While the Church’s engagement in the public square is often what attracts major headlines – and 2017 did not disappoint – the behind-the-scenes internal workings, and indeed controversies of the U.S. Church are equally important to remember.
National News
The Year in Review
While the campaign promises made by candidate Trump were a source of great joy to the U.S. Catholic bishops during the first few weeks of his presidency, the rest of 2017 – with a few notable exceptions – would be marked by serious tensions between the administration and the hierarchy of the U.S. Church.
Young Edmundite Priests’ Aim to Evangelize with Their YouTube Show
“The Edmundite Show” is a weekly half-hour program on YouTube presented by Vermont-based Fathers Lino Oropeza and Michael Carter, priests of the Society of St. Edmund.
Priest Commits Suicide After Charges Are Made
A priest being investigated for “excessive and questionable” communications with a minor and possible misuse of church funds committed suicide, the bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, said.
Minn. Compensation Plan Ordered Back to Mediation
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., said a bankruptcy judge’s decision that the archdiocese should return to mediation with the other involved parties “bolsters our resolve to move forward in the bankruptcy process.”
Cardinal Law’s Death Creates Delicate Tightrope Act for US Catholic Leaders
The response to Cardinal Law’s death has been nothing short of a delicate tightrope act of witnessing to both the Christian hope of resurrection in death and great mercy in light of grave sins, while also duly acknowledging the continued pain of the clergy sexual abuse crisis – the most cancerous manifestation in the Roman Catholic Church, according to some observers, since the Protestant Reformation.
FEMA Is Playing Scrooge to Hurricane-Damaged Churches
Texas churches say FEMA is giving Scrooge ‘a run for his money,’ want relief.
‘Problematic’ or ‘Prudential Judgment’? US Tax Reform Debated by Catholics
U.S. Catholic leaders debate the passage of tax reform, which was passed by congress on Wednesday and labeled by the U.S. bishops as “problematic, especially for the poor.”
Nativity Scene Display Reflects One Couple’s World View
For Roger and Marguerite Sullivan of Washington, Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year.
In Santa Claus, Ind., Parish Is Named for St. Nicholas
Belief in that iconic Christmas figure, the rotund merry man with a bag full of presents, inspires thousands of children to write letters addressed to “Santa Claus” each year.