by Marie Elena Giossi Russell Basile was barely a teenager when he attended the first Masses of Our Lady of Grace parish inside an Ave. X storefront in Gravesend. On Sunday, Sept. 25, the 87-year-old usher had tears in his eyes as he celebrated the 75th anniversary of the parish that he describes as […]
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On any given day, the papal table may feature extra-virgin olive oil, lightly pasteurized milk, fresh eggs, free-range chicken, honey, apricots and peaches – all straight from the farm at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo. “The pope’s farm, even if it is similar to many others, still […]
by Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholic organizations filing comments on the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that health insurance plans cover contraception and sterilization and a proposed religious exemption registered their strong disapproval. The latest round of comments echoed objections raised in those filed earlier by, among others, attorneys for the […]
by John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican newspaper said it was “historically senseless hypocrisy” for the BBC to drop the dating abbreviations B.C. and A.D. on the grounds that they might offend non-Christians. In a front-page commentary Oct. 4, L’Osservatore Romano said the change reflected a wider effort to “cancel every trace of […]
by Nancy Frazier O’Brien WASHINGTON (CNS) – A new introduction to the U.S. bishops’ document on political responsibility reminds Catholics that some issues “involve the clear obligation to oppose intrinsic evils which can never be justified,” while others “require action to pursue justice and promote the common good.” The brief Introductory Note to the 2011 […]
WASHINGTON (CNS) – More than 200 Catholic theologians, scholars and social justice advocates cite the executions of Troy Davis in Georgia and Lawrence Brewer in Texas in mid-September as the impetus for their call to abolish the death penalty. In “A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty,” posted Sept. 26 on the website Catholic […]
by Richard Szczepanowski WASHINGTON (CNS) – In a ceremony reflecting their Lebanese heritage, Maronite Catholics gathered Sept. 23 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the consecration of a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon. “For so long, so many dreamed to have something of our own in Mary’s […]
Msgr. Raymond Kelly, retired pastor of St. Malachy parish, East New York, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on Dec. 20. He currently lives at Bishop Mugavero Residence for retired priests in Douglaston. Born in Brooklyn, he was raised in St. Vincent Ferrer parish, Flatbush, and attended Cathedral College; Immaculate […]
In a commencement-like ceremony, 31 sixth-grade students at Our Lady’s Catholic Academy (OLCA), South Ozone Park – many of whom are first-generation Americans – exchanged their spiral-bound paper notebooks for a new Apple iPad2, for use in their classroom curriculum, the first program of its kind in a Queens Catholic elementary school. The iPad2 program […]
The Constitution of the United States and, in particular, the First Amendment, recognize fundamental human rights, among which is the freedom of every person to the exercise of religion freely, that is, without restraint or constraint by government. Like other rights, the exercise of religion is not free without the right of free association, also […]
