By Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, Dec 10, 2020 / 01:00 pm MT (CNA).- The “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn taking place this month — dubbed the “Christmas Star” — is a pretty sight, but it is impossible to know for sure if it has any connection to the Star …

CNA Staff, Dec 19, 2020 / 04:01 am MT (CNA).- Eight elderly religious sisters died of COVID-19 complications in one week at a retirement home for the School Sisters of Notre Dame near Milwaukee. “Even though they’re older and most of the sisters that did go to God are in …

CNA Staff, Dec 18, 2020 / 05:01 pm MT (CNA).- The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a Kentucky Christian school’s plea to reopen for in-person learning, upholding a health order from the governor that barred in-person K-12 education in most areas until January. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s Nov. 18 executive …

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2020 / 05:05 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed Friday a new bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The pope named Msgr. Larry J. Kulick Dec. 18 as the sixth bishop of the diocese founded in 1951. Kulick, a 54-year-old canon lawyer, has served as diocesan administrator since …

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, Dec 18, 2020 / 04:00 am MT (CNA).- A Catholic chaplain at a COVID hospital in Rome said he has seen many reasons for hope this Advent, especially in the dedication of medical workers who give their all to save the lives of coronavirus patients. …

by Courtney Mares Vatican City, Dec 17, 2020 / 06:05 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis appealed for a “culture of care” in his message for the 2021 World Day of Peace released Thursday. “The culture of care … calls for a common, supportive and inclusive commitment to protecting and promoting …

CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2020 / 12:30 pm MT (CNA).- Bishop Daniel Flores has released a pastoral letter reaffirming the morality of Catholics receiving the coronavirus vaccines. Flores, the Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, was elected by the other American bishops last month to serve as the next chair of the …

Vatican City, Dec 16, 2020 / 04:30 am MT (CNA).- People who pray for others are like God’s antennas, Pope Francis said at the general audience Wednesday. In his address Dec. 16, the pope insisted that those who seek solitude and silence to intercede for others are not evading reality. …

CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2020 / 12:50 am MT (CNA).- The Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, last weekend unveiled a new statue of the Blessed Mother, after a previous statue was destroyed more than two months ago. A new statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was dedicated on Dec. 12 …

CNA Staff, Dec 14, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- The United States bishops’ conference has said that Catholics can take two of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, even though they were developed with a “remote connection” to “morally compromised” cell lines. In a statement released Monday, the bishops also …