Washington, DC
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Catholic groups mobilizing to help in Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published August 28, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Catholic dioceses and charities are organizing to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that made landfall with winds of 130 miles per hour late Aug. 25 in the Rockport, Texas area, northeast of Corpus Christi, and has since caused catastrophic flooding in southeastern Texas, including in the city of […] Full Story
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Upcoming Aug. 21 solar eclipse thrills astronomers, Kentucky parishioners
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published August 14, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—For the first time in 99 years, the summer sky will turn to night at midday Aug. 21 during a solar eclipse along a 70-mile wide path from coast to coast. Sweeping through the country’s heartland, the eclipse will give millions of people the opportunity to step back from everyday concerns and appreciate how […] Full Story
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As the partial travel ban nears, agencies worry about refugees in limbo
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published July 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Agencies and organizations that help refugees start new lives in the U.S. worry about the fate that awaits migrants in transit as well as those who will not be allowed into the country as the partial ban that the U.S. Supreme Court set in motion with its late June ruling goes into effect in […] Full Story
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Pope, U.S. Catholic bishops, join in prayers for victims of London attacks
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published June 5, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—U.S. Catholics joined Pope Francis and the rest of the world in expressing sorrow for those killed and severely injured in the latest terrorist attacks in London the night of June 3. “The vigil of Pentecost had barely begun when the world was burdened yet again, this time by the sinister attacks on innocent […] Full Story
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Movies with Catholic themes to hit cinemas, video
By MARK PATTISON, Catholic News Service
Published June 1, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—New movies are in the works with distinctively Catholic themes. A documentary featuring the pope, “Pope Francis—A Man of His Word,” was bought by Focus Features for later theatrical release. And a dramatization of the Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, starring American actor Harvey Keitel was announced May 18 by Arclight Pictures, at the […] Full Story
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Catholics bring Pope Francis’ call to protect creation to climate march
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published May 19, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Carrying banners and signs with quotes from Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’,” hundreds of Catholics joined the People’s Climate March to call for moral and prayerful action to protect creation. On a sweltering day that reinforced the message about the need to respond to climate change—the 91-degree temperature at 3 p.m. April 29 tied […] Full Story
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Author: Christians need ‘some distance’ between them, ‘chaotic mainstream’
By JULIE ASHER, Catholic News Service
Published April 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Author Rod Dreher’s critics call him an “alarmist” for proposing that Christians today “put some distance” between themselves and “the chaotic mainstream,” or Christianity will not survive. Those critics are right, he said. “I am alarmist about the state of our culture and of our civilization and the condition of the church within it,” […] Full Story
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Almsgiving: Lenten practice gives chance to ‘be generous with the poor’
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published April 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Although the word almsgiving does not come up much in regular conversation, Catholics hear it plenty during Lent since it is one of the three pillars of the church’s Lenten practices along with prayer and fasting. Although the three practices work together, almsgiving can sometimes get the short shrift because people might be more […] Full Story
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Four-year ‘encuentro’ process begins in the U.S.
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published April 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—In Spanish, the word “encuentro” means encounter and in the modern church in the U.S., it refers to a series of meetings that will take place over the next four years aimed at getting to know Latinos and producing more involvement in the church of its second largest and fastest growing community. “The intent […] Full Story
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‘Life is winning again in America,’ vice president tells March for Life
By KURT JENSEN and JULIE ASHER, Catholic News Service
Published February 9, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—The leaders of the pro-life movement are used to having the ear of the president, as they had with Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. During their respective administrations, they addressed the March for Life via telephone, but this year the event marking the Roe v. Wade anniversary had the highest-ranking […] Full Story
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Action banning refugees brings outcry from U.S. church leaders
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published February 9, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Donald Trump’s executive memorandum intended to restrict the entry of terrorists coming to the United States brought an outcry from Catholic leaders across the U.S. Church leaders used phrases such as “devastating,” “chaotic” and “cruel” to describe the Jan. 27 action that left already-approved refugees and immigrants stranded at U.S. airports and led […] Full Story
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Clergy differ on bill to repeal the Johnson Amendment
By MARK PATTISON, Catholic News Service
Published February 9, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—People of goodwill can disagree on matters of public policy—even if they’re ordained clergy, and the public policy under debate has the potential to affect the way they conduct their ministry. The issue is the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 rider inserted by then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson into that year’s version of the tax code banning […] Full Story
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Judge Neil Gorsuch nominated to fill Supreme Court vacancy
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published February 9, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Donald Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court that has been empty since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February. Gorsuch is a man the country needs, Trump said in announcing his nominee the evening of Jan. 31. He added that his pick for the […] Full Story
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President, vice president of U.S. Catholic bishops defend refugees of all faiths
Published January 30, 2017
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the USCCB, issued the following joint statement Jan. 30 regarding the new refugee policy announced by President Trump in an executive order Jan. 27. The executive order suspends the […] Full Story | En Español
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Trump executive memorandum reinstates ‘Mexico City Policy’ on abortion
By MARK PATTISON, Catholic News Service
Published January 27, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Donald J. Trump issued an executive memorandum Jan. 23 reinstating the “Mexico City Policy,” which bans all foreign nongovernmental organizations receiving U.S. funds from performing or promoting abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. The action was hailed by pro-life leaders. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of […] Full Story
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Trump presidency receives words of hope, prayers for civility
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published January 27, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Words of congratulations as well as caution emerged from political and religious leaders as President Donald J. Trump was inaugurated Jan. 20. Pope Francis sent best wishes and prayers to incoming President Trump shortly after he took the oath of office. “I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers […] Full Story
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Group marches for rights of ‘pre-born women,’ women exploited by abortion
By JULIE ASHER, Catholic News Service
Published January 27, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—College senior Colleen McCrum stood with fellow pro-lifers in front of the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court early Jan. 21 holding a sign that said, “PROLIFE, PROWOMAN, PROTRUMP.” McCrum, 21, who attends Christendom College, a Catholic school in Front Royal, Virginia, joined a group organized by Students for Life of America to participate […] Full Story
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U.S. bishops say that prayer, local dialogue key to bringing peace
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published January 26, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—The Catholic Church has a “tremendous responsibility to bring people together in prayer and dialogue, to begin anew the vital work of fostering healing and lasting peace,” said a report by a U.S. bishops’ task force released Jan. 5 in the wake of last year’s incidents of violence and racial tensions. The work to […] Full Story
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Cardinal Dolan to read from Book of Wisdom at inauguration
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published January 19, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said the Scripture passage he chose to read at the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald J. Trump as president—Wisdom chapter 9 in which King Solomon prays for wisdom to lead Israel according to God’s will—was an easy one to make. “I pray it all the time,” he told […] Full Story
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After a year of setbacks, uncertainty looms for immigrants in 2017
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published January 12, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—At a Mass packed mostly with immigrants, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville tried to get the crowd to focus on the plight of the Holy Family. They had no home, he said. Many closed their doors to them when they were seeking shelter and running from persecution, he said. But he reminded them […] Full Story