GENEVA (CNS) -- Not only God, but today's broken, divided world is begging for unity among Christians, Pope Francis said on an ecumenical pilgrimage to Geneva. "Our differences must not be excuses," he said, because as Christ's disciples, Christians can still pray together, evangelize and serve others.
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Vatican City, Jun 21, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- Pope Francis landed in Geneva Thursday for a day-trip aimed at bolstering ecumenical relations, saying off the bat that division among Christians is borne from worldliness, and Christ must be prioritized over any differences that might get in the way of unity.
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Washington D.C., Jun 20, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- The Archbishop of Los Angeles said he “welcomes” an executive order signed Wednesday by President Trump, and called on Congress to act on immigration reform.
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Vatican City, Jun 20, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- In an interview with Reuters, Pope Francis said more space has to be created for women to take on leading roles in the Roman Curia, but that priestly ordination is not an option.
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Fort Worth, Texas, Jun 20, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- As thousands of children have been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexican border in recent weeks, Catholic Charities Fort Worth has opened its doors to shelter the unaccompanied migrant children.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Vatican has told Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington, that he can no longer exercise any public ministry after an allegation that he abused a teenager 47 years ago was found credible.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 20 that halts his administration's family separation policy for families who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
The executive order seeks to work around a 1997 consent decree that bars the federal government from keeping children in immigration detention -- even if they are with their parents -- for more than 20 days. The executive order instructs the attorney general to seek federal court permission to modify the consent decree.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Ten Commandments given by God are meant to protect his children from self-destruction; they are not harsh rules meant to enslave and oppress, Pope Francis said. Since the days of Adam and Eve, the devil has sought to deceive people into believing that the rules set forth by God are "the imposition of a despot who prohibits and forces" rather than a loving father "who is taking care of his children," the pope said June 20 at his general audience in St. Peter's Square.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- No periphery is far enough away to escape a pope's purview. Not even outer space. From Pope Gregory XIII's observational tower built in the Vatican Gardens in the 16th century so celestial studies could aid the reform of the calendar to Pope Leo XIII, who officially re-founded the Vatican Observatory in the late 19th century, popes have kept their eyes fixed on the heavens.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Cecil Roberts was growing up in coal country in West Virginia in the 1960s, he said you could always count on seeing the images of three men on the walls of coal company houses.
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Vatican City, Jun 20, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- The Archdiocese of New York announced Wednesday that an investigation they conducted into allegations of sexual abuse against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who oversaw multiple major U.S. dioceses, has found the accusations to be “credible and substantiated.”
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, said June 20 he will no longer exercise any public ministry "in obedience" to the Vatican after an allegation he abused a teenager 47 years ago was found credible.
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Philadelphia, Pa., Jun 19, 2018 CNA.- Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput turned over his weekly Catholic Philly column to a University of Notre Dame student, who hopes an upcoming Vatican synod will encourage young people to take personal responsibility for the “decisive missions” of vocations and Christian discipleship.
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Sacramento, Calif., Jun 19, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- A California judge has reinstated the state’s assisted suicide law, making it legal for terminally ill patients to end their lives while a court case is resolved – a move some critics say targets the vulnerable.
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London, England, Jun 19, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- A relic discovered last year by a U.K. waste management company found a home Tuesday in London's Westminster Cathedral. “Choosing an appropriate resting place was very important to us,” said Enviro Waste Owner James Rubin in a statement on the company's website. “Therefore, we think Westminster Cathedral is the best and safest place for the bone due to its importance to the church and to ensure that it won’t get lost again!”
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops "cannot, in good faith, endorse" an immigration bill submitted by the House's Republican leadership, said Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Migration.
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LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (CNS) -- Several hours before Brooks Koepka captured his second straight U.S. Open golf championship June 17 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, Father Tom Guido continued a personal Father's Day tradition by celebrating Mass at his 16th straight U.S. Open.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A study by the Pew Research Center found that young adults worldwide are generally less religious than older adults by a variety of measures. The study, which drew upon previous surveys by Pew, concluded that this was true regardless of the predominant religion in the country, its level of economic development, or its level of religiosity. It defined young people as those under 40 years of age and older people as those 40 or older.
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CUCUTA, Colombia (CNS) -- The director of Caritas Colombia has called for dialogue between the country's new president-elect and former leftist guerrillas to prevent the return of guerrilla warfare.
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Vatican City, Jun 19, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- According to the official working document for the upcoming synod of bishops on youth, the major questions for young people ahead of the October discussion surround issues of sexuality and gender, the role of women and the desire for a Church that knows how to listen.
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Canberra, Australia, Jun 18, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- As Australian states and territories pass and consider laws requiring priests to break the seal of confession to report cases of child sex abuse, Catholic priests are saying they would go to jail rather than violate the seal.
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Toronto, Ohio, Jun 18, 2018 CNA.- Every single vocation story is different, but Sr. Rita Clare (Anne) Yoches is probably one of the more unusual. Sr. Rita Clare, who this month will profess final vows with the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, was a four-time national champion professional football player prior to entering the convent.
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LEON, Nicaragua (CNS) -- For older residents of Leon's Sutiaba neighborhood, the country's recent protests bring back vivid memories of the insurrection of 1979 that toppled the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Caring for creation goes hand-in-hand with the mission of helping retreat-goers connect with God at the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma, Ohio. The center's tree-enshrouded grounds that filter the sound of nearby traffic in the middle of Cleveland's largest suburb offer a home for wildlife and a respite for those seeking a quiet place to pray and reflect about God in their life.
Read moreMANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Nearly 500 British priests have signed a statement in support of the papal encyclical that forbade married couples from using contraception. They said the prophetic warnings contained within "Humane Vitae," (Of Human Life) published by Blessed Pope Paul VI July 25 1968, have proved to be accurate.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- All dictatorships begin the same way: media outlets are put in the hands of "unscrupulous" people who spread lies and weaken democracy, Pope Francis said. Typical standards, norms and laws in regard to communications are first eliminated, the pope said in his homily June 18 during morning Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The brother of Chilean Father Fernando Karadima called on his brother to ask forgiveness for the hurt inflicted on those he sexually abused. "I would ask him to be humble. Fernando, ask for forgiveness. Not in silence to God or in your prayers. Do it publicly, that people hear that you ask forgiveness for the harm you have done to victims and to everyone," Oscar Karadima said in an interview with Chilean newspaper La Tercera, published June 17.
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Washington D.C., Jun 15, 2018 CNA.- The Trump administration has pointed to the Bible in justifying its “zero-tolerance immigration policy,” which includes the separation of immigrant children from their parents.
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Vatican City, Jun 16, 2018 CNA/EWTN News.- In a speech to a family association Saturday, Pope Francis again stressed that God's vision of the family is between a man and a woman, and compared the abortion of children who are sick or disabled to a Nazi mentality.
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (CNS) -- Julie Asher is the recipient of the 2018 St. Francis de Sales Award from the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. The award recognizes "outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism" and is the highest honor given by CPA. It was presented during a June 15 luncheon at the Catholic Media Conference in Green Bay.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CNS) -- New medical directives governing health care partnerships and revisions to the charter on the protection of young people were approved during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' spring general assembly.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CNS) -- Challenges to religious freedom continue to emerge and the U.S. Catholic Church will remain steadfast in addressing them to serve the common good, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, told the spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With the help of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a 15th-century copy of a letter Christopher Columbus sent to his royal patrons describing the riches of the New World has been returned to its rightful owner -- the Vatican.
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DORCHESTER -- St. Mary's Center for Women and Children in Dorchester announced last week that it has raised the funds to meet a $1 million donation match offer from Amazon. Originally part of the now-closed St. Margaret's Hospital, St. Mary's Center was founded in 1993. The center provides programs and services for over 600 homeless women and their families each year, offering them a range of support, including employment training, emergency shelter, and educational, clinical, and preventive services.
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EASTON -- Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, used to attract great crowds for his Rosary Rallies. He still does. A large gathering of families and individuals turned out for an event to honor the American priest being considered for sainthood by the Vatican on June 10 at Holy Cross Family Ministries in North Easton.
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BRAINTREE -- Saying he "cannot be silent," Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley issued a statement June 13 condemning the Trump Administration's policy of separating children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, calling the practice "harmful and unjust."
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Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta Last Friday (6/1), I went to Atlanta to participate in their annual Eucharistic Congress. This is a 24-year tradition for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. It was started by Archbishop John Donoghue and Archbishop Wilton Gregory has continued and augmented this wonderful event, which has grown to about 30,000 participants.
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Boston -- The Boston Foundation announced its quarterly discretionary grants after a meeting of the Foundation's Board of Directors this week. The Board approved $2,160,375 in single and multi-year discretionary grants to 19 nonprofits to be paid out beginning in April 2018. Of the 19 grants, four provide multi-year support. In addition, the Board approved another $541,500 in single-year Open Door grants to 25 additional Boston-area nonprofits, and it acknowledged $1,615,356 in between-cycles discretionary small grants through other programs of the Foundation.
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