Economy

At 100, Catholic Charities works to find new answers to end poverty
Sep 12 2010
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Catholic Charities USA officials Father Larry Snyder and Candy Hill say they honestly hope the agency never reaches its 200th anniversary in 2110.

At father’s urging, Estevez makes film he sees as metaphor for life
Sep 05 2010
TORONTO – Actor and director Emilio Estevez reluctantly went to Spain to tell a story about how faith, hope and walking are all part of the American way of overcoming hard times.

After bankruptcy, Iowa diocese raises $22 million in capital campaign
Aug 30 2010
DAVENPORT, Iowa – Boosting morale in a diocese deeply wounded because of the abuse of children by some clergy in past decades, Catholics in the Davenport Diocese pledged $22 million in a capital campaign that succeeded despite the worst economic conditions in decades.

Faith comes alive at Catholic Charities
Aug 12 2010
Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien has asked individuals to serve as guest columnists in August. William McCarthy is a parishioner of Church of the Nativity in Timonium and serves as executive director of Catholic Charities.

Prisoner releases, ongoing talks with Castro give Cuban cardinal hope
Aug 04 2010
WASHINGTON – The release of the first 20 of 52 political prisoners the Cuban government has promised to set free is a hopeful sign for the country, said Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino.

Bishops, other faith leaders commend ruling on Arizona immigration law
Jul 29 2010
PHOENIX – Arizona’s Catholic bishops were among religious leaders who praised a July 28 ruling that blocked enforcement of the most controversial sections of the state’s immigration law a day before it took effect.

Baltimore maternity home suspends operations because of finances
Jul 27 2010
Sparrow House, Baltimore’s only maternity home for women in crisis pregnancies, suspended operations July 1 – a victim of a decline in financial support. The four women living at the house were relocated to other maternity homes throughout the state.

Study: Half of children poor at birth spend formative years in poverty
Jul 23 2010
WASHINGTON – A study released by the Urban Institute shows that 49 percent of children who are poor at birth go on to spend at least half of their childhoods living in poverty, but Lisa Sheehan of St. Ann’s Infant and Maternity Home in Hyattsville said that helping young, single mothers can help turn that around.

Catholic AIDS expert: Study lends credibility to faith leaders’ work
Jul 19 2010
VIENNA – A new U.N. AIDS study has lent credibility to faith leaders who have long argued that behavioral change was a key to combating the spread of the illness, says a Catholic expert on the disease.

Catholic Relief Services reflects on six-month anniversary of Haiti earthquake
Jul 11 2010
Six months ago the earth shook in Haiti for 35 seconds. Thirty five seconds that ended so many lives and changed many more. Let me share with you a story that is very typical of life in Haiti over the last six months.

Church advocates push countries to begin to overcome ‘resource curse’
Jul 03 2010
HUANCAYO, Peru – With its fields of potatoes and artichokes, the Mantaro Valley in the central Andes region of Junin is known as Peru’s breadbasket.

Texas priest urges consumers to support local fishing communities
Jun 17 2010
WASHINGTON - A priest who oversees a Catholic ministry to people who make a living from the sea said consumers should know that shrimp in Texas has not been tainted by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and urged them to support the local seafood industry.

Decentralized government goal of Haiti’s rebuilding effort after quake
Jun 08 2010
WASHINGTON – Road construction and other infrastructure improvements are beginning outside of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in a wide-ranging effort to rebuild parts of the country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

As South Africans get World Cup fever, some Catholics remain skeptical
Jun 06 2010
DURBAN, South Africa - Although World Cup fever is sweeping South Africa, some Catholics are skeptical about its long-term effects. The German Catholic news agency KNA visited South Africa to talk to people about their expectations for the 64 soccer matches that begin in the country June 11.

In Portuguese capital, pope urges Catholics to re-evangelize
May 12 2010
LISBON, Portugal – At a Mass for more than 100,000 people in Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to re-evangelize society by witnessing the joy and hope of the Gospel in every sector of contemporary life.