By Malea Hargett Catholic News Service  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas took center stage in the same-sex marriage debate May 9 when a state judge overturned a 10-year constitutional amendment that banned same-sex unions in the state.

Editor’s Note: Deacon James J. Riehle and Deacon Brian Phelps will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on May 17. Read the profile on Deacon Phelps here. By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph   The Holy Sprit started working on Deacon James J. Riehle’s vocation to the priesthood early. …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON (CNS) – U.S. military chaplains around the world are receiving copies of new “Armed with the Faith” prayer books for Catholics in the armed forces.

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph While it serves as the education center for seminarians of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary forms priests for other dioceses too. Three of the five members of the seminary’s class of 2014 will serve somewhere other than the …

When last I left this column, I was still trying to recover from a break-in at the parish rectory. While it was a moment for me to reflect on the vulnerability that Christ faced in both becoming Incarnate and facing the trials of Holy Week, another (much more welcome) scenario …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople meets Pope Francis in Jerusalem May 25, one of their main discussion topics will be the “diminishing Christian minorities in the Middle East,” the patriarch told Catholic News Service.

By Eileen Connelly, OSU The Catholic Telegraph  God’s call for each of use is special and often surprising. One example is the story of a young woman from Massachusetts, who grew up in a family that didn’t practice a particular religion. She “met the Lord” on a Cursillo weekend and …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — The recent rebuke of the officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious by the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office should be viewed as one part of his entire remarks and one aspect of the group’s visits and ongoing dialogue with Vatican officials, …

By Peter Ajayi Dada Catholic News Service LAGOS, Nigeria — Religious groups in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state have organized prayer sessions and other activities to support the rescue of kidnapped schoolgirls.

I just can’t get out of my mind a Bugs Bunny cartoon that depicts the night of the Academy Awards. Elmer Fudd stands at the podium about to announce the Oscar for “Outstanding Cartoon Character.” Bugs is sure he will win. As Elmer Fudd describes the amazing attributes of this …