Cause of Archbishop Romero Is Proceeding

Pope Francis assured the bishops of El Salvador that the sainthood cause of slain Archbishop Oscar Romero was proceeding well, and the bishops asked him to come to El Salvador to preside personally over the archbishop’s hoped-for beatification.

Family Is Still Key to Human Development

Calling family “indispensable and irreplaceable” in human development, a high-ranking Vatican official called for a “renewal of family models” when he spoke at the U.N. in Manhattan earlier this month.

Pope Offers Some Frank Advice to Seminarians

Pope Francis told seminarians not to become “orphan priests,” who are motherless without Mary; “businessman priests,” who are after money; or “prince priests,” who are aloof from the people.

TV Coverage of Papal Trip

The major events of Pope Francis’ trip to the Holy Land this weekend will be shown live on NET-TV.

Harvard ‘Black Mass’ Is Called a Sacrilege

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CNS) – A Harvard University student group’s plan to conduct a satanic ritual “black mass” May 12 on campus brought a public outcry, leading to its formal cancellation and an apparently impromptu off-campus version of the event, as well as a well-attended alternative Catholic holy hour. The planned event had drawn wide criticism from religious leaders as well as students, alumni and faculty at Harvard.

Nuns’ Group Responds To Cardinal’s Criticism

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The recent rebuke of the officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) by the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office should be viewed as one part of his entire remarks and one aspect of the group’s visits and ongoing dialogue with Vatican officials, according to a statement by LCWR officers.

Vandalism in the Holy Land – Anti-Christian Graffiti Where Pope Is Scheduled to Visit

JERUSALEM (CNS) – The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem called a continuing wave of vandalism against Christian, Muslim and Druze properties a “blight on Israeli democracy” and urged authorities to step up prosecution against the perpetrators. Patriarch Fouad Twal said during a May 11 news conference in the northern city of Haifa that the attacks, which […]

Bishops Speak Out for Kidnapped Nigerian Teens

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Among the U.S. leaders speaking out for action to track down and return 276 kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria are the chairman of a Catholic bishops’ committee, the director of the Africa Faith and Justice Network and first lady Michelle Obama. Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, and Dominican Father Aniedi […]