USCCB president says violence calls for ‘moment of national reflection’
IMAGE: CNS photo/Erik Lesser, EPA By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The shooting of police officers July 7 near the end of a demonstration in Dallas to protest fatal shootings by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota earlier in the week “calls us to a moment of national reflection,” said the president …
U.S. and Spanish journalists will lead Vatican press office
Pope Francis named two experienced journalists — including its first female vice director — to lead the Vatican press office. Greg Burke, a native of St. Louis, succeeds Italian Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who retires after 10 years as head of the Vatican press office, the Vatican announced July 11. …
Lead in the water: The crisis is not solely Flint’s
IMAGE: CNS photo/Rebecca Cook, Reuters By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — When the news revealed the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, was contaminated by lead, affecting roughly 100,000 people in the city and nearby areas, attention rightly focused on a staggering public health crisis. However, the crisis may not be …
U.S. pilgrims to World Youth Day reflect new church demographics
IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By Tom Tracy WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CNS) — As the church in the U.S. has shown an increasing presence of Spanish-speaking Catholics, so will the tens of thousands of young people traveling to 2016 edition of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland. “There are more groups coming …
Archbishop Schnurr urges prayer for “end to hatred and division”
An email from Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis M. Schnurr sent to priests on Friday urged prayer for an end to hatred and division in the wake of several high-profile acts of violence around the U.S. Referencing the “questionable” police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, as well as the attack on …
World Youth Day leaders tell pilgrims to prepare sensibly, spiritually
IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec By Colleen Dulle WASHINGTON (CNS) — As World Youth Day approaches, U.S. organizers offered tips on how pilgrims can prepare logistically, spiritually and even digitally. The largest U.S. group to attend a World Youth Day outside of North America, 30,000 American pilgrims plan to attend the July …
‘VatiLeaks’: Citing freedom of press, Vatican court acquits journalists
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican court, citing freedom of the press, acquitted two journalists who published confidential documents while their source, a Spanish monsignor, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. Judge Giuseppe Della Torre, head of the tribunal of the Vatican …
Pope taps Chicago archbishop as member of Congregation for Bishops
IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has named Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich a member of the Congregation for Bishops, the office that advises the pope on the nomination of bishops around the world. Archbishop Cupich, 67, takes the place …
‘Amoris Laetitia’ at three months: Communion question still debated
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Three months after the publication of Pope Francis’ exhortation on marriage and family, bishops and bishops’ conferences around the world are studying practical ways to apply it. Some still disagree on what exactly the pope meant. In the first week …
Throwback Thursday: The Great Flood of 1913
In the spring of 1913 a massive storm stretching from Nebraska to Michigan to Vermont made its way across the country. Tornadoes in the Great Plains claimed several lives and was then soon followed by heavy rainfall. The storm’s scale of destruction had never before been seen in the United …
