‘Silent Night’ at the Vatican
Jan 05 2012
Exiting St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican just after midnight on Christmas, the young woman next to me hummed softly to her infant. The strains of “Silent Night” were not hard to discern, as she comforted her baby. It made me recall the Nativity scene we had just passed while exiting the Christmas Mass in the basilica, where Pope Benedict XVI had placed the figure of the baby Jesus and blessed the crèche at the end of the closing procession, to great applause.
Bereavement counselor promotes ways to cope with pain of loss
Dec 15 2011
Beth L. Hewett understands the pain and anguish of grief all too well. A facilitator and facilitator trainer for the National Catholic Ministry to the Bereaved (NCMB) and active in the grief ministry of her parish, St. Ignatius, Hickory, she has in recent years lost her brother, sister and father.
Cardinal Foley, ‘patriarch of American Catholic press,’ dies
Dec 13 2011
Cardinal John P. Foley, an internationally respected priest-journalist who led the Catholic Church’s social communications council for more than two decades, died Dec. 11 in his native Philadelphia. The 76-year-old cardinal had been battling leukemia.
Cardinal Foley dies; was Vatican communications chief, Mideast advocate
Dec 12 2011
DARBY, Pa. – U.S. Cardinal John P. Foley, who spent more than two decades leading the church’s social communications council and later worked for the church in the Middle East, died Dec. 11 after a battle with leukemia. The cardinal, who had been residing at Villa St. Joseph, the home for retired Philadelphia archdiocesan priests, was 76.
What’s Old is New Again
Dec 08 2011
“What’s old is new again.” This well-known expression sums up the vast majority of the comments I’ve heard since our Church began using the new translation of the Roman Missal, the prayers we say each week at Mass, Nov. 26-27.
November Celebrates Black Catholic History
Oct 20 2011
In the world today, there are more than 200 million people of African descent in the Roman Catholic Church. The fastest growing population comes out of the continent of Africa. The second-largest population of Roman Catholic African descendants are in Brazil. In the United States as we enter into this present holy time, we are 3 million strong, with 250 African-American priests, 75 men of African ancestry in the seminary, 450 Deacons, 400 African-American religious women, 50 religious brothers and 798 predominantly African-American parishes. This gives reason for celebration, rejoicing and increased efforts of evangelization.
St. Agnes steps up to support breast cancer patients
Oct 20 2011
The ladies of the Stepping Stones Breast Cancer Support Group at St. Agnes Hospital are as different as the varying stages of cancer they are living through, but they do share one important mantra: it’s better to be laughing than crying. On Oct. 6, that saying rang true as the group participated in its first-ever Healing through the Arts workshop.
Now the Real Work Begins
Oct 12 2011
It has been one year since I first wrote about the need for a plan that addresses the challenges facing our parishes and seizes opportunities to create more vibrant faith communities in our Archdiocese.
Spain gathering a powerful experience
Oct 06 2011
“To be rather than to appear to be” is the reality of the identity of the young Vincentian of the 21st century. This was the focus of the Vincentian World Youth Gathering in Madrid, Spain.