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Pope prods new U.S. ambassador on life issues
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -— Welcoming the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI outlined wide areas of potential cooperation with the administration of President Barack Obama, but drew a sharp line on the issues of abortion and the rights of conscience.
Two new saints continue to impact American Catholicism
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -— The long path to official sainthood is drawing to a close in October for Blessed Damien de Veuster, a missionary priest famed for his work with leprosy patients in Hawaii.
Obituaries
Ronald Brooks Blasingame, 60, a member of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, died Sept. 22.
Catholic charities help victims of Asia, South Pacific disasters
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNS) -— In a week of natural disasters in Asia and the South Pacific, Catholics gathered to pray for the victims and Catholic aid agencies helped the survivors.
Memphis bishop says time was right for black bishops’ letter
PHILADELPHIA — The main thrust of the 1984 pastoral letter issued by the black Catholic bishops of the United States was evangelization, Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis, Tenn., told a gathering in Philadelphia marking the 25th anniversary of the document.
We must learn to depend more on God and not on our material goods
I’m looking forward to visiting my church’s twin parish in Haiti in a few months. My standard explanation for traveling to the impoverished Caribbean island every couple of years is that I go there to find God. For me, Haiti is a little bit of heaven. (Word to Life, Seeds of Faith)
Pregnancy resource centers helping make abortion rarer
WASHINGTON (CNS) -— Primarily through the work of volunteers, pregnancy resource centers around the country are “empowering women and strengthening communities” by enhancing child and maternal health, according to a former assistant secretary of health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Holy See supports ‘nuclear-free’ Middle East
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -— A Vatican official called for the establishment of a “nuclear-free zone” in the Middle East and urged all countries to work toward the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
Helping friends see what God already sees in them
Oprah imagined the comeback long before Whitney Houston stepped on her stage and delivered it. (Columns)
Justices face cases on a cross and death penalty
WASHINGTON (CNS) -— The Supreme Court opened its 2009 term Oct. 5 with a new justice and cases dealing with at least one religious rights issue -— about a cross on a war memorial in a federal preserve -— and other cases about the circumstances leading to deportation, about an immigrant in detention being denied medical care and several dealing with the sentencing of convicted criminals.
Improve your knowledge of the Bible
Bible literacy is becoming a popular topic in the United States. There is a project to promote reading the Bible as basic knowledge everyone should know. Public schools in Texas and around the country are incorporating it as an elective in their curriculum. Churches are challenging their congregations to read the Bible from cover to cover. (Editorial)
Author’s encounters with rabbi, pastor re-form his faith
The young Mitch Albom, raised and bar-mitzvahed in a conservative synagogue in New Jersey, ran from his rabbi -— he feared that the “man of God” would condemn him for his sins. (Book Review)
