Nothing can justify terrorist attacks, pope says
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Using God’s name to try to justify violence and murder is “blasphemy,” Pope Francis said Nov. 15, speaking about the terrorist attacks on Paris. “Such barbarity leaves us dismayed, and we ask ourselves how the human heart can plan and …
Text of initial Vatican statement on Paris attacks
IMAGE: EPA By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Here is a translation of a statement issued by the director of the Holy See press office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, shortly after the terror attacks in Paris Nov. 13. Here in the Vatican we are following the terrible news from Paris. We …
Freed Syrian priest says imprisonment was way to carry cross of Jesus
IMAGE: CNS photo/Doreen Abi Raad By Doreen Abi Raad BEIRUT (CNS) — When a man dressed head-to-toe in black entered the room where Father Jacques Mourad was being held by the Islamic State, the Syriac Catholic priest thought his time to become a martyr had come. “That moment was really …
Recognize God’s closeness, extend it to others, pope says
IMAGE: CNS photo/Rungroj Yongrit, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Holiness is a life lived in faith and the ability to recognize how very close God is to each person, Pope Francis said. Pope Francis, who began but never finished a doctorate based on the writings of Father …
Back to the catacombs: New emphasis placed on bishops’ simplicity pact
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — At nearly 92 years of age, Italian Bishop Luigi Bettazzi says his long life is due to constant changes. To live is to change, said the retired bishop of Ivrea, and that goes for the church as well as for …
Six Catholic HS football teams still alive in postseason
Staff Report Six of the seven football playing Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will play in the second round of the playoffs this weekend and thanks to the way brackets worked out, at least one will see its season end. Below is a breakdown of the games …
Throwback Thursday: Youth and the Body of Christ
Staff Report In 1969 the church document Fidei Custos set down the conditions under which a lay person who was also not an acolyte could assist in the distribution of the Eucharist as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. In 1972, the first U.S. teenagers ever granted that extraordinary permission were members …
Seminarian and veteran: Williams spent 4 years on nuclear sub
Mount St. Mary’s Seminary Before entering the seminary, Jason Williams was part of the team that ran and maintained the nuclear reactor on a fast attack submarine. “Even though all of the world looks the same from behind a control panel, it was still fascinating work. Yet as much as I …
USCCB to meet next week, Archbishop Schnurr nominated in treasurer election
Staff Report During their Nov. 16-19 general assembly in Baltimore, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will vote for a treasurer-elect for the USCCB as well as chairmen-elect for six standing committees. Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati, and Bishop John M. LeVoir of New Ulm, Minnesota are both nominated for …
Bishop Murry installs 16 as acolytes at seminary
Staff Report Sixteen men took a formal step on their journey to ordination Nov. 4 when Bishop of Youngstown George V. Murry, SJ, installed them as acolytes. Bishop Murry presided at the Mass and installation in the Chapel of Saint Gregory the Great at the Athenaeum of Ohio. The bishop handed …
