Student Easter Art Contest: Christ is Risen

(See text version below image.) The Tablet, in collaboration with the John Hughes Council of the Knights of Columbus, invites local youth to express their faith through art by participating in this year’s Easter art contest. Eligibility: Students, grades one to 12, residing in Brooklyn or Queens. Judging: Entries will be judged based on adherence to […]

Ukrainians Pray for Independence

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The three months of protests in Ukraine, that ended with government snipers killing dozens of people, strengthened the commitment to democracy of many Ukrainians, but also left the country vulnerable to further violence and division, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. “The danger that our neighbor (Russia) will provoke […]

Seton Trust Advances Catholic Education

Various programs in Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens are being made possible by grants from the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Trust. Three of these initiatives are: the CTB Online Reporting System, the Performing Arts Residency Program and Option C. CTB Online Reporting is an enhanced system which allows principals and teachers to analyze their […]

Venezuela – Can Church Mediate the Peace?

by Barbara J. Fraser LIMA, Peru (CNS) – As protests in Venezuela continued, with flare-ups of violence, the country’s Catholic leaders urged dialogue and respect for the demonstrators’ human rights. “We have called for the social and political leaders to engage in deep, sincere dialogue” to address the country’s serious problems, including high rates of […]

Synod Responses Show Many Are Suffering in the Church

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The responses to the Vatican questionnaire about Catholics’ family life reflect a great amount of suffering around the world, said the general secretary of the synod. As of Feb. 19, about 80 percent of the world’s bishops’ conferences and 60 percent of the Vatican congregations and councils had turned in formal […]

Divorced, Remarried on The Minds of Cardinals

by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Opening a two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals, Pope Francis said the Church’s pastoral approach to helping couples must be “intelligent, courageous and full of love” because the family today is “looked down upon and mistreated.” “Our reflection must keep before us the beauty of the family and […]

Pope Tells New Cardinals To Be Servants, Not Royalty

by Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On a feast day commemorating the authority Jesus gave to St. Peter and His successors – the popes – Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI. To the great surprise of most people present, the retired pope entered St. Peter’s […]

Queens Native Marks 70th Year in Maryknoll

Sister Helen Dorothy Phillips, M.M., photo library manager for Maryknoll Sisters and missioner-educator to Bolivia, celebrated 70 years with Maryknoll Sisters at a Mass for  Maryknoll Sisters marking 60, 70 and 75 years with the congregation on Sunday, Feb. 9, at Maryknoll Sisters Center, Ossinning, N.Y. Seven Sisters celebrated 70 years; six marked 60 years; […]

Court Rules Notre Dame Must Supply Contraceptive Coverage

CHICAGO (CNS) – The University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., must provide free coverage of contraceptives as required by the federal health care law despite its moral objections to doing so, said a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling that denied the university an injunction against enforcement of […]

Hiring Freeze at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican announced an immediate end to new hires, wage-increases and overtime in an effort to cut costs and offset budget shortfalls. Pope Francis, with input from the Vatican’s central accounting office, also determined that volunteers could be used to help provide the labor needed to make up for the hiring […]