7 things to do in these final weeks of the Year of St. Joseph…
The Year of St. Joseph began with the apostolic letter of Pope Francis on Dec. 8, 2020, and ends in a few short weeks on Dec. 8, 2021. It’s almost hard to believe it’s been a full year already, in light of all the other events going on throughout the world. We have certainly been […]
Liquefied bodies? Archbishop of Dubuque encourages strange alternative burial methods…
Worldwide, two people die every second. Here in the U.S., about 2.5 million die every year. And all those bodies take up a lot of space! That’s the concern addressed by Archbishop Michael Jackels of Dubuque, Iowa, in an Oct. 20 message to the faithful of the archdiocese. Burial practices, the archbishop notes, are a […]
U.S. Bishops Heading to Baltimore for First In-Person Assembly Since 2019…
When the U.S. Catholic bishops gather in Baltimore Nov. 15-18 for their annual fall meeting, it will be their first in-person assembly since November 2019.
Scottish inquiry finds Marists at two schools abused ‘with impunity’
MANCHESTER, England — Children in two Scottish residential schools run by the Marist Brothers were subjected to horrific sexual abuse that “destroyed childhoods,” an independent inquiry said. Staff at St. Columba’s College, Largs, and St. Joseph’s College, Dumfries, “sexually abused children of tender years with impunity,” the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry said in a Nov. […]
Kenyan bishops urge decisive action on climate change-induced drought
NAIROBI, Kenya — Catholic bishops in Kenya called for decisive and urgent action to end the country’s drought while expressing distress that it was affecting millions of people in more than 12 arid and semi-arid counties. The drought, which has resulted from failed rains in two seasons, has left families without enough food and water. […]
Jesuit schools join faith-based voices on immigration, environment
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the U.S. Capitol at his back, Darian Benitez Sanchez Nov. 8 told the story of how his father used to take him to high school math competitions on weekends in Arizona, where he attended the Jesuit-run Brophy College Preparatory high school, and how his dad would wait hours for him inside […]
Times Square billboard will promote, celebrate ‘Bible in a Year’ podcast
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A billboard will go up in New York’s Times Square during Christmas and New Year’s to promote and celebrate the evermore popular podcast “The Bible in a Year,” but more is in store for the program that topped the charts shortly after its debut in January. The creators of the daily podcast […]
Seminary’s preparation year helps men discern vocation more deeply
ST. PAUL, Minnesota — As Dominic Wolters takes this year to prepare to fully participate in priestly formation at St. Paul Seminary, he’s growing spiritually and discerning more deeply — and he isn’t missing his Twitter feed that much. Wolters, a recent University of Minnesota graduate discerning priesthood in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and […]
The Silence of the Shepherds
In pre-World War II Germany, most Protestant and Catholic Church leaders remained silent and failed to speak out against the truly non-Christian policies implemented by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Denouncing these fellow ministers and priests as vendors of “cheap grace,” German Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer helped to found the Confessing Church, whose adherents refused to […]
Archbishop blesses first copies of new edition of prayer book for military
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services Nov. 9 blessed the first of 100,000 copies of the new sixth edition of the “Armed with the Faith” Catholic prayer book for members of the military. Knights of Columbus volunteers, including some currently serving in the military, delivered the […]