Immediate, long-term relief: Catholic agencies’ response to 2021 disasters December 28, 2021By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, World News Right up through December, extreme weather events and natural disasters of 2021 continued to upend local communities and set agendas for domestic and overseas emergency response efforts at major Catholic aid organizations.
Christians in Bethlehem on Christmas: Tell the world we have joy December 28, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The normal crowds of pilgrims and tourists may not have been able to come to Bethlehem for Christmas due to COVID-19 travel restrictions for a second year in a row, but local Palestinian Christians wanted to assure everyone that the Christmas spirit is still alive and well in the city of Jesus’ birth.
Pope asks pontifical council to begin planning Holy Year 2025 December 28, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Preparations for the Holy Year 2025 have already begun, and Pope Francis has asked the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization to take charge of the efforts.
Desmond Tutu, known for commitment to justice, peace, dies at age 90 December 27, 2021By Bronwen Dachs Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Obituaries, World News Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s compassion and sense of humor, as well as his commitment to justice and processes of peace, were among the many reasons he was an icon, said Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg.
Even the Holy Family felt stress, pope tells families December 26, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on families, but with extra patience and faith, bonds can grow stronger, Pope Francis wrote in a letter released on the feast of the Holy Family.
Pope prays Christmas will bring yearning for peace, dialogue December 26, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Before giving his Christmas blessing to the city of Rome and to the world, Pope Francis drew attention to the many places around the globe and within human hearts in need of Jesus, the prince of peace.
Pope at Christmas: ‘God comes into the world in littleness’ December 26, 2021By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The celebration of Christmas serves as a reminder that God did not reveal his greatness in a grand spectacle, but rather in the “littleness” of a poor, vulnerable child born in a stable in Bethlehem, Pope Francis said.
This year Catholics have a dual Mass obligation the weekend of Dec. 25-26 December 23, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, World News If you go to Christmas Mass on Saturday, do you still have to go to Sunday Mass the next day? Is Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, a holy day of obligation this year?
September 2022 date set for beatification of John Paul I December 23, 2021By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Francis will beatify Pope John Paul I Sept. 4, 2022, at the Vatican, according to Stefania Falasca, a journalist and vice postulator of the late pope’s sainthood cause.
COVID-19 vaccines present ‘no ethical problem,’ says head of papal academy December 23, 2021By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News The Vatican has reaffirmed its support of COVID-19 vaccines with both the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a Holy See communique reiterating Pope Francis’ insistence that getting inoculated is “an act of love.”
Tornado victims ask for prayers — and ‘don’t forget about us in a month’ December 23, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, World News “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Lesley Mills told The Western Kentucky Catholic, newspaper of the Owensboro Diocese, in an interview Dec. 15.
Bishops’ migration chairman says inaction on immigration ‘cannot stand’ December 23, 2021By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News The lack of will by politicians to move forward on immigration reform is affecting the lives of 11 million people in the country and something must be done, said the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee.
