President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House Nov. 13 for an Oval Office visit, a ritual part of the U.S. tradition of a peaceful transfer of power between presidents, and one that Trump declined four years earlier.
National News
Jazz Pianist’s Long, Winding Road Brought Her to the Faith
During a trip to Europe in 1953, accomplished 20th-century jazz pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams was exhausted,
emotionally drained, and facing financial peril when a friend took her to a small church in France where she began to pray.
As Deanna Witkowski explains in her 2021 biography of Williams, titled “Music for the Soul,” that’s where the musician’s spiritual journey and conversion to Catholicism began.
On Presidential Election Result, American Bishops Emphasize Longtime Pastoral Priorities
Commenting on the election of former President Donald Trump to serve a second term, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington offered a reminder that no matter who occupies the White House, the Church’s advocacy and priorities will not change.
Nuncio, USCCB President Reflect on Eucharistic Congress, Synodality, Duty to Proclaim Gospel
The public session of the fall plenary assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened Nov. 12 with remarks from Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, USCCB president, and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden Program Shielding Undocumented Spouses from Deportation
A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program to protect from deportation and provide a path to U.S. citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living in the country who are married to U.S. citizens.
After Hurricanes Comes the Hard Part for Displaced Floridians
The 2024 hurricane season is nearly over and the media have largely moved on from the story.
U.S. Bishops in Baltimore Urged to Beg for Wisdom ‘To Help Those Entrusted to Our Care’
As the U.S. bishops began their fall general assembly Nov. 11, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio urged his brother bishops to beg for wisdom.
Voters Deal Blow to Recreational Marijuana, Psychedelic Drug Legalization Efforts
A bid to legalize recreational marijuana fell short in Florida, while North Dakota and South Dakota have rejected doing so, according to general election projections.
Catholic Group Calls on Biden in Final Days to Commute Death Penalty Sentences
Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, issued a statement Nov. 6 urging President Joe Biden to take action on the practice during the remainder of his presidency while 40 lives on death row “hang in the balance.”
Deacon Liguori Helping Get Elvis Back to the Chapel
In 1987, Deacon Anthony Liguori became an Elvis tribute artist to help preserve the artist’s legacy. In concerts, he plays songs from all the different stages of Elvis’ life — the young ’50s rocker, the leather-clad ’60s star, and the latter-day ’70s Vegas-era Elvis in the white flowing outfits with the scarves — the way Liguori said he believes that people remember him best.