VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener’s house but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994. When Pope Benedict, 85, announced that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign, the Vatican said […]
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Papal Theologian Explains Why No Women Priests
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In October, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissed Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood because of his participation in the invalid ordination of a woman. Since then, a Jesuit in Wisconsin has had his priestly faculties suspended after he celebrated a liturgy with a woman purporting to be a […]
Bishops: HHS’ Revisions Are Still Not Satisfactory
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The new proposed rules issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding insurance coverage of contraceptives show movement but fall short of addressing the U.S. bishops’ concerns, said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. The cardinal, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the […]
Multicultural Festivities at St. Andrew Avellino in Flushing
Four hundred parishioners and friends met in the school cafeteria at St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing, for the 15th annual Multicultural Sunday. The late January celebration included dancers in a dozen acts from Flamenco to Hip Hop and 20 food stations featuring ethnic offerings prepared by parishioners. It followed a special Mass with a procession of […]
Happy New Year
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving at Regina Pacis Basilica, Bensonhurst, to welcome the Chinese New Year 4711, the Year of the Water Snake. The bishop told the community that a New Year is a time to look back and examine consciences so that improvements can be made in one’s spiritual life. Reflecting […]
Lenten Regulations
“The celebration of Lent, in the context of the Year of Faith, offers us a valuable opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity: between believing in God – the God of Jesus Christ – and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which guides us on the path of […]
Catholic Schools Week – St. Joseph the Worker Academy Celebrates ‘Best Week of the Year’
by Marie Elena Giossi Last week was not the typical week at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy in Park Slope. Students attended school in pajamas instead of uniforms, donned wacky-looking hats and silly socks and even set aside a day to appreciate – yes, appreciate – their principal and teachers. Though unusual for every […]
Tri-State Italian American Congress Presents Catholic School Grants
by Marie Elena Giossi As part of the diocese’s Catholic Schools Week festivities, more than 150 Catholic school children of Italian-American descent were recognized with scholarships at an afternoon prayer service at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, Jan. 30. Catholic Schools Week was a fitting time to award these scholarships, made possible by a […]
Bishops Consider Changes Made to HHS Regulations
by Patricia Zapor WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholic institutions were still analyzing the effect of a new set of proposed rules on insurance coverage of contraceptives issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. The 80-page document released Feb. 1 by HHS attempts to address objections that the previous rules would force religious employers to […]
L.A. Archbishop Relieves Cardinal of Future Duties
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will “no longer have any administrative or public duties” as retired archbishop of Los Angeles because of past failures to protect children from clergy sex abuse, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez announced Jan. 31. The archbishop’s statement came the same day the archdiocese released 12,000 pages of personnel […]