Washington DC
-
New rules expand exemptions on contraceptive mandate
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published October 23, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—The Trump administration Oct. 6 issued interim rules expanding the exemption to the contraceptive mandate for religious employers, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, who object on moral grounds to covering contraceptive and abortion-inducing drugs and devices in their employee health insurance. Leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops praised the […] Full Story | En Español
-
Catholic Charities USA, Knights sending aid to Puerto Rico
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published October 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Catholic Charities USA has sent $1 million in emergency aid to Caritas Puerto Rico, the Catholic Charities agency on the island, and the Knights of Columbus is including Puerto Rico in its expanded emergency relief outreach to areas hit hard by recent natural disasters. When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico Sept. 20, […] Full Story
-
Rev. King’s words on nonviolence need to be lived today, speakers say
By MARK PATTISON, Catholic News Service
Published October 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s support of nonviolence to bring about social change applies as much to today’s society as it did when Rev. King put his philosophy to paper 60 years ago, said speakers at an Oct. 2 news conference at the memorial dedicated to the civil rights figure in Washington. That […] Full Story
-
Share the Journey campaign urges Catholics to connect with migrants
By DENNIS SADOWSKI, Catholic News Service
Published October 5, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—A prayer here, a share on social media there, a voice of support in a letter to the editor, even a get-to-know-others potluck. Supporting refugees and migrants can take many forms, and Pope Francis is hoping Catholics around the world will act over the next two years to encounter people on the move. In […] Full Story | En Español
-
USCCB president, pope call for prayers after ‘unspeakable terror’
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published October 2, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—The nation has experienced “yet another night filled with unspeakable terror” and “we need to pray and to take care of those who are suffering,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. In Las Vegas, a gunman now identified by law enforcement officials as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, was […] Full Story
-
Catholic Charities USA, Knights among agencies sending aid to Puerto Rico
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published September 27, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Catholic Charities USA has sent $1 million in emergency aid to Caritas Puerto Rico, the Catholic Charities agency on the island, and the Knights of Columbus is including Puerto Rico in its expanded emergency relief outreach to areas hit hard by recent natural disasters. When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico Sept. 20, […] Full Story
-
Rockport, Texas priest in constant recovery mode for parishioners who ‘lost everything’
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published September 21, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Three weeks after Hurricane Harvey ripped through the Texas Gulf, where it first made landfall and flattened or tore apart homes and businesses in its path, residents were still picking up the pieces, literally, while dealing with no running water or electricity and limited cellphone service. Franciscan Father John Tran Nguyen, pastor of St. […] Full Story
-
Where to give to assist with Hurricane Harvey recovery
Published September 7, 2017
WASHINGTON (CNS)—Several organizations have established emergency relief operations for the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Harvey and the floods in Texas and Louisiana. Contributions can be made to: – Catholic Charities USA: online at https://catholiccharitiesusa.org; telephone at 800-919-9338; mail to P.O. Box 17066, Baltimore, Maryland 21297-1066 and write “Hurricane Harvey” in the memo line […] Full Story
-
Catholic leaders sharply criticize Trump’s decision to end DACA
By KURT JENSEN, Catholic News Service
Published September 6, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Catholic church leaders, immigration officials and university presidents were swift and unanimous in their condemnation of President Donald Trump’s Sept. 5 decision to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals known as DACA. “In the past, the president stated that the Dreamer story ‘is about the heart,’ yet (the) decision is nothing short of […] Full Story
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Pope Francis names North Carolina priest auxiliary bishop for Atlanta
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published May 15, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Pope Francis has appointed Father Bernard E. Shlesinger III, a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, to be an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Bishop-designate Shlesinger, 56, is currently the director of spiritual formation at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. The appointment was announced in Washington May 15 by […] Full Story
-
Long-awaited executive order on religion has unclear path ahead
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published May 5, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—At a White House Rose Garden ceremony May 4, President Donald Trump told a group of religious leaders: “It was looking like you’d never get here, but you got here, folks,” referring to their presence at the signing of the executive order on religious liberty. And maybe some in the group wondered where “here” […] Full Story
-
Justice Department holds on to Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate
By CAROL ZIMMERMANN, Catholic News Service
Published May 5, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Groups that legally challenged the Affordable Care Act’s contraception requirement for employers still do not have clear direction on how to move forward because nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court sent their cases back to the lower courts, the Justice Department still is appealing some of them. On April 24, the Justice […] Full Story
-
Trump signs bill to let states redirect funds away from abortion clinics
By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Published April 20, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Donald Trump signed a bill into law April 13 that allows states to redirect Title X family planning funding away from clinics that perform abortions and to community clinics that provide comprehensive health care for women and children. The new law overrides a rule change made in the last days of the Obama […] Full Story
-
Georgetown to rename buildings honoring a slave, black teacher
By RHINA GUIDOS, Catholic News Service
Published April 10, 2017WASHINGTON (CNS)—Georgetown University has chosen April 18 as the date to rename two buildings on campus previously named for priests who sold 272 women, children and men into slavery for financial gain in 1838. The Jesuit university based in Washington announced that the process will begin with a spiritual ceremony honoring the slaves prior to […] Full Story