The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Msgr. John Brown, Walgreens drugstores and the New York Mets have been awarded the 2013 Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience, recognizing their contributions to their communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Msgr. Brown, the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, Flatlands, was the pastor of St. […]
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Israel at Vatican: Pope and Netanyahu Discuss Peace in Middle East and Pope’s Impending Visit
By Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Dec. 2 and discussed prospects for peace in the Middle East and the pope’s still-unscheduled trip to the Holy Land. The two met privately for about 25 minutes in the pope’s library. Talked About Complex Situation A […]
German Bishops May Allow Communion for Divorced
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) – Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope’s endorsement. “We already have our own guidelines, and the pope has now clearly signaled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman […]
Nuns in Syria Kidnapped by Terrorist Troops
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The kidnapping of five Orthodox nuns from a Christian village near Damascus has shocked Syria’s Christian community and filled many Christians with fear, said Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria. Speaking to Vatican Radio, Bishop Audo said the latest information is that the superior and four of the nuns belonging […]
B’klyn Priest on Inauguration Panel
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, diocesan director of development, has been named by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio to his Inauguration Planning Committee. He is the only Catholic clergyman named to the 73-member panel, that also includes a Greek Orthodox priest, a Jewish rabbi, an imam, a female bishop of the Bethesda Healing Center and a bishop of […]
Pope Worked as a Bouncer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In addition to having worked sweeping floors and running tests in a chemical laboratory as a teenager, Pope Francis revealed he also used to work as a bouncer. No longer kicking troublemakers out of clubs, he has discovered the secret to bringing people back, this time, into the church, according to […]
Pope: Purify Church By Looking Within
By Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – When the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization met at the Vatican in October, 2012, among the top items on the agenda was the threat of militant secularism in a post-Christian West. “It is as if a tsunami of secular influence has swept across the cultural […]
Pope Stirs Controversy With Words on Economy
By Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In enunciating the principles of Catholic social teaching, popes have long stressed the Church’s special concern for the poor and the need for state intervention to promote economic justice. Pope Benedict XVI, for instance, blamed the “logic of profit” for widespread hunger and pollution; called for a […]
The Lights Are On In Brooklyn
The Christmas creche and trees were lit Dec. 1 at Visitation Monastery, Bay Ridge, to mark the traditional opening of the Festival of Lights. Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, chaplain to Visitation Academy, blessed the manger scene and then celebrated Mass for the First Sunday of Advent. Following Mass, two awards were presented: the Distinguished Faculty Award […]