Vatican City, Feb 16, 2019 CNA.- Pope Francis’ recent letter to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro confirmed the Holy See’s position on the Venezuelan crisis, while demonstrating that Maduro has become an increasingly isolated global figure.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When presented with an accusation that a priest has sexually abused a child, "whether it's criminal or malicious complicity and a code of silence or whether it is denial" on a very human level, such reactions are no longer tolerable, said the Vatican's top investigator of abuse cases.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The accusations surrounding former U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick have been hanging over U.S. bishops and faith communities in the dioceses and archdioceses where he served -- New York, Metuchen and Newark in New Jersey, and Washington -- since last year.
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The Archdiocese of Boston released the following statement from Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley regarding the dismissal of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick from the clerical state -- Editor. Today Pope Francis rendered as final and irrevocable the recent decision by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith to dismiss former Archbishop Theodore McCarrick from the clerical state. This action by the Holy Father is important in administering justice for the crimes and sins committed by the former Archbishop.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has confirmed the removal from the priesthood of Theodore E. McCarrick, the 88-year-old former cardinal and archbishop of Washington. The Vatican announced the decision Feb. 16, saying he was found guilty of "solicitation in the sacrament of confession and sins against the Sixth Commandment with minors and with adults, with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power."
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NATICK -- Dozens of priests and bishops joined family and friends at St. Patrick Church in Natick Feb. 8 to bid farewell to Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Walter Edyvean. Bishop Edyvean had lived at St. Patrick's for many years as West Regional bishop and in his retirement.
Read moreBRAINTREE -- The bishops of the four Catholic dioceses of Massachusetts released a statement to be distributed at all Massachusetts parishes Feb. 16-17 in preparation for the upcoming Vatican summit addressing sexual abuse and accountability in the Church.
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We write as your pastors; we write also at a critical moment for the Catholic Church in Massachusetts, in the nation and throughout the world. The issue which confronts us all, but especially confronts us as bishops, is the sexual abuse crisis that has again enveloped the life of the Church.
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BRAINTREE -- Nineteen aspiring leaders and four apprentice principals recently gathered to discuss school governance models and to hear from a panel of three experts from Archdiocese of Boston Catholic schools. This session began with the aspiring leaders meeting in small groups that changed every 10 minutes and they discussed school governance models, benchmarks, and diversity of stakeholders.
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CARVER -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley visited Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Feb. 3 to celebrate Mass and bless the newly renovated building. Our Lady of Lourdes is part of a collaborative with St. Peter Parish and St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth. When Father Joseph Raeke was assigned to the collaborative in June 2018, it did not take long for him to decide they needed to renovate the worship space, which was located in a former drugstore.
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[This is the first in a series of articles profiling each of the 13 men who will be ordained to the priesthood on May 18.] BRIGHTON -- Deacon Timothy Hynes grew up in a large Catholic household, where his faith was nurtured and would ultimately mature into a vocation to the priesthood.
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The winter months are often a time of year when many people are called home to God, and in recent days we have lost three fine priests of the Archdiocese of Boston -- Father Paul Bailey and Father Vincent Maffei and Bishop Walter Edyvean.
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PARKLAND, Fla. (CNS) -- One day before the anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, neighboring Mary Help of Christians School held a prayer service to pay tribute to the victims.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The sacred liturgy is meant to help the people of God conform their heart, mind and actions more closely to Christ, Pope Francis said. "We know that it is not enough to change liturgical books to improve the quality of the liturgy. To just do this would be a deception," he said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has named Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, 71, the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, to serve as the camerlengo or chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The president of Microsoft, Brad Smith, told Pope Francis that a "human voice" was needed to speak up in the world of technology today. "A human voice like that of the church" with its values and authority, he said, telling the pope, "We appreciate your voice. We really feel this is a critical moment in time."
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Time, experience and reflection have "purified" liberation theology and its attempts to make clear what the Gospel says about social injustice, Pope Francis said. "Today, we old people laugh about how worried we were about liberation theology," the pope told 30 Jesuits from Central America when he met them Jan. 26 in Panama during World Youth Day.
Read moreWASHINGTON (CNS) -- Dioceses in the state of New Jersey made public Feb. 13 the names of priests whom they said had been "credibly accused" of sexual abuse of minors, and one of the names is former U.S. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prayer is not just a private and intimate dialogue between a person and God, but rather an opportunity for Christians to bring the needs of others before the Lord, Pope Francis said.
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Vatican City, Feb 13, 2019 CNA/EWTN News.- Pope Francis Wednesday approved the canonization of Bl. John Henry Newman, a Roman Catholic cardinal, scholar, and founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England.
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Denver, Colo., Feb 12, 2019 CNA.- Archbishop Theodore McCarrick will reportedly be laicized this week, if he is found guilty of having sexually abused minors. But what does it mean to be “laicized,” “defrocked,” or “dismissed from the clerical state?”
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An independent investigation into the much-discussed encounter that went viral between Catholic high school students, a Native American tribal leader and members of another protest group on the Lincoln Memorial grounds in Washington in January found no evidence that the students of Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School issued "offensive or racist statements."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- All eyes and ears will be on the Vatican during an unprecedented gathering Feb. 21-24 to discuss the protection of minors in the Catholic Church. When Pope Francis announced the international meeting in September, it sparked an optimistic note that the global problem of abuse finally would be tackled with a concerted, coordinated, global effort.
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