In pastoral letter, bishop urges effective communication of the Gospel (Catholic Herald) At a time when all people are yearning for a message of hope, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge wants the church to be ready to use all manner of media to proclaim the Good News. In his pastoral letter released Sept. 14, “In Tongues All Can Hear: Communicating the Hope of Christ in Times of Trial,” Bishop Burbidge extols the importance of communicating wisely, especially when using digital media…
El Paso cathedral vandalized (Diocese of El Paso) We are saddened to announce the vandalism at St. Patrick Cathedral earlier today. The Cathedral was vandalized this morning at around 10:00am. A suspect came into the sanctuary at St. Patrick Cathedral and destroyed the almost 90-year-old statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was located in the center behind the main altar of the church…
Michigan priest compared BLM to 9/11 terrorists (AP) The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in suburban Detroit is apologizing after a fellow priest likened Black Lives Matter to the people responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The Rev. Paul Graney’s homily Saturday created “division, anger, confusion and chaos,” the Rev. Bob McCabe of the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn said on Facebook. “As your pastor, I want to assure you that at Divine Child we love and respect all persons. Every person is sacred in the eyes of God regardless of their race, religion or sexuality,” McCabe said…
California bishops launch year-long anti-racism initiative (CNS) The Catholic bishops of California have announced a yearlong initiative to address personal and systematic racism, both in the Church and wider society. After a Sept. 9 Zoom conference with African American Catholic leaders from their state, the California bishops released a statement pledging to “begin a journey aimed at converting our hearts to more fully understand the extent and nature of the sin of racism in ourselves, our church and our nation. This journey is intended to offer tangible change…”
Priest in Italy known for his ‘care for the least’ dies of stab wounds (CNA) A 51-year-old priest was found dead from knife wounds Tuesday near his parish in the city of Como, Italy. Fr. Roberto Malgesini was known for his devotion to the homeless and migrants in the northern Italian diocese. The pastor died in a street near his parish of the Church of St. Rocco after sustaining several stab wounds, including one to the neck, around 7 a.m. Sept. 15. A 53-year-old man from Tunisia admitted to the stabbing and turned himself in to police shortly afterward. The man was understood to suffer from some mental ailments and was known by Malgesini, who had let him sleep in a room for the homeless run by the parish…
Catholic Health Association weighs in on potential COVID-19 vaccine (CNS) The group, which is based in St. Louis and oversees more than 2,200 Catholic hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the U.S., highlighted its stance on the vaccine’s development and distribution in a September letter to a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The letter, signed by Mercy Sister Mary Haddad, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, stressed that Catholic health officials appreciated the committee’s work outlining the eventual distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. She said the draft outline shows respect for human dignity and recognizes the role health care providers and communities have in vaccine distribution…
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