East Texas Catholic

By Catholic News Service

JOLIET, Ill. (CNS) — Five lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Joliet May 15 alleging sexual abuse of minors by four priests and a lay teacher during the 1970s and 1980s.

A Chicago law firm filed the lawsuits in Will County Circuit Court on behalf of victims who said they were between the ages of 8 and 16 at the time.

The abuse is said to have taken place at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Monee, the former St. Charles Borremeo Seminary in Joliet, St. Dominic Catholic Church and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bolingbrook and St. Mary Nativity School in Joliet. (more…)

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By Joan Kurkowski-Gillen
Catholic News Service

GRANBURY, Texas (CNS) — “Overwhelmed.” That’s how relief volunteer Julie Lyssy described the families who sought shelter inside St. Frances Cabrini’s Family Life Center after a tornado ravaged their neighborhoods May 15.

A rescue worker combs through debris May 16 after tornadoes swept through the town of Granbury, Texas, late May 15. At least six people were killed and about 100 injured as three tornadoes ripped through a stretch of Texas near the Dallas-Fort Worth area , destroying a number of homes, authorities said. (CNS photo/Richard Rodriguez, Reuters)

The deadly funnel cloud, one of several tornadoes that ripped through parts of north Texas, killed six, injured more than 100, left seven missing and destroyed more than 50 homes and trailers in the Rancho Brazos subdivision. Injuries and damage were also reported in the nearby Pecan Plantation community.

Many of the affected — including some of the deceased — are members of St. Frances Cabrini Parish, 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

“The 15 to 20 people who came here last night knew there was nothing else they could do,” said Lyssy, the church’s communications spokesperson, who coordinated emergency outreach efforts with her husband, Thomas. “As soon as they realized they were safe, everyone turned to prayer.”

Storm victims formed two circles inside the parish hall. One group recited the rosary in English and the other in Spanish. The church’s pastor, Msgr. Juan Rivero, spent the night comforting visitors and offering a blessing when asked. (more…)

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By Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis was scheduled to help the Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States broaden its reach around the world by unlocking a smartphone app.

During an audience with national directors of pontifical mission societies from around the world, the pope was set to launch the organization’s new Missio app from the Vatican May 17, sending news and content in eight languages.

News and information will be available in English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic from Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency, and news.va. The app also includes videos from news.va and Catholic News Service. (more…)

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By Catholic News Service

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — The “full social and legal effects” of state lawmakers’ decision to legalize same-sex marriage “will begin to manifest themselves in the years ahead,” said the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

“Today the Minnesota Senate voted to redefine marriage in Minnesota. The outcome, though expected, is no less disappointing,” the conference said in a statement.

The state Senate in a 37-30 vote gave final approval May 13 to a same-sex marriage bill. The state House passed the measure May 9. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said he would sign it May 14.

The law is to take effect Aug. 1, making Minnesota the 12th state to allow same-sex couples to marry. Earlier in May, Rhode Island and Delaware became the 10th and 11th states, respectively, to legalize same-sex marriage. (more…)

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By Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — A Philadelphia jury May 13 found Dr. Kermit Gosnell guilty of murder in the deaths of three babies born alive during abortions and acquitted him of a fourth similar charge. He also was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death by a drug overdose of a patient who had an abortion.

Gosnell, 72, was accused of snipping the spines of babies born alive during illegal late-term abortions. Pennsylvania law prohibits abortions after 24 weeks of gestation.

A few weeks earlier in the six-week trial, after the prosecution had rested its case, Judge Jeffrey Minehart of the Common Pleas Court, dismissed three other murder charges against Gosnell, saying they lacked evidence. (more…)

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The number of Catholics in the world and the number of bishops, priests, religious men and seminarians all increased in 2011, while the number of women in religious orders continued to decline, according to Vatican statistics.

The number of permanent deacons is showing “strong expansion” globally, but especially in Europe and the Americas, it said.

At the end of 2011, the worldwide Catholic population reached 1.214 billion, an increase of 18 million or 1.5 percent, slightly outpacing the global population growth rate, which was estimated at 1.23 percent, said a statement published May 13 by the Vatican press office. (more…)

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By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Obama administration told a federal appellate court May 3 that it would not seek to block an injunction the court had granted in November that had allowed a Christian book publisher to not comply with the contraceptive-coverage mandate of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Tyndale House Publishers, based in Carol Stream, Ill., won the injunction Nov. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (more…)

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Two days after the head of the Vatican office overseeing religious life said he had not been consulted by the Vatican’s doctrinal office about a controversial investigation of American nuns, the two bodies affirmed their “common commitment” to reform of the U.S.-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, told an international gathering of sisters May 5 that his office had not been consulted about the doctrinal congregation’s investigation of the LCWR and he expressed hopes for “a dialogue, something which did not take place previously.” (more…)

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — The Vatican-ordered revision of the statutes of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will continue, but it must be accompanied with a real dialogue, which has been missing from the process, said Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

“It is not a matter of ‘We’re right and they’re wrong,’ but of believing it is possible to have a dialogue, something which did not take place previously,” the cardinal said May 5, in comments that were rare precisely because they questioned the working method of another Vatican official. He spoke after celebrating Mass with and answering questions from some 800 superiors of women’s religious orders from 76 countries. (more…)

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