Pope Announces World Youth Day Themes

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) – After reviewing his trip to Madrid for World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI announced the themes he has chosen to guide the reflections of young Catholics next year on a diocesan level and in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. The 2012 theme will be, “Rejoice in the Lord Always.” The […]

Disdain for Religion Hurts Church’s Message

WASHINGTON (CNS) – “Increasing attempts to expunge God and religious discourse from public life” are contributing to a growing disrespect for the unique status of human beings, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo said in a message for Respect Life Month in October. Tthe archbishop of Galveston-Houston and chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities […]

Recent Executions Assailed By Church-Related Groups

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholics and other groups mourned the recent executions of Troy Davis in Georgia and of Lawrence Brewer in Texas. Davis, 42, was put to death for his conviction in the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah, Ga., police officer Mark MacPhail.  Brewer, 44, an admitted white supremacist, was executed for his role in […]

Ten Commandments Will Guide President

by Mwansa Pintu   Newly elected Zambian President Michael Sata, right, holds a Bible as he is sworn in at the supreme court in the capital, Lusaka, Sept. 23. Sata is Zambia’s first elected Catholic president. LUSAKA, Zambia (CNS) — Zambia’s first elected Catholic president told members of his parish he will base his rule […]

Fr. Massa to Coordinate Seminary Partnership

The Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, has announced the formalization of a new initiative of inter-diocesan partnership to share personnel resources and facilities to prepare future and present clergy, as well as other Catholic leaders, for various kinds of service in the spirit of the New […]

Parish Anniversary in S. Ozone Park

St. Teresa of Avila parish, South Ozone Park, will observe the 82nd anniversary of its founding with a multi-lingual Mass on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m.  Msgr. Paul Sanchez, Episcopal Vicar for Queens, will be the main celebrant. Following the liturgy there will be a fund-raising dinner-dance with theme, “A Night at the Opera.” […]

In New Book, Branca Talks of Faith, Family

Many people think of the American Revolution’s Battle of Lexington and Concord when they hear the “Shot Heard ’Round the World.” However, for baseball fans, the phrase takes on a completely different meaning. It refers to New York Giants’ outfielder Bobby Thomson’s three-run home run off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the […]

Liquid-Nitrogen Orphanages

A recent news report chronicled a Chinese woman named Huang Yijun. Sixty years ago, her unborn child died, but the pregnancy was never expelled from her body. Instead, her baby’s body slowly began to calcify inside her, becoming a crystallized, stone-like mass. Such stone babies (known as lithopedions) are extremely rare. When Huang was 92, […]

Father Mann

Genuine Love Is Peek into Paradise

by Father Frank Mann Imagine: you are a young boy and your father threatens to kill you during a violent rampage at home. He strips you naked, beats you with a spatula and burns both of your hands on a hot stove. With your skin freshly peeling from your hands, your dad proceeds to relentlessly […]