by Carol Zimmermann and Katie Talalas WASHINGTON (CNS) – The polar vortex couldn’t chill the ardor of thousands of participants who demonstrated their determination to continue speaking out against abortion at the annual March for Life and rally Jan. 22 in Washington, D.C. Temperatures went briefly into double digits but hovered around 8 degrees. At […]
by Patricia Zapor WASHINGTON (CNS) – Supreme Court justices Jan. 15 pressed attorneys about when it is constitutional to prohibit certain kinds of speech in a case over buffer zones around abortion clinics. In oral arguments in a case over a 35-foot buffer zone around Massachusetts Planned Parenthood clinics, the attorney for people who want […]
Bus transportation will be available from various points around the diocese to Washington, D.C., for the national March for Life next Wednesday, Jan. 22. Buses are leaving from the following sites. Call to reserve your seat in advance. B.V.M. Help of Christians (St. Mary’s Winfield), Woodside — Bus leaves after 5:30 a.m. Mass. Call Kevin and […]
by Tom Tracy WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CNS) – In the midst of their New Year’s Eve celebration with low-income elderly residents, the Baltimore-based Little Sisters of the Poor learned that the Supreme Court issued an injunction temporarily protecting them from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. The order by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, issued within […]
by Sam Lucero NEW LONDON, Wis. (CNS) – Every Christmas season, Verna Bechard’s home is transformed into a gallery of Nativity sets. Scenes of the first Christmas in Bethlehem fill nearly every curio cabinet, coffee table, mantel, window sill, hutch and cupboard in her spacious New London home. Today the collection of Nativity sets numbers […]
The evening after the assailant killed himself, his mother and 20 children and six adults in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the local pastor spoke about love. Thousands of people, including the governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. senators, unexpectedly showed up for Mass at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14, […]
by Carol Zimmerman WASHINGTON (CNS) – When fast-food workers across the country walked off their jobs demanding higher wages Dec. 5, their actions should have caught the attention of the nation’s Catholics, say those who stress that the call for a living wage echoes long-standing Catholic social teaching. Christine Firer Hinze, who is a theology […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The head of the Focolare movement formally requested the opening of a diocesan inquiry into the life and holiness of the movement’s founder, Chiara Lubich. Maria Voce, president of Focolare, presented the request to Bishop Raffaello Martinelli of Frascati, on Dec. 7 – the anniversary of the movement’s […]
by Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) – The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Dec. 6 called a lawsuit filed against the USCCB over its directives for Catholic health care “baseless” and “misguided.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Michigan filed the suit in U.S. District Court Nov. 29. […]
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The interim multilateral accord that could put the brakes on Iran’s nuclear development program is a steppingstone for a long-range deal that “enhances genuine peace in the region,” according to Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. In a letter […]
