Starting the School Year off Right

At Christ the King R.H.S., Middle Village, seniors individually welcomed freshmen to help them feel at home in their new school; At Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, upperclassmen, faculty and staff welcomed the incoming Class of 2018 with a day of activities coordinated by the Office of Campus Ministry.

Never Forgetting 9/11

On Thursday, Sept. 11, Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, observed a moment of silence .

Faith Helps Rookie Ref Achieve NFL Dreams

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) – The emotion poured out of Bryan Neale when he learned that the dream he had pursued for 25 years had finally come true. The NFL informed Neale earlier this year that he had been chosen as one of the 13 new referees hired for the 2014 season.

Peruvian Artists Create

CHACAS, Peru (CNS) – Freddy Cerna is about the same height as the statue he carves from Italian Carrara marble. His backward baseball cap and buggy protective goggles are a sharp contrast to the delicate face he perfects with his carving tools. The statue of Mary, her hands folded in prayer, stares back at him.

Diocese Asks Reversal of Seal of Confession Ruling

BATON ROUGE, La. (CNS) – The Diocese of Baton Rouge has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Louisiana Supreme Court decision that a priest may be compelled to testify as to what he heard in the confessional in 2008 concerning an abuse case. The legal step is the latest in a case involving Father Jeffrey Bayhi, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Zachary, La., and the sanctity of the seal of confession.

Religious Liberty Opposition Is Getting More Aggressive

(CNS) – Religious liberty is under aggressive assault on many fronts in a culture increasingly insensitive to rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to speakers at a Sept. 15 forum in Manhattan. The program, “In the Founding Tradition,” was organized by the Alliance Defending Freedom and drew 100 people to the Union League Club.

Sistine Chapel Feeling Effect of Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The “Francis effect” has spilled over into the Sistine Chapel, bringing a surge in visitors but also increasing risks to maintenance of what Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, calls “the world’s chapel.” Prior to a 14-year restoration, completed in 1994, visitors to the chapel numbered about 1.5 million annually. That rose to more than 5 million in 2011. Since the March, 2013 election of Pope Francis, whose weekly public audiences and readings of the Angelus have boosted turnout in St. Peter’s Square, the number of chapel visitors is up to 5.5 million, or 20,000 per day and 30,000 on the last Sunday of every month, when admission is free.

It’s Official: Philadelphia To Host Family Meeting

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September, 2015 will serve as a forum for debating issues on the agenda for the world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican the following month, said the two archbishops responsible for planning the Philadelphia event.

Pope Will Address European Parliament in November

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Nov. 25.The Parliament’s president, Martin Schultz, made the announcement Sept. 11, and the Vatican immediately confirmed it.

New Pope-Saints Added To Church Calendar

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In light of “countless requests from every part of the world,” Pope Francis has approved putting SS. John Paul II and John XXIII on the Church’s universal calendar of feast days. Called the General Roman Calendar, it is the universal schedule of holy days and feast days for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.