Coney Island parish replaces vandalized Mary statue
CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2020 / 12:50 am MT (CNA).- The Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, last weekend unveiled a new statue of the Blessed Mother, after a previous statue was destroyed more than two months ago. A new statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was dedicated on Dec. 12 …
US bishops approve use of coronavirus vaccines with ‘remote connection’ to abortion
CNA Staff, Dec 14, 2020 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- The United States bishops’ conference has said that Catholics can take two of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, even though they were developed with a “remote connection” to “morally compromised” cell lines. In a statement released Monday, the bishops also …
Supreme Court vacates ruling on Colorado church restrictions
CNA Staff, Dec 15, 2020 / 01:00 pm MT (CNA).- The Supreme Court accepted a church’s appeal against coronavirus restrictions in the state of Colorado on Tuesday, even after the governor reclassified churches to stop the rules applying. High Plains Harvest Church in Eaton, Colorado, had appealed to the Supreme …
Religious schools must accept ‘gender identity’, LGBT activists tell Biden
CNA Staff, Dec 15, 2020 / 10:30 am MT (CNA).- A leading LGBT activist group is calling for the Biden administration to create accreditation regulations of religious schools that would enforce acceptance of so-called transgender rights. The pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued its list of policy priorities for the …
Catholic bishops: No ‘stable and just peace’ 25 years after Dayton Accords
CNA Staff, Dec 14, 2020 / 06:30 am MT (CNA).- The Dayton Agreement, signed in Paris 25 years ago today, ended the Bosnian War but failed to create “a stable and just peace,” the Catholic bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina have said. Speaking ahead of the anniversary, the bishops called …
Is Christmas simply a re-imagining of ancient pagan celebrations?
by Mary Farrow Denver Newsroom, Dec 13, 2020 / 04:58 am MT (CNA).- ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and, perhaps, to have one’s social media inundated with memes about Christmas being nothing more than a co-opted pagan holiday – maybe a winter solstice celebration – repurposed and baptized by …
DC archdiocese sues over Christmas Mass restrictions
CNA Staff, Dec 12, 2020 / 10:00 am MT (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Washington is suing the District of Columbia over restrictions on public worship during the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. “From the start of the pandemic,” the …
The Final Word: Helping those who suffer during Christmas Time
Caroling. Festive parties. Charming decorations. Cookies. Gift-exchanges. The message is all around us: We should be happy because it’s Christmas. Indeed, to be anything other than effusively joyful means running the risk of being labeled a scrooge. So, no matter what is going on in our lives – or in …
US Supreme Court: government agents violating religious liberty liable for monetary damages
By Kevin J. Jones Denver Newsroom, Dec 11, 2020 / 05:02 pm MT (CNA).- Three Muslims who claim the FBI wrongly pressured them into becoming informants on Muslim communities may seek monetary damages as part of their lawsuit under a federal religious freedom law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled …
Why in-person worship matters
by Matt Hadro Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 11, 2020 / 02:00 pm MT (CNA).- After Virginia’s governor appeared to suggest that church attendance is immaterial to the act of worship, one theologian says that Catholics see worship differently. On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) asked religious leaders to consider …
