VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic Church must continue to work to understand the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council and why they were made, rather than rethinking them, Pope Francis said. “After this magisterium, after this long journey, we can affirm with certainty and magisterial authority that the liturgical reform is irreversible,” Pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic dioceses and charities are quickly organizing to help in the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall with heavy rains and winds of 130 miles per hour late Aug. 25 into the Rockport, Texas area, northeast of Corpus Christi. The National Weather Service said in a tweet Aug. 27
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic politicians should be guided by the church’s moral and social teachings when crafting legislation, Pope Francis said. Meeting with participants in the annual meeting of the International Catholic Legislators Network Aug. 27, the pope said that church teaching can contribute to a more humane and just society, but only if
WASHINGTON (CNS) — “Excessive inequality” threatens cooperation among all people in society “and the social pact it supports,” said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, in the U.S. bishops’ annual Labor Day statement. In the message, Bishop Dewane cited the words of Pope Francis, who told factory workers in Genoa, Italy, “The entire social
MANKATO, Minn. (CNS) — Each morning, Pat Shurmur pulls out a laminated card with his priorities for the day. “We as coaches laminate everything. You never know when you’re going to get caught in the rain,” said Shurmur, 52, the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. The card has prayers and reminders of how he
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While the world reels from terrorism, natural disasters and division, God weeps with those who suffer and offers the hope of a future full of joy and consolation, Pope Francis said. Recalling the victims of a terror attack in Barcelona Aug. 17, a devastating landslide Aug. 16 in Congo, and “many
EASTON, Pa. (CNS) — A visitor attending Mass at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church might not notice anything unusual about the celebrant. Father Bernard J. Ezaki walks the center aisle of the massive church in Easton. He climbs the steps leading to the altar like any other priest or liturgical minister. He recites prayers
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Two prominent Philippine bishops criticized the government’s war on drugs after a week in which more than 80 people were reportedly killed in stepped-up efforts to end drug use. In a pastoral letter read at Masses Aug. 20, Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle called the problem of drugs a “humanitarian concern
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — “Let us beg the Lord, God of mercy and peace, to free the world from this inhuman violence,” Pope Francis prayed after a week of deadly terrorist attacks in Africa and Europe. Reciting the Angelus prayer at midday, the pope asked an estimated 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Square to pray
ST. PAUL, Ore. (CNS) — Hundreds of solar eclipse viewers Aug. 21 watched the sky grow dim and then witnessed the spectacular dancing white corona of the sun’s edge from alongside Oregon’s oldest Catholic church. Built in 1846, St. Paul Church in the small town of St. Paul was already venerable the last time it
