About 60 retired or active duty U.S. military personnel packed their uniforms, flags, wheelchairs, canes and the inevitable emotional baggage of their daily struggles to take part in a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
National News
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.
Mass of the Neophytes
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated the Mass of the Neophytes with some of the catechumens and candidates for sacraments who joined the Catholic Church this past Easter. The Mass was held Tuesday, May 6 at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn. About 250 people attended.
Heirs to Holiness
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) – Phu Nguyen, a University of Portland sophomore, is descended from a saint. Phu’s great-great-great-grandfather died for abiding by his faith. The Vatican considers the torture endured by the renowned Vietnamese martyrs among the worst in the history of Christianity. St. Matthew Nguyen Van Phuong was born in Vietnam in 1801. After his parents died, he was raised by the local priest in Quang-Binh, in the central part of the Southeast Asian nation.
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.
Local Moms Pray for Kids Around the World
“Politicians won’t change the world, mothers on their knees will,” says Marta Pope, coordinator of the Mothers In Prayer group in Queens. Every Wednesday at 10 a.m., mothers from Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, Astoria, gather to pray for children around the world. They offer the prayers in union with mothers in 118 countries who say the prayers in 40 different languages.
Bensonhurst Kept Vigil During the Canonization
For those who couldn’t quite manage a weekend sojourn to Rome for the recent canonizations of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II, St. Athanasius Church, Bensonhurst, hosted its own celebration.
Co-Cathedral Set for Dedication on May 13
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will dedicate the church and altar of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Prospect Heights, on Tuesday evening, May 13, at 7:30 p.m. The liturgy will be broadcast live on NET TV, the diocese’s 24-hour cable television channel.
‘Gimme Shelter’ Lady Says: ‘I Love My Work’
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Kathy DiFiore has spent more than half of her life as the “shelter lady,” taking vacant convents and other buildings in New Jersey and turning them into shelters for unwed pregnant women. The work of DiFiore, now 67, was made into a feature film, “Gimme Shelter.”
Pro-Abort Pols Told to Pass on Communion
ROME (CNS) – Catholic politicians and judges who support laws in conflict with Church teaching on abortion, euthanasia, marriage and related issues commit “sacrilege” and cause “grave scandal” if they receive Communion, said the U.S. cardinal who heads the Vatican’s highest court.