutingdevelops generosity, service and fraternity, which are all values "ourworld sorely needs," the papal nuncio told Catholic Scouts gathered for aJuly 23 Mass during the annual Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree."These values are the antidoteto the selfishness and individualism of our society," ArchbishopChristophe Pierre said in his homily. "Scouting also encourages you towork together as a team, to share adventures, and to have a greater vision oflife and creation."The archbishop was the principalcelebrant of the outdoor Mass celebrated in Glen Jean at the Summit Betchel Reservein theNew River Gorge area of West Virginia. The July 19-28 jamboree drew25,000 Scouts and troop leaders from around the country; about 7,500 attendedthe Mass.Concelebrants included twoofficials of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, both of whom areEagle Scouts: Msgr. John J.M. Foster, vicar ge...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Carlos Garcias, ReutersBy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Days before a referendum to elect a constituent assembly torewrite Venezuela's constitution, leaders of the country's bishops' conferencesaid the referendum is illegal and will only increase the suffering of thepeople.The July 30 referendum is "unconstitutional as well asunnecessary, inconvenient and damaging to the Venezuelan people," membersof the presiding council of the bishops' conference said in a statementreleased July 27. "It will be a biased and skewed instrument that willnot resolve but rather aggravate the acute problems of the high cost of living and the lack of food andmedicine that the people suffer and will worsen the political crisis wecurrently suffer," the statement said. Tensions have steadily increased under the government ofPresident Nicolas Maduro who continued to tighten his grip on power despitenationwide outrage against his administration of the country's crumbling economy....
IMAGE: CNS photo/Sashenka Gutierrez, EPABy David AgrenMEXICOCITY (CNS) -- An anarchist group calling itself "Informal FeministCommando of Anti-Authoritarian Action Coatlicue" has claimed credit for detonatingan explosive device outside the Mexican bishops' conference offices.Thegroup said via an online posting in late July: "Not God nor master. Foreach torture and murder in the name of your God. For every child abused bypedophile priests." Littleis known about the group, though it is believed to detonated a similar deviceMarch 17, Mexican media reported. Coatlicue is an Aztec goddess known as themother of gods.Thegroup also claimed the device at the bishops' office was made with dynamite,butane and propane. The Mexico City attorney general's office said in astatement the device was made with a fire extinguisher, gunpowder, adhesivetape and a wick. It also said it was turning over the case to the federalattorney general's office as the attack was on "a building administered bya relig...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Aaron P. Bernstein, ReutersBy WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Afterthe Senate Republicans failed to get enough votes to pass a "skinny"repeal to remove parts of the Affordable Care Act in the early hours of July28, a U.S. bishop said the "task of reforming the health care system stillremains."The nation's system underthe Affordable Care Act "is not financially sustainable" and"lacks full Hyde protections and conscience rights," said BishopFrank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.It also "isinaccessible to many immigrants," he said in a statement."Inaction willresult in harm for too many people," Bishop Dewane added.The failed repeal billwas a pared-down version of earlier bills. It would have repealed both theindividual mandate that says all Americans must buy health insurance or pay apenalty and the requirement all large employers offer health insurance to theirworkers. It would ...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy revved up this spring after a weak start to the year, fueled by a surge in consumer spending. But the growth spurt still fell short of the optimistic goals President Donald Trump hopes to achieve through tax cuts and regulatory relief....
BOSTON (AP) -- A notorious figure in Boston's Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal was quietly released from prison Friday morning after completing a 12-year sentence for the rape of a boy in the 1980s....
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque ended peacefully on Friday amid two weeks of unrest over security at a major holy site in Jerusalem, Israeli police said, but violence flared in the West Bank, where a Palestinian was killed after he attacked soldiers and another died in clashes along Gaza's border with Israel....
