NASA flight director says faith, family have marked his life’s journey

By Jo Ann Zuniga Catholic News Service HOUSTON (CNS) — Gene Kranz, NASA flight director during the 1969 landing of the first man on the moon, spoke about faith and family to more than 1,000 attending the Galveston Houston Archdiocesan Prayer Breakfast July 30. In attendance were four of his …
Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for August

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for 2019 Entrusted to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) AUGUST Families, Schools of Human Growth That families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly “schools of true human growth.”
Save the Date: Festival of Faiths at Cintas Center September 8 to Celebrate Religious and Cultural Diversity

13 World Religions, 90+ Exhibitors, Free Activities for All Ages on Sunday, September 8 CINCINNATI –July 10, 2019 – Greater Cincinnati’s second annual Festival of Faiths on Sunday, September 8, 2019 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center will bring together neighbors, families, and spiritual leaders to celebrate the area’s religious diversity. …
Catholic Charities helps immigrant children with increased fear, stress
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Oregon Catholic Charities By Katie Scott PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — The crushing, life-altering event can occur during the most mundane circumstances — as parents pay a traffic ticket or drop kids off at school. "It’s happening every day in Portland, in Eugene, everywhere in the state," said …
Gregory: Offensive speech, actions a ‘growing plague’ that ‘must end’
IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Catholic Standard WASHINGTON (CNS) — Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said recent public comments by President Donald Trump and others about Baltimore and the responses those remarks have generated "have deepened divisions and diminished our national life." "We must all take responsibility to reject language …
Fire destroys ‘treasured’ historic Catholic church in Texas
By WESTPHALIA, Texas (CNS) — The Church of the Visitation in Westphalia, a nearly 125-year-old wooden church with bell towers on each side, burned to the ground July 29. The fire, which began in the morning, is still under investigation. Parishioners ran into the burning church to save what they …
Welcoming Those with Special Needs to the Lord’s Table

By Noelle Collis-DeVito I sat there at Mass two pews behind a family who had a little boy with special needs. His parents struggled with him as he moved around the pew, played with the books and even occasionally spoke to them. During the homily he began to recite the …
Deaf and Blind Communities: How Can We Be More Welcoming?

As a student at St. Rita School for the Deaf was receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at his local parish. The parish invited a St. Rita employee who knew minimal American Sign Language (ASL) to attend so they could interpret the basics of the moment of the Sacrament, but there …
Religious sisters at forefront of fight against human trafficking, slavery
IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Beth Griffin UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — A worldwide network of 2,000 Catholic religious sisters marked the 10th anniversary of its efforts to combat human trafficking and slavery July 29. Speakers from the Talitha Kum organization headlined a United Nations panel on the eve of …
Update: Hearts ‘heavy with sadness’ over shooting at festival, bishop says
IMAGE: CNS photo/Kate Munsch, Reuters By GILROY, Calif. (CNS) — Hundreds gathered late July 29 at St. Mary’s Church for a bilingual prayer service, invited by Gilroy’s Catholic community "to come together and pray for all those affected by the senseless tragedy." A day earlier, a gunman, later identified as …