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 […]
National News
Jackpot of Nativity Sets – 193 Sets Later, First Two Are Still Most Precious
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 […]
One Year Later, Newtown Struggles to Find Peace
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, […]
A Living Wage – Calls to Hike Minimum Wage Echo Catholic Social Teaching
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 […]
Focolare Movement Promotes Founder’s Sainthood Cause
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 […]
ACLU’s Suit Against Bishops Seen as ‘Baseless’
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. […]
US Bishops Applaud Deal With Iran
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 […]
ACLU Sues US Bishops
DETROIT (CNS) – Lawyers for a woman who claims she suffered a miscarriage because of the way a Michigan Catholic hospital handled her case have filed suit on her behalf against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) over its “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care.” The lawsuit was filed Nov. 29 in […]
HHS Mandate Threatens Church Ministry to Poor
By Sean Gallagher NEW ALBANY, Ind. (CNS) – Defending the religious rights of the Catholic Church against the government’s contraceptive mandate is tied to the Church’s ministry to those in need, Baltimore’s archbishop told a New Albany audience Nov. 29. The Church’s worship life and its faith-driven ministries to the poor and others cannot be […]
Congressman Deplores Move of Embassy
A Brooklyn Congressman has criticized the Obama Administration for its plan to close the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See and to consolidate it into the larger embassy in Italy. Rep. Michael Grimm, who represents parts of Bay Ridge and all of Staten Island, said that “The Obama Administration’s plan to close the Vatican Embassy […]