Nun sees growing interest in Our Lady of America
Aug 14 2007
ST. LOUIS – As the last surviving member of the Contemplative Sisters of the Indwelling Trinity, Sister Mary Joseph Therese Fuller said she is happy to see that the devotion to Our Lady of America is gaining momentum.
Hundreds gather to mourn, remember slain journalist
Aug 13 2007
WASHINGTON – As many as 1,000 family members, friends, co-workers and community members attended the funeral Mass for slain journalist Chauncey Bailey in Oakland, Calif., at St. Benedict Catholic Church.
Father Jay Matthews, pastor, was a longtime friend of Bailey and was the main celebrant of the Mass. He said the church can seat 400 comfortably but 700 crowded in Aug. 8, with hundreds more outside, to pay their respects to a man who died trying to make their community a better, safer place to live.
Eighty members of Bailey’s family came from across the country, and the National Association of Black Journalists sent a delegation from its convention in Las Vegas. Father Matthews said Bailey, who was African-American, was a well-loved member of the community, and said it was a “very uplifting ceremony.”
Bailey, 57, was editor of the Oakland Post weekly newspaper. He was shot and killed the morning of Aug. 2 while walking to work.
Struggle by indigenous to regain land in Brazil is deadly serious
Aug 11 2007
DOURADOS, Brazil – In Brazil, the struggle by indigenous people to regain their right to the land once inhabited by their ancestors is deadly serious.
Ortiz Lopes, a member of the Guarani Kaiowa indigenous group who was murdered by a gunman July 8, was the 20th Guarani leader killed so far this year in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, according to the Catholic Church’s Indigenous Missionary Council, known by its Portuguese acronym as CIMI.
Sainthood candidate seen as excellent model for today
Aug 09 2007
WASHINGTON – Father Michael J. McGivney, an American parish priest and founder of the Knights of Columbus in 19th-century Connecticut, would be a model saint for today, according to the Knights’ supreme chaplain.
As economy grows, income disparity widens
Aug 05 2007
LIMA, Peru – A team of U.S. and Peruvian researchers was investigating glaciers in the remote Andes Mountains of central Peru when a two-day general strike in the region was called to protest government economic policies.
Joy, holiness called keys to attracting African-American vocations
Jul 27 2007
NEW ORLEANS – Manifesting joy and living a life of holiness are fundamental ways to attract young African-American men to consider a vocation to the priesthood, Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt of Memphis, Tenn., told the joint convention of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus and the National Black Sisters’ Conference July 25.
The conference, attended by more than 200 black priests, deacons, sisters and seminarians, focused on vocations and enriching the spiritual, theological, educational and ministerial lives of the participants.
Pope meets privately with priests, discusses wide range of topics
Jul 25 2007
AURONZO, Italy – Faith and reason, mercy and the defense of the truth, dialogue and evangelization were just some of the topics Pope Benedict XVI touched on when he responded to questions posed by the priests of two northern Italian dioceses.
After meeting privately with about 400 priests July 24, Pope Benedict told the crowd waiting outside, “We spoke about God, about the church, about humanity today and, mostly, about the fact that we are the church and in this journey we must all collaborate.”
Lack of mental health care in New Orleans leaves children at risk
Jul 21 2007
WASHINGTON – Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region, the city of New Orleans is struggling to fill gaps in its mental health care system that could potentially leave thousands of children vulnerable to depression, teenage suicide and pregnancy.
Report tells bishops to make abuse rules conform to canon law
Jul 17 2007
LONDON – An independent commission has urged the Catholic bishops of England and Wales to bring their child-protection measures in line with the Code of Canon Law amid fears that false allegations are driving priests away from working with young people.
Pope relaxes restrictions on use of Tridentine Mass
Jul 09 2007
LATE BREAKING
VATICAN CITY – In a long-awaited overture to disaffected Catholic traditionalists, Pope Benedict XVI relaxed restrictions on the use of the Tridentine Mass, the Latin-language liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council.
The pope said Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly known as the Tridentine rite, should be made available in every parish where groups of the faithful desire it.
He said that while the new Roman Missal, introduced in 1970, remains the ordinary way of Catholic worship, the 1962 missal should be considered “the extraordinary expression of the law of prayer.”