Everyone familiar with the story of St. Patrick knows that he was a missionary who helped introduce Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. Folks may also know about his renowned exploits such as banishing snakes from the country. What they may not know is that he was born in Great Britain and is venerated and celebrated by not only the Catholic Church but also the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church.
U.S. life has “dramatically changed” due to the yearlong pandemic, and alongside it, racial injustices and political divisions have shaken the nation, yet there is “comfort in God’s promise,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee said in a March 9 pastoral message.
As a top Democrat called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign and GOP assembly members drafted a resolution to impeach him, the governor received some support from rank-and-file Democrats in the assembly.
Attorneys for doctors and hospitals argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit March 3 that they shouldn’t be forced to perform gender-transition surgeries required under the Affordable Care Act, stressing this is an issue of conscience.
As American Catholics continue to wrangle over the morality of COVID-19 vaccines using stem cell lines remotely derived from aborted fetuses, one Filipino Dominican priest, who’s both a moral theologian and an MIT-trained molecular biologist, is pleading with them to consider the potentially dangerous global consequences of their rhetoric.
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis prayed March 7 for peace and justice in the upcoming trial of a white former city police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, an African American. He died while in police custody last May.
If it becomes law, the American Rescue Plan Act would pit the great need Americans have for economic relief in this pandemic against those who insist the bill must include abortion funding, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairmen of seven USCCB committees.
March is National Social Work Month and the theme of this year’s celebration is “Social Workers are Essential.” The theme would seem to be right on target, judging from what Karen Wilkow, a social worker with 20 years of experience has to say about her job.
“Are there any women prophets in your book?” That’s the question that stuck with Kieran Larkin, a religious studies teacher at The Mary Louis Academy, after he published his first book, “Messengers of God: A Survey of Old Testament Prophets,” in 2019. Having written about male prophets who were chosen by God to deliver messages of encouragement or condemnation — like Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah — Larkin did a deep dive into the few “prophetesses” mentioned in Scripture.
Catholic prelates in Texas and Mississippi will, for the most part, maintain COVID-19 precautions at their parishes despite recent announcements from each state’s governors that restrictions will ease.
