Catholic Church - Page 48

The battle between good and evil is at the heart of the Christian life, Pope Francis told pilgrims Sunday, which means resisting the devil, God’s “quintessential opponent.”

“The Chattanooga Police Department is investigating after someone vandalized a 5-foot tall statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the St. Stephen Catholic Church,” reports local media.

A group of Catholics turned out Wednesday evening to pray the Rosary at the site of a Virgin Mary statue that had been set ablaze over the weekend outside of St. Peter Parish in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

Hundreds gathered Saturday to grieve over what remained of California’s 249-year-old San Gabriel Mission, founded by St. Junípero Serra, after a fire engulfed the historic church in the early hours of the morning.

Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian denied allegations Thursday that Beijing had “pressured” Pope Francis into not speaking about freedom and human rights in Hong Kong during his Angelus message last Sunday.

Leaders of the U.S. bishops’ conference praised the Supreme Court’s defense of the Little Sisters of the Poor against immoral bullying while underscoring deeper problems that remain with the Obama-era Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate.

The head of the Vatican’s coronavirus taskforce said Tuesday that humanity is facing “a tsunami of humanitarian crises” caused by the convergence of medical, economic, and environmental factors.

Pope Francis denounced the “abuses and violence” afflicting African migrants in Libya in a homily Wednesday commemorating his visit to Lampedusa at the outset of his pontificate.

ROME — Pope Francis decided at the last minute to pull a section of his weekly Angelus address dealing with Hong Kong freedoms Sunday.

The bishop of Lafayette, Indiana, has suspended a priest from public ministry for penning an essay saying that Black Lives Matter had betrayed the civil rights legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglas.

Pope Francis has thrown his support behind the United Nations’ appeal for a global ceasefire to address fallout from the coronavirus, telling pilgrims in the Vatican Sunday that the measure represents a “courageous first step.”

The redoubtable Cardinal Joseph Zen said this week that he is prepared to suffer arrest and trials under Hong Kong’s draconian new National Security Law.

Pope Francis offered his condolences and promised prayers to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI Thursday following the death of Benedict’s brother Georg, who was also a Catholic priest.

The United States bishops praised Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow a tax credit scholarship program to benefit families whose children attend religiously affiliated schools.

Pope Francis told members of the Catholic Press Association Tuesday that the media should build bridges, defend life, and help people, especially the young, “to distinguish good from evil.”

The chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ committee for pro-life activities denounced Monday’s Supreme Court decision that perpetuates the “cruel precedent” of prioritizing the abortion industry over women’s health and well-being.

Pope Francis told the faithful Monday that Christians should avoid criticizing both civil and religious leaders because such complaints “change nothing” but instead create divisions in the community.

Pope Francis urged Christians on Monday to treasure the presence of elderly family members and not to discard them like “waste material.”

People’s “gender identity” is given to them by God and is directly tied to their biological sex, the Vatican has declared in a major catechetical text published this week.

The United States bishops have called for an end to discrimination against religious providers of adoption and foster care services who believe that children need a mother and a father.

Veteran Vatican journalist Edward Pentin has launched a fascinating “who’s who” of the Catholic college of cardinals, meant to serve as a racing form to handicap, and perhaps influence, the next papal election.

The United States bishops have issued a stinging rebuke to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), calling on American Catholics to pray for Chinese Christians and to inform themselves on the abuses being carried out by the government of Xi Jinping.

Pope Francis had sharp words last weekend for “disobedient” priests who continued saying public Mass for the faithful and hearing confessions during the coronavirus lockdown, accusing them of behaving like “adolescents.”

San Francisco archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone has condemned the recent destruction of the statue of Saint Junipero Serra, blaming it on the hijacking of protests by irrational destructive forces and “mob rule.”

The Catholic Church in the United States is celebrating Religious Freedom Week, highlighting Tuesday the defense of houses of worship.

Exiled Chinese dissident Guo Wengui said this weekend that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “allocates $2 billion a year” to pay off the Vatican for its silence concerning Chinese atrocities.

ROME — Pope Francis has added “Comfort of Migrants” to the litany of traditional titles by which Catholics invoke the Virgin Mary. In a letter dated June 20, Cardinal Robert Sarah, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship, declared

Pope Francis pointed to silver linings of the coronavirus lockdowns Sunday, noting that forcing people to stay home and not work has diminished traffic, noise levels, and air pollution.

Pope Francis spoke on Christian persecution Sunday, praising the witness of those who face physical violence “merely for the fact of being Christians.”

Presidential candidate Joe Biden appears in a new Planned Parenthood advertisement, promising the abortion giant the full support of his presidency.

The Maryland bishops released a pastoral letter Monday decrying the sin of racism and confessing their own participation in it.

Pope Francis has called for an end to violence in Libya as well as the establishment of “pathways” for the hundreds of thousands of migrants wishing to travel to Europe.

Pope Francis urged Christians Saturday to live in hope despite the many serious troubles and sorrows that plague our world.

Pope Francis has reached out to the people of Brazil, promising his prayers during the trying time of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Vatican said Wednesday that migrants and refugees are subject to “numerous types of injustice and discrimination” and deserve special attention during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian bishops have blasted proposed anti-homo/transphobia laws as both unnecessary and stifling of freedom of thought.