by Marie Elena Giossi When five boys orphaned by fire arrived on the Brooklyn doorstep of the Sisters of Mercy in 1862, the young nuns opened their door and began a 150-year tradition of service in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County. The oldest continuously sponsored work of the Brooklyn Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Home has […]
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Pope Tells U.S. Bishops: Teach Clearly About Sex
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Permissive attitudes toward sex, cohabitation before marriage and acceptance of same-sex marriage can damage individuals and are harmful for society, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of U.S. bishops at the Vatican. “It is in fact increasingly evident that a weakened appreciation of the indissolubility of the marriage […]
Filipinos Grateful for Assistance
Retired Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan, and John Galbraith, president and chief executive officer, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), were recognized for their outstanding efforts to help those in critical need in the Philippines as a result of Typhoon Washi and Tropical Storm Sendong. Mario de Leon, Jr., Consul General of the Republic of the […]
Nigerian Archbishop Urges Calm After Church Bombing
by Peter Ajayi Dada LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) – The suicide car bombing of a church in Jos was an “evil, irrational, beastly and criminal” act, said the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos also called on Christians to remain calm after the bombing March 11 – during a […]
Irish-Americans Ready to March
The 37th annual Irish-American Parade will be held in Park Slope on Sunday, March 18. The day begins at Holy Name Church with 9 a.m. Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros. Grand Marshal John Ridge will lead the marchers starting from Prospect Park West and 15th St. Aides to the Marshal include Donald Kent, […]
No More Churches in Kuwait?
by Jonathon Luxmore OXFORD, England (CNS) – The bishop who administers the church in Kuwait criticized legislation that would restrict Christian places of worship in the country. “There’ll be problems if the government adopts this proposal; it’s out of step with the traditions of Kuwait, which seeks to be an open, tolerant country welcoming other […]
Priests Numbers Increase
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The number of Catholics in the world and the number of deacons, priests and bishops all increased in 2010, while the number of women in religious orders continued to decline, according to Vatican statistics. At the end of 2010, the worldwide Catholic population reached 1.196 billion, an increase […]
Few Priests, But Cuban Church Looks Ahead with Optimism
by Patricia Zapor HAVANA (CNS) – The 52 seminarians at San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary outside of Havana have a daunting task ahead of them, but a great deal of enthusiasm for how to tackle it. They will join only about 300 priests in the whole country – one priest per every 19,000 Catholics […]
Journalist Slain in Syria Was Native of the Diocese
OYSTER BAY, (CNS) – The mother of slain journalist Marie Colvin told reporters the day after she was killed Feb. 22 in Homs, Syria, that her daughter was “totally committed to what she did.” She knew “the importance of telling the story and writing it and getting it out to the world no matter what. […]
Raised in Brooklyn’s Catholic Orphanages
by David Gibson “Raised in the Church: Growing Up in New York City’s Catholic Orphanages” by Edward Rohs and Judith Estrine. Fordham University Press (New York, 2012). 228 pp., $22.95. “I remember being lonely, but I was never alone,” writes Edward Rohs in “Raised in the Church,” his moving, true story of growing up from […]