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  • World

    Irish abuse survivor wants Vatican summit to increase accountability

    1/14/2019

    DUBLIN (CNS) -- A prominent survivor and advocate for those affected by clerical abuse has urged Pope Francis to publicly name bishops who have been found guilty of negligence by church tribunals. Marie Collins -- who was a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors from 2014 to 2017 -- also said that, during the Vatican summit on safeguarding in February, the pope should set out comprehensive procedures to hold bishops accountable.

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  • World

    Pope meets with Chilean bishops, discusses abuse crisis

    1/14/2019

    VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis spent nearly three hours with bishops from Chile discussing the sexual abuse crisis that has rocked the church in the country, a Chilean bishop said. Briefing journalists on the bishops' meeting with the pope Jan. 13, Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Perez, apostolic administrator of Rancagua and secretary-general of the bishops' conference, said they met for one hour with the pope at Vatican's Apostolic Palace and were invited to have lunch for nearly two hours with him to discuss "the situation of the church in Chile."

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  • World

    Rome mayor says Caritas will still get Trevi Fountain coins

    1/14/2019

    ROME (CNS) -- After weeks of confusion and consternation, Rome's mayor told the Vatican newspaper that Rome Caritas would benefit not only from the coins tourists throw in the Trevi Fountain, but from coins tossed in any of the city's historic water features.

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  • World

    Faith is passed on at home, pope tells parents at baptism

    1/14/2019

    VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Faith isn't something learned just by studying the catechism but rather is a gift passed on to children by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said. Although children learn the tenets of the Catholic faith in catechism class, it is first transmitted in the home "because faith always must be transmitted in dialect: the dialect of the family, the dialect of the home, in the atmosphere of the home," he said before baptizing 27 babies.

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  • Nation

    Shutdown won't deter crowds from marching for life in nation's capital

    1/11/2019

    WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Neither snow nor sleet -- nor partial government shutdown -- will keep pro-lifers away from the nation's capital for the March for Life Jan. 18. If it continues, the shutdown will be almost a month old by then. Daily news reports show the closures of monuments, memorials and the Smithsonian museums in Washington and trash cans overflowing on some federal property -- images that might lead some folks around the country to think it is affecting big events planned for the nation's capital.

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  • Nation

    Pro-lifers: N.Y. abortion bill could one day make being pro-life 'a crime'

    1/11/2019

    ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) -- Officials at the New York State Catholic Conference are calling the Reproductive Health Act "worse than we thought it would be." "It foresees a time in New York where it's a crime to be pro-life," said Kathleen Gallagher, director of pro-life activities and the Catholic Action Network for the conference, which is the public policy arm of the state's Catholic bishops.

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  • World

    Pope will go to Romania calling for unity, focus on the common good

    1/11/2019

    VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will make a three-day apostolic visit to Romania in late May, the Vatican announced. Accepting invitations from President Klaus Iohannis and from Catholic leaders, the pope will visit the capital of Bucharest, the cities of Iasi and Blaj, and the Marian sanctuary in Sumuleu Ciuc in the Transylvanian region.

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  • Local

    Witness to Life pilgrims prepare for annual pro-life march

    1/11/2019

    BRAINTREE -- Pro-life pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Boston are preparing to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to attend the 46th annual March for Life. Approximately 190 pilgrims will travel by bus through the archdiocese's Witness to Life pilgrimage to participate in the March for Life on Jan. 18. In addition to those going on the Witness to Life pilgrimage, 150 people from Cardinal Spellman High School and about 300 from various schools and parishes in the archdiocese are traveling independently.

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  • Local

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    1/11/2019

    Here in Boston, we have the beautiful custom of ending the old year and beginning the new year in church. So, on New Year's Eve, I went to St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine for the archdiocese's annual New Year's Eve Vigil and Mass for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. We are grateful to the Oblates of the Virgin Mary for their gracious hospitality again this year.

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  • Nation

    Bishops describe their retreat as inspiring, Spirit-filled

    1/10/2019

    WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Although the weeklong retreat for U.S. Catholic bishops emphasized quiet reflection, several bishops spoke out on social media during the retreat and after it wrapped up Jan. 8 with positive reaction about it and to give shoutouts to the retreat leader, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, who has preached to popes and top officials of the Roman Curia for nearly 40 years.

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