Nostra Aetate opened Catholics to the world
In or out? Us or them? Where do we draw the line? Should we draw the line? Once a line is drawn, how do we look beyond our borders?
Renewing bonds between Muslim and Catholic youth
TORONTO - After a year on hiatus, the Muslim- Catholic Student Dialogue has relaunched with high hopes for more successful bridge-building between the Muslim and Catholic communities in the Archdiocese of Toronto.
WASHINGTON - Pope Francis touched down in Washington on Sept. 22 after a historic visit to Cuba, the first Latin American Pope in history on his first trip to the United States. He comes “as a migrant,” as a top papal aide put it, on a six-day visit filled with great expectations for the popular pontiff but also numerous challenges.
Holguin Catholics experience the unimaginable: papal Mass in public
HOLGUIN, Cuba - The scene would have been unimaginable a few years ago: A Catholic Mass in Holguin's Revolution Plaza, where May Day parades and other patriotic events exalting the Cuban Revolution take place.
Holguin Catholics delighted their time has come for papal visit
HOLGUIN, Cuba - Popes have come and gone from Cuba, and this city of 300,000 or so always has prepared but never has been picked for a visit by a pope -- until now.
Head of Scottish bishops apologizes to abuse victims, Catholics
GLASGOW, Scotland - The president of the Scottish bishops' conference offered a "profound apology" to victims of child abuse following a national review of Church safeguarding procedures.
ROME - A Tuscany priest is offering a baby bonus of more than $2,000 to Italian Catholic families who have three or more children. But there are strings attached.
If God’s house is divided, it’s headed for ruin
OTTAWA - To win the world for Jesus Christ, Christians must overcome divisions among themselves, Franciscan Father Dmitri Sala told the Fire and Fusion Conference here Aug. 6.
OXFORD, England - French and British Catholic bishops urged their governments to settle a growing refugee crisis around the port of Calais, where highways have been blocked and migrants from Africa and the Middle East have died attempting illegal crossings of the Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel.
Pope creates exarchate for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has established an apostolic exarchate, the precursor to a diocese, for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada and has named their current Toronto-based chaplain, Fr. Jose Kalluvelil, a bishop and head of the exarchate.
Church must welcome divorced, remarried Catholics, Pope says
Speaking out on one of the most contentious issues of his papacy, Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the Church to embrace Catholics who have divorced and remarried, telling a gathering at the Vatican Aug. 5 that such couples “are not excommunicated, and they absolutely must not be treated that way.”
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has welcomed the election of a new patriarch for the Armenian Catholic Church, extending what is known as "ecclesial communion" to Patriarch Gregoire Pierre XX Ghabroyan of Cilicia, who was elected by his fellow Armenian bishops July 24.
MUNICH - A German Catholic Church leader condemned an arson attack that destroyed a reception centre for asylum seekers.
CCCB promotes dialogue with Muslims
OTTAWA - Canada’s Catholic bishops have released a pamphlet to promote understanding and dialogue with Muslims meant to coincide with Id al-Fitr, the July 18 feast marking the end of Ramadan.
REGINA - Saskatchewan’s bishops are urging the province’s Catholics to raise their voices in defence of life and human dignity for all.