by Father James H. Sweeney This April, I celebrated my 32nd year as a priest. I’ve spent the vast majority of that time in inner-city or poor neighborhoods – South Brooklyn, pre-hipster Williamsburg and Brownsville-East New York. The description “poor” has to do with the economic reality of those neighborhoods. It is not a reflection […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Be joyous, authentic and loving while resisting fly-by-night commitments, catty gossip and sleek cars, Pope Francis told future priests, brothers and nuns. Vocations don’t come from catchy campaigns or pursuing personal goals; the consecrated life is the result of prayer and answering an “unsettling” yet loving invitation from […]
by Barbara J. Fraser LAMAS, Peru (CNS) – Conflicts over natural resources and land rights in places like Peru and Colombia echo similar problems in the U.S., said U.S. bishops who visited the two countries in late June. “We came to express solidarity with the church in Peru and Colombia, that we are one family […]
MISSOULA, Mont. (CNS) – A federal district court judge ruled June 24 that the statue of Jesus erected on federal land at Big Mountain in Montana can stay where it is. “Leasing public land within a private ski resort to a private organization that maintains a statue of Jesus does not violate the Establishment Clause” […]
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican Television Center has acquired and can distribute hundreds of hours of television images of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires from 2005 until his election as Pope Francis in March. The images were filmed by Canal 21, the television station owned by the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires; the […]
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said the desire to be a father is ingrained in all men, even priests, who are called to give spiritual life, care and protection to others. “Something is wrong” if a man does not have the drive to be paternal, “something is missing in this man,” the pope said […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation was “a great example” of what it means to follow one’s conscience through prayer, Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address June 30 to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Following one’s conscience doesn’t mean chasing after one’s own self-interests; it calls for […]
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The director and the deputy director of the Vatican bank, which is being investigated by a special papal commission, resigned July 1. A statement from the Vatican press office said Director Paolo Cipriani and Massimo Tulli, deputy director, offered their resignations “in the best interest of the institute […]
Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) has decided to name its newest project in Haiti for the late Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan, who died last month. Cotes-de-Fer, Haiti, will be the first site for the implementation of CHAMPS, Children And Mothers Partnerships, and has received a $2 million challenge grant for the building in […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will visit a tiny Italian island to greet refugees and immigrants, pray for those who have lost their lives at sea and call for greater solidarity. The Vatican said Pope Francis was “deeply affected” by a recent tragedy in mid-June in which at least seven people […]
