Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas reached out to Hurricane Isaac evacuees Aug. 31 at the St. Anthony Cathedral Center, Beaumont. Any household that was forced to evacuate was eligible to receive gift cards for food, gas or medications.
“We’re always watching to see what the needs are that aren’t being met by other agencies,” Randi Ferttita, director of Disaster, Trauma and Loss, said. (more…)
By Catholic News Service
New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, delivers the closing prayer at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 30. His benediction included appeals for God’s blessing on the unborn, those at the end of their life, for immigrants and for all those who suffer. He also asked for a renewed respect for religious freedom. (CNS photo/Mike Segar, Reuters)
TAMPA, Fla. (CNS) — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York offered the closing prayer at the end of the Republican National Convention in Tampa Aug. 30, thanking God for “the great gift of our beloved country.”
Cardinal Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will also offer the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention Sept. 6 in Charlotte, N.C.
The cardinal’s prayer, which followed Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination, cast a wide net. He asked God to bless those in this country “yet to be born” and those at the end of their lives. He prayed for families who have been in this country for generations and recent immigrants, soldiers and those looking for jobs.
He also prayed for those “afflicted by the recent storms and drought and fire” and for the “grace to stand in solidarity with all those who suffer.”
“May we strive to include your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, in the production and prosperity of a people so richly blessed,” he said. (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized on August 31, 2012 |
St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica, 700 Jefferson, Beaumont, will celebrate a Blue Mass in memory of Sept. 11 and for the safety of first responders. Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, Sept. 9 at noon.
“The Blue Mass is a tradition in many dioceses around the country when law enforcement officers, fire fighters and EMS professionals gather for a special Mass and blessing for their work. The reason for calling it a Blue Mass stems from the fact that most first responders wear the color blue in their uniform,” Msgr. Jerry McGrath, rector of St. Anthony, said.
A replica of the Ground Zero Cross will be dedicated in the prayer garden. There will also be a blessing of first responders and emergency vehicles.
Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas has put a plan into motion to help evacuees who have come to the area to escape Hurricane Isaac.
By Sarah MacDonald Catholic News Service
Msgr. Helmut Schuller, leader of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, is pictured in 2011 in Dublin, Ireland. Msgr. Schuller says the group’s call to disobedience reflects the lack of accountability among those who exercise power and authority in the Cathol ic Church. (CNS photo/Sarah Mac Donald)
DUBLIN (CNS) — The leader of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative said the dissident group’s call to disobedience reflects the lack of accountability among those who exercise power and authority in the Catholic Church.
Msgr. Helmut Schuller told Catholic News Service that reform and substantive structural change are “essential for the future of the church” in Europe and the wider world.
The Priests’ Initiative, which now represents 500 clergy in Austria, wants the Vatican to revive the “Lex Ecclesiae Fundamentalis” project initiated by Pope Paul VI following the Second Vatican Council. The project, which sought to establish a common fundamental code or church constitution similar to the U.S. Bill of Rights for church members, was shelved by Pope John Paul II in 1981. (more…)
By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a dozen courts around the country, attorneys representing more than 40 Catholic dioceses or institutions have filed briefs arguing against the federal government’s call to dismiss lawsuits against its contraceptive mandate.
The Catholic entities are seeking to overturn a requirement that most religious employers provide contraceptives and sterilization to their employees.
The simultaneous filings Aug. 27 were in response to an Aug. 6 brief in which the Obama administration asked the courts to summarily dismiss the suits, saying they were premature and that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate. (more…)
By Catholic News Service
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone at a July 27 press conference in San Francisco after he was named the new archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
OAKLAND, Calif. (CNS) — Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, to be installed in October as archbishop of San Francisco, was arrested in San Diego early Aug. 26 for driving under the influence.
The archbishop, a San Diego native, had his mother in the car.
In an Aug. 27 statement issued from the Diocese of Oakland, which Archbishop Cordileone has led for the past three years, the prelate apologized “for my error in judgment” and said he felt “shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the church and myself.”
“I will repay my debt to society and I ask forgiveness from my family and my friends and co-workers at the Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” he added. “I pray that God, in his inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this.”
According to the archbishop’s statement, he was driving his mother to her home after dinner at the home of some friends, “along with a priest friend visiting from outside the country.”
Archbishop Cordileone’s mother lives near the campus of San Diego State University, where police had set up a DUI checkpoint. (more…)
St. Louis, Winnie, celebrated 65 years with a parish festival Aug. 25-26. There was plenty of good food, vendors and games for the kids. Father Neil Arce even got in on the fun and volunteered to be dunked in the dunking booth. (more…)
By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — Tony Nicklinson, a man paralyzed from the neck down following a stroke seven years ago, wept before television cameras after he was told that he had lost a two-year legal battle to change the law on euthanasia. (more…)
Southeast Texans joined in a dual celebration Aug. 18 in Groves – celebrating the 45th anniversary of Msgr. Ken Greig and the 40th anniversary of St. Peter the Apostle Parish. “It takes many people to make a faith community strong,” Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, said at the celebration. “Msgr. Greig knows the needs and his commitment is to continue to be a shepherd to God’s people. I’m thankful to him.” (more…)
