Washington, DC
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Upcoming U.N. talks to abolish nuclear weapons face uncertain future
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published December 1, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—The United Nations is preparing to embark on talks to ban nuclear weapons. Negotiations are set to begin in March and are expected to take an indefinite time to complete. The end result is uncertain, but the 123 nations that voted Oct. 27 for a resolution within the U.N. General Assembly committee that deals […] Full Story
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Pope, Miami archbishop express condolences over Fidel Castro’s death
Published December 1, 2016
WASHINGTON (CNS)—In a video message, Cuban President Raul Castro announced the Nov. 25 death of his 90-year-old brother and longtime Cuban leader and Communist icon whom many in Latin America know by just one name: Fidel. “It is with great sorrow that I come before you to inform our people, friends of our America and […] Full Story
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Christian persecution called ‘purposeful’ destruction of a culture, faith
By RICHARD SZCZEPANOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published December 1, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Declaring that the persecution of Catholics and other Christians in Iraq and the Middle East is genocide must be followed by action, said Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat of the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, based in the northern Detroit suburb of Southfield. “We need to proclaim, ‘This is genocide,’ and then do something […] Full Story
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Catholics’ post-election to-do list: work for unity, healing
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published November 17, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—All the distrust, vitriol and rancor stirred up during the 2016 presidential election campaign did not go away when votes were tallied. The Nov. 8 election’s outcome, for many, only added more layers of frustration, anger and fear, prompting dozens of protests across the country. Political leaders, including President Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump […] Full Story
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Leaders react to Trump win in presidential election
Published November 17, 2016
WASHINGTON (CNS)—Lay and religious leaders of all stripes reacted to news of Donald J. Trump’s upset win in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Most expressed hope that Trump would pay attention to their agenda, while others were more decidedly downbeat and still others counseled prayer. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the […] Full Story
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Pro-life groups using national bus tour to rally support
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published October 20, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—A group of pro-life advocates from around the country gathered Sept. 28 in front of the steps of Supreme Court of the United States to announce the start of a national bus tour to rally others to support their cause. The tour will end Nov. 6. The organization 40 Days for Life said its […] Full Story
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Kurtz: Political discourse that demeans women, religion ‘must change’
By Catholic News Service
Published October 20, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Too much of the political discourse during this election year “has demeaned women and marginalized people of faith,” the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Oct. 14. “This must change,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky. “True to the best hopes of our Founding Fathers, we are confident that […] Full Story
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Candidates, party platforms differ on need to act on climate change
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published October 20, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—August’s torrential rains that caused catastrophic flooding in southern Louisiana have convinced Robert Gorman that it’s time to think about being ready the next time the floods hit. Gorman, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, has been discussing with his wife pre-emptive steps to take before the water rises. […] Full Story
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Archbishop Gregory to chair USCCB task force on race
By MARK PATTISON, Catholic News Service
Published July 22, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)— Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta has been appointed as chair of a new task force of the U.S. bishops to deal with racial issues brought into public consciousness following a series of summertime shootings that left both citizens and police officers among those dead. The task force’s charge includes helping bishops to […] Full Story
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U.S. church urged to turn attention to racism before fractures widen
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published July 20, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Father Bryan Massingale, a priest of the Milwaukee Archdiocese and well-known theologian, knows what it’s like to be watched by police. He said that as a black man there have been times he has been followed by police officers on the campus of Marquette University, where he taught for 12 years, as he walked […] Full Story
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USCCB president says violence calls for ‘moment of national reflection’
Published July 8, 2016
WASHINGTON (CNS)—The shooting of police officers July 7 near the end of a demonstration in Dallas against fatal shootings by police officers in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis earlier in the week “calls us to a moment of national reflection,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “To all people of good will, […] Full Story
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Supreme Court’s Texas decision impacts states, galvanizes both sides
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published July 7, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—The Supreme Court’s June 27 decision to strike down restrictions on Texas abortion clinics is having ripple effects on legislation across the country and it also has galvanized those on both sides of the abortion issue. The impact of the ruling—which said Texas abortion clinics do not have to comply with standards of ambulatory […] Full Story
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‘Laudato Si’’ at one year: Catholics inspired to act on climate change
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published June 23, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Thinking green is not easy. Nor is it always cheap. But for St. Michael Parish in Poway, California, north of San Diego, parishioners are already seeing the benefits—spiritual, financial and environmental—of a $1.3 million investment in a solar panel system. In the year since the panels were installed on several buildings across the 26-acre […] Full Story
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Court remands two HHS challenges to lower courts ‘in light of Zubik’
Published May 26, 2016
WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S. Supreme Court in orders issued May 23 remanded two Catholic entities’ legal challenges to the federal contraceptive mandate back to the lower courts. The high court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari for two plaintiffs—the Catholic Health Care System, an umbrella for four Catholic institutions affiliated with the Archdiocese of […] Full Story
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Supreme Court: Race played role in Georgia death penalty case jury selection
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published May 26, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—In a May 23 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Georgia prosecutors violated the Constitution in a death penalty case nearly two decades ago by excluding prospective black jurors from the trial. The 7-1 decision sent the case of Timothy Foster, an African-American facing the death penalty for killing an elderly white woman in […] Full Story
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Study of women deacons won’t be first, but might answer questions
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published May 26, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—When Pope Francis accepted a proposal at the Vatican May 12 to form a commission to study the possibility of women serving as deacons today, it generated plenty of buzz. The pope’s agreement on the idea—raised by members of the International Union of Superiors General, the leadership group for superiors of women’s orders—was interpreted […] Full Story
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Theologians’ brief in HHS mandate case might lead to compromise ruling
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published May 12, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Supreme Court cases, with their multiple friend-of-the-court briefs, leave extensive paper trails behind them and although these briefs might get lost in the shuffle, occasionally some stand out. In Zubik v. Burwell, the challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception requirement, more than 30 briefs were filed by religious, political and health groups weighing […] Full Story
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Pope names papal nuncio to Mexico to be new nuncio to the United States
Published April 14, 2016
WASHINGTON (CNS)—Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to Mexico since 2007, to be the new apostolic nuncio to the United States. He succeeds Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who has held the post since 2011. Archbishop Vigano turned 75 in January, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn their resignation […] Full Story
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Supreme Court seeks details on alternative contraceptive coverage
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published March 31, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—Less than a week after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement, the court released an order requesting that additional briefs be submitted showing if and how contraceptive insurance coverage could be obtained by employees through their insurance companies without directly involving the religious employers objecting to this […] Full Story
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USCCB, other faith groups file Supreme Court brief in immigration case
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published March 18, 2016WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and several other Catholic organizations joined in filing friend of the court briefs March 8 urging the Supreme Court to support the Obama administration’s actions that would temporarily protect from deportation more than 4 million immigrants in the country illegally and enable some immigrants to legally work in […] Full Story