Author Archive
Catholic officials call for prayer, action after Colorado shooting
IMAGE: CNS photo/Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic leaders are calling for prayer and action in response to the May 7 school shooting inside a charter school near Denver. One teenager died and eight other students were wounded. "Action is needed to …
‘Today God has answered their prayers’: Pakistan releases Asia Bibi
IMAGE: CNS photo/Asad Karim, Reuters By Simon Caldwell MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — Pakistani authorities freed Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy, and she has flown to Canada to join her family at a secret address. Her release was confirmed May 8 by Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani …
Catholic minorities can still change the world, pope says at audience
IMAGE: CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God’s miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said. …
Pope says study on women deacons was inconclusive
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA (CNS) — The commission Pope Francis appointed to study the history and identity of women deacons did not reach a unanimous conclusion about whether deaconesses in the early church were "ordained" or formally "blessed," the pope …
Tolkien fan gets to direct a movie on his life
IMAGE: CNS photo/Fox Searchlight By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Dome Karukoski shared one critical, albeit sad, boyhood link with J.R.R. Tolkien: being fatherless. Karukoski, then 12 years old, grew enamored of Tolkien’s books. "I was bullied, without a father. I was alone, and those stories, they became friends to …
Update: Pope Francis called Jean Vanier to thank him before his death
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Jean Vanier Association By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA (CNS) — Pope Francis told reporters May 7 he had been kept informed about Jean Vanier’s failing health and had phoned him a week before his death. "He listened to me, but he could …
Georgia governor signs heartbeat bill restricting state abortions
By ATLANTA (CNS) — Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation May 7 to ban abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks. The bill’s signing comes after weeks of protests and amid outcry for legal action against it. "We will not back …
Pope draws lessons from Mother Teresa in city of her birth
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden SKOPJE, North Macedonia (CNS) — Pope Francis went to the tiny Balkan nation of North Macedonia to pay tribute to a tiny saint who accomplished big things: St. Teresa of Kolkata. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Ganxhe Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents in Skopje …
Early evacuation in India spares more than 1 million from deadly cyclone
IMAGE: CNS photo/R. Narendra, Reuters By NEW DELHI (CNS) — A powerful cyclone ripped through eastern India and sideswiped Bangladesh, leaving a trail of destruction and more than 30 deaths. Authorities said the evacuation of 1.2 million people from more than 10,000 villages prior to Cyclone Fani’s landfall May 3 …
Pope names relator general, special secretaries for Amazon synod
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has chosen Brazil’s Cardinal Claudio Hummes to serve as relator general of next year’s Synod of Bishops on the Amazon. The nomination of the 84-year-old retired Archbishop of Sao Paulo was announced at the Vatican on …