Rosary Garden blooms in Reading
By Gail Finke While our summer Mary Garden photo contest showed you scores of home gardens dedicated to the Blessed Mother, one reader’s more ambitious project deserves special notice. Matthew Smeal, a member of Evendale Boy Scout Troop 598, created a Rosary Garden for St. Nicholas Academy and Our Lady …
Catholic psychologist, abuse survivor, offers advice for families
IMAGE: CNS photo/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters By Zita Ballinger Fletcher WASHINGTON (CNS) — After recent reports describing clergy sex abuse, Paul Peloquin, a Catholic clinical psychologist and a clergy abuse survivor, shared advice for victims and their families. “For Catholics who have been abused by a priest or clergy, it’s doubly …
NRB: Change in church’s culture, including bishops, needed to end abuse
IMAGE: CNS photo illustration/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — More committees are not the answer to stop the abuse of children and vulnerable adults by clergy, said an Aug. 28 statement by the National Review Board, which is charged with addressing clerical sexual misconduct in the …
Trinidad’s First Peoples were also nation’s first Catholics
IMAGE: CNS photo/Laura Ann Phillips By Laura Ann Phillips ARIMA, Trinidad (CNS) — Past small family-owned businesses and homes tightly packed into well-worn streets, a procession of just over 300 St. Rose of Lima devotees snaked through the semi-rural borough of Arima, 45 miles southeast of the capital. In its …
Communion issues clarified in revised booklet
Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion role explained; more By Gail Finke The need to reprint a decades-old handbook for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs) gave the archdiocese’s Office of Divine Worship and Sacraments the chance to clarify a few issues that have arisen in the 30 years since its …
Obituary: Reverend Joseph Michael Stefanelli, S.M.
Rev. Joseph M., Stefanelli was born on November 24, 1921 in Cincinnati, OH. He made his first profession of vows as a Marianist August 25, 1940, perpetual vows on August 15, 1944, ordained July 22, 1951 in Fribourg, Switzerland. Entered into eternal life on August 16, 2018. Son of the …
Today’s Video: The Life of Saint Augustine
St. Augustine of Hippo is the patron of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions. His complete turnaround and conversion has been an inspiration to many who struggle with a particular vice or habit they long to break. …
USCCB president seeks papal audience, answers to former nuncio’s questions
By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said he was “eager for an audience” with Pope Francis to gain his support for the bishops’ plan to respond to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. In an Aug. 27 statement, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston …
Puerto Rico getting back on feet ‘step by step,’ but long road remains
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Knights of Columbus By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — Nearly a year ago, Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico as a category 4 storm, and afterward 11-year-old Marco Lebron’s first thought was about the monks who teach at his school, Benedictine-run San Antonio Abad School and Abbey …
Father Mike Schmitz on the current abuse scandal
This talk is difficult for Fr. Mike to give, but sadly, it is also necessary. Since the Pennsylvania Report was released, practically every headline with the word “Catholic” in it has been about the report, which covers seventy years and gives accounts of three hundred priests who allegedly abused over …
