Philadelphia
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Remembering Sister Kathleen Purser, Grey Nun and Atlanta principal
By GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF
Published June 13, 2023Sister Kathleen Purser, GNSH, formerly Sister Ann Gerald died June 6. Sister was in her 62nd year of religious life, and served as principal of three Catholic schools in Atlanta.
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Vandalism at Jewish cemeteries decried, called hateful actions
By MATT GAMBINO, Catholic News Service
Published March 9, 2017PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Responding to the destruction of some 100 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput Feb. 27 deplored the “senseless acts of mass vandalism.” The gravestones were discovered toppled over from their bases the previous morning at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Northeast Philadelphia. The archbishop issued a statement in which he […] Full Story
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Marist Father McGoldrick, former pastor at OLA, dies
Published January 1, 2016
PHILADELPHIA—Marist Father James McGoldrick, who served at St. Joseph Church, Marietta, and Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Atlanta, during his years of ministry, died Sunday, Dec. 20, at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. His family, brother priests and friends were at his side. Father Paul Frechette, provincial of the Marists in the U.S., held a […] Full Story
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Panelists say fewer births, marriages point to global demographic shift
By KAREN RUEDA, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Experts speaking at a World Meeting of Families session Sept. 24 in Philadelphia told delegates that fertility rates around the world are dropping, and a global demographic shift is taking place. In one of only four sessions at the international meeting to offer English speakers the opportunity to test out the simultaneous interpretation services […] Full Story
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Grotto highlights needs of poor, image of Mary as ‘Undoer of Knots’
By ELIZABETH FISHER, Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—In front of Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul stands a visible representation of Pope Francis’ favorite religious image: “Mary, Undoer of Knots.” The “Knotted Grotto” is a dome-shaped latticework frame that stands about 10 feet high with an approximately 20-foot circumference and features tens of thousands of white ribbons knotted into […] Full Story
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Families must do more than just talk about vocations, speakers say
By GEORGE P. MATYSEK JR., Catholic News Service
Published October 16, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—If more people are going to answer the call to religious life, it will take more than words to attract their attention, according to four women religious who delivered a Sept. 23 presentation on vocations at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Parents must model what it means to have a relationship with […] Full Story
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Pope urges U.S. Catholics to keep enthusiasm, welcome newcomers
By DAVID AGREN, Catholic News Service
Published October 1, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Pope Francis ended his trip to the United States with a call for Catholics to keep the enthusiasm of the visit, while continuing to welcome newcomers and care for creation. “Do not let your enthusiasm for Jesus, his church, our families, and the broader family of society run dry,” Pope Francis said at Philadelphia […] Full Story
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Serve, care for each other, pope tells families at closing Mass
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published October 1, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Pope Francis urged the hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families to serve and care for each other as freely as God loves the human family. The pope called upon the faithful to embrace signs that the Holy Spirit can work through everyone. He referred […] Full Story
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Testimonies of keeping the faith during trying times bring many to tears
By ELIZABETH FISHER, Catholic News Service
Published October 1, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Marita Thomas was among those in the crowd at the Festival of Families Sept. 26 who were moved to tears as they listened to families selected to come onstage to tell Pope Francis how they coped with hardship by clinging to God. The testimonials by six families from various countries were interspersed with the […] Full Story
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Pope cites St. Katharine Drexel, asks church to challenge youth
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published October 1, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Pope Francis encouraged Pennsylvania’s Catholic clergy and religious to challenge young people to develop “high ideals, generosity of spirit and love for Christ and the church.” In his first Mass in Philadelphia, Pope Francis recalled St. Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress who entered religious life, formed a religious community and used her family inheritance […] Full Story
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Church leaders affirm commitment to family as world meeting kicks off
By LAURA IERACI, Catholic News Service
Published September 24, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia will be “the city of family love” and the “world capital of families” during the four-day World Meeting of Families, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The largest-ever World Meeting of Families opened in Philadelphia Sept. 22. More than 17,500 […] Full Story
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Steps taken to ease concerns for papal event attendees in Philadelphia
By LOU BALDWIN, Catholic News Service
Published September 18, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Sometimes, the folks in charge have to skip the platitudes and listen to the people. Take the visit of Pope Francis to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families Sept. 26-27. Who doesn’t love Pope Francis? Of course most people want to be there, to be part of it. The public Mass to be […] Full Story
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Pope Francis to speak from lectern Lincoln used for Gettysburg Address
By LOU BALDWIN, Catholic News Service
Published September 18, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—As lecterns go, it is strictly utilitarian, a simple walnut stand with none of the ornamentation commonly found in mid-19th-century furnishings. Yet it has a distinguished past and is about to have a distinguished future. At a news conference Aug. 7 at the Union League of Philadelphia, Robert Ciaruffoli, president of the World Meeting […] Full Story
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Pa. governor puts off executions, says system ‘riddled with flaws’
By MATTHEW GAMBINO, Catholic News Service
Published February 19, 2015PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia praised the announcement by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf Feb. 13 that he is granting a reprieve for death-row inmate Terrence Williams, who was scheduled to be executed March 4. In a memo, Wolf said he would extend the reprieve to each of the 186 inmates on the state’s […] Full Story
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‘Thrilled’ at news of papal visit, Philadelphia Catholics thinking big
By MATTHEW GAMBINO, Catholic News Service
Published November 27, 2014PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—After the historic announcement by Pope Francis that he will visit Philadelphia next September, the reality of the challenges and joys of the event is sinking in for planners, civic officials and ordinary Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It will be a “once-in-a-lifetime chance for Philadelphia to shine,” Daniel Hilferty called the 2015 […] Full Story
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Catholic presence at Battle of Gettysburg still evident 150 years later
By LOU BALDWIN, CNS
Published July 4, 2013PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—They were Poles, Austrians, Germans, Czechs, Italians, Irish—especially Irish—and they had one thing in common. They were Catholics, many of them new immigrants but loyal Americans. Seven score and 10 years ago, as President Abraham Lincoln might say, many of them participated in the crucial Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863, and some of […] Full Story
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Gosnell’s Conviction Shows ‘Ugliness Of Abortion’
By CNS
Published May 23, 2013PHILADELPHIA (CNS)—Dr. Kermit Gosnell may have been convicted May 13 of murder at his Philadelphia abortion clinic, but “nothing can bring back the innocent children he killed, or make up for the vulnerable women he exploited,” said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. And, he added, “the repugnance of his clinic conditions” must be remembered. In a […] Full Story