by JD Flynn Denver Newsroom, May 21, 2020 / 05:36 pm MT (CNA).- The day after announcing that parishes in Minnesota can ignore a statewide order on religious gatherings, the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis explained the pastoral motive for his decision. Catholics “really depend on the Eucharist to …

Washington D.C., May 21, 2020 / 12:50 am MT (CNA).- California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s efforts to lift some anti-coronavirus restrictions cannot single out churches for stricter treatment than other similar public activities, the U.S. Department of Justice has said. “Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution …

CNA Staff, May 20, 2020 / 05:01 pm MT (CNA).- The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference is urging Governor Tom Wolf not to divert federal emergency funds, appropriated to help K-12 schools amid the pandemic, away from the state’s private schools. “That money has been earmarked for ALL schools in our state. …

by Matt Hadro Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 20, 2020 / 02:45 pm MT (CNA).- Deaths from the new coronavirus (COVID-19) have soared in U.S. nursing homes, a trend that some advocates say reflects society’s disdain for the elderly. “The nursing homes have been ground zero for the coronavirus pandemic” said …

CNA Staff, May 20, 2020 / 05:05 pm MT (CNA).- The bishops of Minnesota have permitted parishes to resume public Masses, and to defy a statewide order prohibiting religious gatherings exceeding 10 people. “An order that sweeps so broadly that it prohibits, for example, a gathering of 11 people in …

CNA Staff, May 20, 2020 / 07:30 am MT (CNA).- Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, the 30th superior general of the Society of Jesus, died Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan, at the age of 84. The Spanish priest led the Jesuits, the world’s largest men’s religious order, from 2008 to 2016. In a …

by Jonah McKeown Denver Newsroom, May 20, 2020 / 12:47 am MT (CNA).- The University of Notre Dame announced this week that students will return to campus in the fall, with the semester starting two weeks earlier than usual and no fall break in order to complete the semester by …

CNA Staff, May 19, 2020 / 10:01 am MT (CNA).- Priests and brothers of the Redemptorist community who live and work at a Houston parish have tested positive for coronavirus, leading the parish to close after having reopened earlier this month. Five out of seven members of the Redemptorist community …

Updayte May 19, 2020 4:20 p.m. Vatican City, May 19, 2020 / 07:45 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis merged two dioceses in Alaska Tuesday, creating the new Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau which will cover a territory larger than Montana. The pope appointed Bishop Andrew E. Bellisario as the metropolitan archbishop of …

CNA Staff, May 19, 2020 / 12:10 am MT (CNA).- A federal judge has blocked the North Carolina governor’s order limiting most church services to 10 people or fewer, saying it was a double standard to limit religious services but not similar activities under anti-coronavirus restrictions. For his part, Gov. …