Father Gabriel Toro celebrated the Easter Vigil with the Spanish-speaking community of Bensonhurst at St. Athanasius Church. During the liturgy, he baptized three adults and confirmed 30 members of the congregation. They were among the more than 900 people in Brooklyn and Queens to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church this Easter.
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) – Like many residents of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI spent the Easter Monday holiday outside the city, but he suggested that people use at least part of the extra day off to look again at the Gospel accounts of the Easter story. Reading the accounts “allows us to meditate on this […]
by Robert McCreanor Much public outrage has been generated by reports of inhumane working and housing conditions for employees at the Foxconn production site in China. The revelation that our iPhones, iPods, and various other wonder gadgets may be assembled by Chinese men, women and children who toil in dangerous workplaces, sustain crippling physical injuries […]
PAXTON, Mass. (CNS) – Anna Maria College has rescinded its invitation to the widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to speak during spring commencement ceremonies after a local bishop said he found her an “objectionable” choice because of her association with organizations whose points of view are contrary to church teachings. Bishop Robert J. McManus […]
The Vatican has declared as venerable Father Felix Varela, a 19th-century Cuban priest who worked in New York for many years and also lived in Florida. Both the New York and Miami archdioceses, where there are many proponents of Father Varela’s sainthood cause, announced the declaration Easter Sunday, April 8. It recognizes the priest lived […]
Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez, the second Puerto Rican to be ordained a bishop and the only Puerto Rican cardinal, died April 10 at Hospital Espanol Auxilio Mutuo in San Juan after a long illness. He was 89. The head of the San Juan Archdiocese for nearly 30 years, he retired in 1999. Cardinal Aponte participated […]
People hold a sign thanking Pope Benedict XVI for his recent visit to Mexico as the pontiff leads the “Regina Coeli” prayer at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, April 9.
Early last Saturday morning some 400 young people who are involved in the Jornada movement in our Diocese gathered at the Church of the Transfiguration, Williamsburg, to begin a caminata – or penitential pilgrimage – to several churches in Brooklyn and Queens. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio addressed and blessed them before they begin their 7.5 mile […]
by Antonina Zielinska After nearly two months of phone calls, paperwork, and tests of resilience, Msgr. Kieran Harrington, diocesan vicar for communications; Will Fonseca, producer and cameraman for NET-TV; and I, landed in Cuba as journalists to cover the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI on March 23. Despite hours and hours of preparation we […]
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican spokesman praised Cuba’s decision to accept Pope Benedict XVI’s request to make Good Friday a national holiday this year. “It is certainly a very positive sign,” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said April 1. Good Friday, the commemoration of Jesus’ passion and death, falls […]
