Girl Scout Troop 4121 from Glendale has three new Gold Scouts: Kristen O’Sullivan, Victoria Santos and Rachael Malken. The three parishioners from Sacred Heart, Glendale, received the highest and most prestigious award that young women can earn in Girl Scouting. In order to qualify, a scout must design and complete an 80-hour take-action […]
Author: settinger
Christmas Can Remove Blind Spots
by Father Robert Lauder Seventh in a series TEACHING PHILOSOPHY at St. John’s University, Jamaica, one of my tasks is helping students see reality objectively, seeing the way things really are. Not an easy task for students or indeed for anyone. I suspect that all of us have blind spots — some easy to overcome, others […]
The Year That Was
The 2,012th year of the Common Era draws to a close as editorialists dutifully rise (or fall) to the urge to become chronologers and critics of all that transpired therein. Readers and writers of Catholic news services are not removed from that world, even if we strive to be not of it. If granted the […]
Abstaining from Meat Can Be Transforming
By Father Frank Mann First in a series A current discipline in the Roman Church is for Catholics to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays in Lent and Good Friday. But Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York would like to make the “no meat on Fridays” a year-round regulation. At their recent […]
Angels of Newtown – Pope Prays Over ‘Senseless Violence’
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – After 20 children and six adults were shot dead in Connecticut, Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences and prayers, urging all to dedicate themselves to acts of peace in the face of such “senseless violence.” After reciting the Angelus Dec. 17, the pope, speaking in English, said he […]
O Christmas Tree! – St. Peter’s Square Is Bright with the Colors of the Season
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christmas in St. Peter’s Square this year has a particularly southern Italian flavor with a towering tree from the Molise region and a Nativity scene donated by the Basilicata region. Jesus, Mary and Joseph will be nestled in an artistic re-creation of the picturesque rocky setting of Matera’s […]
Pope’s First Tweet Bestows a Blessing
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI launched his very own Twitter account, sending a short inaugural message to his more than 1 million followers. “Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart,” […]
Vatican Accepts Donation of a Nativity Scene
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Oil giants such as Total and Shell and other companies operating in southern Italy’s petroleum-rich Basilicata region footed the expenses for this year’s Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. The regional government offered to donate to the Vatican a 1,615-square-foot artistic representation of Christ’s birth, resulting in “very significant savings” for […]
Latin Mass Is Set for St. James Cathedral
A bishop and scholar who is famous in Catholic circles for his outspoken defense of traditional religious customs will make a visit to the New York metropolitan area during the Feast of the Epiphany on the weekend of Jan. 6. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C., auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, will celebrate three pontifical liturgies, including […]
Prayer Unites Newtown Community
NEWTOWN, Conn. (CNS) – Msgr. Robert Weiss, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, was at Sandy Hook Elementary School almost immediately after the horrific shooting Dec. 14. When the enormity of the tragedy began to unfold, other priests, chaplains and Catholic Charities personnel “were on the ground,” Brian Wallace, diocesan director of […]