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By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — When a Lutheran woman married to a Catholic man asked Pope Francis what she and her husband could do to receive Communion together, the pope said he could not issue a general rule on shared Communion, but the couple should pray, study and then …

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By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Keeping the “Christ” in “Christmas” is part of not giving in to pressure to conform to the “norm” and become like nonbelievers, Pope Francis said in a morning homily. Giving in to the things of the world is like saying, “Let’s put our …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …