CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CNS) – A Harvard University student group’s plan to conduct a satanic ritual “black mass” May 12 on campus brought a public outcry, leading to its formal cancellation and an apparently impromptu off-campus version of the event, as well as a well-attended alternative Catholic holy hour. The planned event had drawn wide criticism from religious leaders as well as students, alumni and faculty at Harvard.
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Nuns’ Group Responds To Cardinal’s Criticism
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The recent rebuke of the officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) by the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office should be viewed as one part of his entire remarks and one aspect of the group’s visits and ongoing dialogue with Vatican officials, according to a statement by LCWR officers.
Vandalism in the Holy Land – Anti-Christian Graffiti Where Pope Is Scheduled to Visit
JERUSALEM (CNS) – The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem called a continuing wave of vandalism against Christian, Muslim and Druze properties a “blight on Israeli democracy” and urged authorities to step up prosecution against the perpetrators. Patriarch Fouad Twal said during a May 11 news conference in the northern city of Haifa that the attacks, which […]
‘Gimme Shelter’ Lady Says: ‘I Love My Work’
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Kathy DiFiore has spent more than half of her life as the “shelter lady,” taking vacant convents and other buildings in New Jersey and turning them into shelters for unwed pregnant women. The work of DiFiore, now 67, was made into a feature film, “Gimme Shelter.”
Pro-Abort Pols Told to Pass on Communion
ROME (CNS) – Catholic politicians and judges who support laws in conflict with Church teaching on abortion, euthanasia, marriage and related issues commit “sacrilege” and cause “grave scandal” if they receive Communion, said the U.S. cardinal who heads the Vatican’s highest court.
Syrian Patriarch Brings Peace Mission to B’klyn
Syrian Catholics have a part to play in re-establishing peace in their homeland, despite the fact that they are a minority. But before any serious attempt is made, foreign troublemakers, who include terrorists and bandits, must leave the country.
That’s the opinion of Patriarch Gregorios III, the Melkite Patriarch of Syria and Lebanon.
Poet, Holocaust Survivor Befriended Future Saint
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) – Hanging on the wall in her office is a painting of horses standing in a field with overcast skies and a vast, fallen tree, struck down by lightning in a ferocious storm.
Farmer’s Letter Invited JP II to Iowa in 1979
TRURO, Iowa (CNS) – People in and around the small town of Truro, southwest of Des Moines, still remember Joseph Hays as the farmer whose letter persuaded Pope John Paul II to come to Iowa during his, and any pope’s, first tour of the U.S. in 1979.
Catholic Teachers Are Urged to Evangelize
PITTSBURGH (CNS) – The new evangelization is not a new Gospel but refocuses the faithful on the good news of Jesus and involves the renewal of faith and the willingness to share it, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., told the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).
Pilgrims Roughed It to Get Spot for Canonization
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Volunteers wearing neon yellow vests interlocked their arms and led the crowds, several hundred at a time, slowly toward St. Peter’s Square.