Stories Archived for Two Months

Community reaches out in full force in response to flood, priest says
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Father Gary Benz received a phone call late in the afternoon March 22 that he will likely never forget.

Despite criticism, Notre Dame firm on Obama as commencement speaker
WASHINGTON (CNS) – University of Notre Dame officials were standing firm on their choice of President Barack Obama as commencement speaker at the institution's May 17 graduation, in spite of a large number of Catholics calling on them to rescind the invitation.

Media effort draws 92,000 inactive Catholics back home to church
PHOENIX (CNS) – Maybe TV isn't so bad after all.

Pro-life official criticizes court ruling on Plan B for 17-year-olds
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A U.S. District Court judge's decision giving 17-year-olds over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill known as Plan B "will put minors' health at greater risk," according to a pro-life official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

USCCB comments cite reasons for HHS to keep conscience regulation
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Rather than working to rescind a regulation that gives federal protection to the conscience rights of health care providers and institutions, the Obama administration's proper role is to enforce the will of Congress as already expressed in existing statutes, said attorneys for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Conference explores Catholic teaching, morality of using torture
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The breakdown of cultural norms regarding the dignity of every human being played a significant role in the mistreatment of suspected terrorists, a retired Army colonel said during a program at The Catholic University of America.

Springfield Diocese native to receive Notre dame's 2009 Laetare Medal
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (CNS) – Mary Ann Glendon, a Dalton, Mass., native and professor at Harvard Law School who recently stepped down as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will receive the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal at commencement ceremonies May 17.

US cardinal urges Obama to grant Haitians temporary protected status
WASHINGTON (CNS) – With a new administration in the White House, the leader of the U.S. Catholic bishops is once again urging an American president to grant Haitians residing in the U.S. temporary protected status, an order that would keep them from being deported back to their poverty-stricken Caribbean nation.

Oregon sees highest assisted-suicide toll ever; Washington law begins
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) – Oregon's annual report on assisted suicide showed that doctors helped 60 patients take their lives in 2008. That marked the highest annual total since the Oregon Death With Dignity Act went into effect 11 years ago.

Obama, president of US bishops hold private meeting
WASHINGTON (CNS) – President Barack Obama met for half an hour March 17 with Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the White House and the USCCB announced.

Cardinal warns of despotism if conscience rights aren't protected
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Warning that a failure to protect conscience rights would move the country "from democracy to despotism," Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago urged U.S. Catholics to tell the Obama administration that they "want conscience protections to remain strongly in place."

Cleveland Diocese to have 52 fewer parishes within 15 months
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Come June 30, 2010, there will be 52 fewer parishes in the Cleveland Diocese.

Vast majority of dioceses comply with sex abuse charter, audits find
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The latest audits assessing compliance with the U.S. Catholic bishops' "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" found nearly complete compliance among participating dioceses and eparchies, but the number refusing to participate rose from five to seven.

Head of Covenant House praises FBI sweep to stop child trafficking
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A recent nationwide sweep of child traffickers by the FBI should highlight that child prostitution is closer to home than many realize, said Kevin Ryan, president of Covenant House.

Media effort draws 92,000 inactive Catholics back home to church
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A new survey shows the percentage of U.S. residents who identify themselves as Catholics has declined, but Catholicism remains the largest denomination in the country.

Video contest sponsored by Maryknoll to award mission trips to Brazil
MARYKNOLL, N.Y. (CNS) -- April 10 is the deadline for Catholic young people ages 18-35 to enter the "Explore My Mission" video contest sponsored by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.

Cardinal Egan says possibility of married priests not to be dismissed
ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) – The possibility the Catholic Church will allow married priests shouldn't be dismissed, New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan said March 10 during a radio interview.

Cardinal says new Obama stem-cell policy favors politics over ethics
WASHINGTON (CNS) – President Barack Obama's executive order reversing the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research represents "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics," Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia said shortly after the March 9 signing of the order at the White House.

Missionaries aim to change students lives through Gospel message
WASHINGTON (CNS) – John Zimmer, Teddy Ariniello and Angela Telthorst annually train college students from across the country by meeting the youths where they are and inviting them to examine the meaning and purpose of their lives.

Physicians take legal, educational steps to defend conscience rights
WASHINGTON (CNS) – To combat what they see as threats to the conscience rights of health care professionals who oppose abortion, the Catholic Medical Association and other organizations are taking both legal and educational steps.

Catholic governor criticized by archbishop nominated as HHS secretary
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A Catholic governor whose archbishop has told her not to receive Communion until she changes her stand on abortion is President Barack Obama's latest choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Summit attendees see economic crisis as opportunity for volunteerism
NEW YORK (CNS) – The current economic crisis is an opportunity for volunteers from all sectors of the American public to work together to help their neighbors in need and even plant the seed for a national movement.

Global food crisis called 'ticking time bomb'
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The global food crisis was called a "ticking time bomb" at a Feb. 24 forum during the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington.

'Slumdog' director has knack for revealing the good in people
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Danny Boyle, who won the Academy Award for best director for his helming of the multiple-Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire," has a knack for revealing to audiences the good in his movies' lead characters.

Catholic tradition of almsgiving gets special emphasis during Lent
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Almsgiving is a practice in generosity expected from all Catholics, but the focus of it is even stronger during the season of Lent.

Cardinal Egan emphasized schools, vocations as archbishop of New York
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Cardinal Edward M. Egan, who will step down as New York archbishop with the installation of Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, made Catholic schools and vocations a focus of his nine-year tenure in New York.

New York appointee praised for enthusiasm, joy, love of priesthood
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Friends and colleagues of Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan praised the new archbishop of New York as a wise choice to head the nation's second-largest archdiocese and said he brings to the job a contagious enthusiasm and a deep love for the priesthood.

Cardinal Egan retires; Archbishop Dolan of Milwaukee to succeed him
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee as archbishop of New York and accepted the resignation of Cardinal Edward M. Egan, who has headed the archdiocese since 2000.

Archbishop says he's glad pope stressed pro-life teaching to Pelosi
DENVER (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI's Feb. 18 meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was a "gracious act," said Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

Food stamps, Medicaid, other aid to the poor get boosts in stimulus
WASHINGTON (CNS) – An Internet search of stories related to the passage of the economic stimulus package finds that small towns, large cities, social service agencies and even the manufacturers of digital converters for televisions all expect to benefit from a piece of the $787 billion pie.

Catholic legislators must protect life, pope tells Speaker Pelosi
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI met privately with U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, and told her that all Catholics, especially those who are lawmakers, must work to protect human life at every stage.

'Rhetorical restraint,' careful research urged in discussing liturgy
WASHINGTON (CNS) – In an effort to stem what some have called "the liturgy wars," a liturgy expert Feb. 12 urged Catholics to use "rhetorical restraint, careful historical and theological research, and assessments that respect the ways in which the Western liturgy has evolved and continues to evolve."

Former Legionaries official apologizes for defending Father Maciel
WASHINGTON (CNS) – When it became public Feb. 4 that Legionaries of Christ founder Father Marcial Maciel Degollado had fathered a daughter, the order's former communications director decided he had to apologize for having defended him after sex abuse allegations against the priest first became public in 1997.

Crash claims 9/11 widow heading to Jesuit school's scholarship event
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Beverly Eckert, a victim of the Feb. 12 plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y., was en route to present a scholarship award in honor of her late husband at Jesuit-run Canisius High School in Buffalo.

Obama orders faith-based office be reworked, its scope expanded
WASHINGTON (CNS) – President Barack Obama created by executive order Feb. 5 a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which will expand upon and rework the Bush administration's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Poll shows disapproval of Obama's Mexico City policy reversal
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Although a majority of Americans support many of President Barack Obama's early actions in office, only about a third back his decision to allow funding for overseas family planning groups that provide abortions, according to a new poll by USA Today/Gallup.

Early-morning fire damages roof of Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral
CHICAGO (CNS) – While parishioners stood and stared with tears in their eyes and firefighters continued to pour water on the roof of Holy Name Cathedral, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago told reporters the cathedral would "bounce back" from an early morning fire Feb. 4.

Bishop's remarks on Holocaust strain US Jewish-Catholic relations
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Strained Jewish-Catholic relations are being felt beyond the Vatican and Israel as U.S. rabbis express their displeasure with Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of a traditionalist bishop who has minimized the severity and extent of the Holocaust.

Vatican orders study of women religious institutes in United States
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Vatican has initiated an apostolic visitation of institutes for women religious in the United States to find out why the numbers of their members have decreased during the past 40 years and to look at the quality of life in the communities.

In bad economy, schools' Catholic identity seen as draw for students
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A speaker urged the presidents of Catholic colleges gathered in Washington Jan. 31-Feb.2 to market the Catholic identity of their institutions to compete in a bad economy.

Senate urged to include unborn, immigrants in children's health plan
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program should cover pregnant mothers and their unborn children, as well as legal immigrants who have not yet been in the country for five years, the head of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee told senators.

Cardinal says Roe events unite all in 'common goal' to protect life
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Pro-life events held across the United States each January unite Catholics "in a common goal: to proclaim the inherent dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death," said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles.

Pro-lifers from across country flock to Washington on Roe anniversary
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Two days after millions of Americans converged on the National Mall in Washington to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama, tens of thousands of sign-carrying citizens marched, chanted, sang and shouted in the same spot, loud enough – they hoped – for the nation's new leader to hear their plea to outlaw abortion.

Thousands pack national shrine to pray, launch March for Life 2009
WASHINGTON (CNS) – With thousands of pro-life marchers packed into the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Jan. 21 for a special Mass that launched an all-night vigil, Rita Richardson of Fredericksburg, Va., couldn't see the altar.

Catholic colleges, parishes host guests attending inauguration, balls
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Up until just days before the inauguration, a group of about 70 students from a girls charter school in Atlanta had planned to watch the presidential inauguration events on television screens at Trinity Washington University.

Justice, quest for unity demand respect for life, cardinal says
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Commitment to the American "ideals of liberty and justice for all" also requires a concern for all human life, Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali said on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th U.S. president.

Don't reverse policies protecting unborn, cardinal urges Obama
WASHINGTON (CNS) – It would be "a terrible mistake" for President Barack Obama to reverse current policies on embryonic stem-cell research, conscience protection and other life-related matters, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told him in a new letter.

Bishop says ACLU suit over USCCB trafficking grants without merit
WASHINGTON (CNS) – An American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over human trafficking grants allocated to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is without merit, according to the chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.

Religious coalition urges president-elect to end US torture practices
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Feeling the likelihood of success growing day by day, religious leaders renewed their efforts to press President-elect Barack Obama to sign an executive order banning torture soon after he takes office.

Vatican report: Most U.S. seminaries are generally healthy
WASHINGTON (CNS) – An apostolic visitation team concluded that U.S. Catholic seminaries and houses of priestly formation are generally healthy, but recommended a stronger focus on moral theology, increased oversight of seminarians and greater involvement of diocesan bishops in the formation process.

Cardinal George pledges to work with Obama on various policy concerns
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has pledged that he and his fellow prelates will work with the incoming administration of Barack Obama and the 111th Congress to "advance the common good and defend the life and dignity of all, especially the vulnerable and poor."

Milwaukee social worker to chair bishops' National Review Board
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The former director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been appointed to chair the bishops' National Review Board by Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Buffalo businessman targeted Catholics in $17 million Ponzi scheme
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Catholics were targeted by an 82-year-old Buffalo, N.Y., businessman accused of running a Ponzi scheme involving at least $17 million generated from investors who responded to ads in diocesan newspapers, federal prosecutors allege.

First Things founder Father Richard John Neuhaus dies from cancer
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Father Richard John Neuhaus, a former Lutheran minister who became a Catholic priest and a staunch defender of church teaching on abortion and other life issues, died Jan. 8. He was 72.

Cardinal Maida, Bishop McRaith resign; Detroit successor named
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignations of Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit and Bishop John J. McRaith of Owensboro, Ky., Jan. 5 and named Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland, Calif., as archbishop of Detroit.

Survey shows most U.S. adults support laws limiting or regulating abortion
WASHINGTON—A nationwide survey commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has found that four out of five U.S. adults (82 percent) think abortion should either be illegal under all circumstances (11 percent) or would limit its legality. Thirty-eight (38) percent would limit abortion to the narrow circumstances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother; and an additional 33 percent would limit abortion to either the first three or first six months. Only 9 percent said abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy.

New study shows exposure to violent media can beget violent behavior
WASHINGTON (CNS) – A new study, to be published in February, shows that exposure to violent media makes adolescents more likely to be violent or aggressive themselves.

Cardinal Maida hails auto aid package announced by Bush
DETROIT (CNS) -- Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit Dec. 22 praised President George W. Bush's decision to provide $17.4 billion in bridge loans to help General Motors Corp. and Chrysler avert a cash crisis that could have plunged the two domestic automakers into bankruptcy by the end of the year.

Detroit cardinal urges quick action on loans for auto industry
DETROIT (CNS) – Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit emphasized the need for urgent government action to allocate at least enough money to help Detroit's automakers stay afloat until a more comprehensive assistance package can be worked out in the new year.

Cardinal Dulles dies at 90; Jesuit theologian made a cardinal in '01
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, died Dec. 12 at the Jesuit infirmary in New York, Murray-Weigel Hall. A cause of death was not released but he had been in poor health. He was 90 years old.