True Vatican II Spirit

BY Tim Drake

Midwestern Bishop Takes Step Toward Deepening Council’s Vision

November 1-7, 2009 Issue

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — More than 50 years after Pope John XXIII called for a worldwide meeting of bishops to update the Church, the Second Vatican Council is far from understood.

For the bishop of a small diocese in the American Midwest, it’s time to get beyond the divisions that have sprung up... READ MORE

Cardinal McCarrick Kicks Off Immigration Reform Effort

BY CARLOS BRICEÑO

November 1-7, 2009 Issue

WASHINGTON — There’s a renewed focus on immigration reform, and a retired Catholic cardinal is one of the first voices to weigh in.

The Church’s stance on immigration emphasizes the “basic dignity and God-given human rights of the human person,” said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick,... READ MORE

A Veteran Meets the Faith

BY MATTHEW A. RAREY

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

Veterans Day is coming up, but there are few vets who have a story to tell like Mario Avignone.

His life was changed during World War II when he was stationed near the monastery inhabited by St. Pio of Pietrelcina.

Avignone, a salt-of-the-earth Chicagoan, and two fellow soldiers befriended the... READ MORE

Bishops vs. Health-Care Bills

BY Rich Daly

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

WASHINGTON — The prospect of American Catholic leaders urging their congregations to actively oppose an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system is becoming increasingly likely.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops promised to “vigorously” oppose health-care legislation... READ MORE

Catholic University President to Step Down

BY Carlos Briceño

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

WASHINGTON — After 12 years as president of The Catholic University of America, Father David O’Connell surveyed the landscape of his life and the school.

He decided it was time to hand the reins off to someone else.

“I believe that universities are always a work in progress and it’s... READ MORE

Bureaucratic Boondoggle

BY JEFF GARDNER

Gardasil Proves Stumbling Block to Girl’s Immigration

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

PORT ST. JOE, Fla. — Seventeen-year-old Simone Davis of Port St. Joe, Fla., is like most teenage girls. She enjoys school and is active in her church’s youth group. But while her senior class peers at Port St. Joe High School fuss over which club to join or who will be elected homecoming queen,... READ MORE

Coming of Age

BY Tim Drake

Pregnancy-Help Centers See Upgrades Nationwide

October 25-31, 2009 Issue

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former broadcast journalist Maria Vitale used to believe what many abortion advocates said about pregnancy-resource centers, that they are “deceptive” and “unprofessional.”

“I had bought the lie that alternatives to abortion centers were ‘fake abortion clinics,’... READ MORE

Pilgrims Prosper

BY Tim Drake

Faith-Based Travel Proves Recession-Resistant

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

UPSALA, Minn. — Rob Schumer has been on two previous religious pilgrimages — leading youth groups to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. But in 2010 he’s hoping to take a religious journey all his own to the Holy Land. His previous trips have taught him something about... READ MORE

In a Jam in Jerusalem

BY Michele Chabin

Housing Crunch Hurts Holy Land Christians

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

JERUSALEM — Young Christians are being squeezed out of the Jerusalem housing market, accelerating the exodus of Christians from the city and endangering the Christian community’s future.

High prices, strict building codes and the bureaucracy involved in obtaining building permits — said to... READ MORE

Death by Disarray

BY Elenor K. Schoen

Washington Cooks in Assisted-Suicide Stew

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Since the enactment of physician-assisted suicide in Washington last March, confusion has arisen over statistics, the interaction between government agencies and assisted suicide organizations and the role of medicine.

Non-governmental organizations seem to be taking over as... READ MORE

Will Equal Justice Just Have to Wait?

BY Wayne Laugesen

Celebs Defend Abusive Stars While Church Gets Scorn

October 18-24, 2009 Issue

GENEVA — A Vatican delegate to the United Nations caused a minor furor when he defended the Church’s record on handling cases of sexual abuse among its clergy.

The delegate, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, also pointed out that other religions and organizations have done much more poorly in... READ MORE

Marriage Is the Maine Event

BY CARLOS BRICEÑO

Boston College Law Professor Comes to the Defense

October 19-25, 2008 Issue

BOSTON — Scott FitzGibbon, a professor at Boston College Law School, recently appeared in radio and television ads sponsored by Stand for Marriage Maine to support a veto of Question 1.

The ballot initiative is a people’s veto of LD 1020, a law passed by the Maine Legislature earlier this... READ MORE

Indiana Marriage Battle

BY Thomas Uebbing

Homosexual-Rights Advocates Stopped by Family Activists

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

GOSHEN, Ind. — When Union and Confederate armies clashed at Gettysburg, they were not fighting over possession of the small Pennsylvania town. There were much bigger objectives and stakes involved.

The town of Goshen, Ind., with a population of around 32,000, recently became the intense focus of... READ MORE

Project Rachel Celebrates 25th Anniversary

BY Tim Drake

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

MILWAUKEE — When Vicki Thorn founded Project Rachel 25 years ago, she was the first “expert” in a field that didn’t exist: post-abortion ministry.

Now, 25 years later, the organization she founded has helped thousands of women and men suffering from the pain of Post-Abortion Syndrome, and... READ MORE

Unacceptable ‘Option’

BY Rich Daly

Pro-Life Supporters Ready Stand on Health-Care Overhaul

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

WASHINGTON — As congressional committees worked to prepare a unified health-care reform bill to Congress, the issue of abortion still presented a sticking point.

Legislation is expected soon that combines aspects of the health-care overhaul bills approved by three separate House committees in... READ MORE

Miracle in Manila

BY Maria Caulfield

A Family’s Story of Prayer and Survival During Typhoon Ketsana

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

WALLINGFORD, Conn. — As the Philippines struggled to recover from one of the worst typhoons in recent memory, two more storms brewed in the Pacific, threatening relief efforts.

My family was spared the worst of the first storm, Ketsana, and my husband, Brian, and I feel that our fervent prayers... READ MORE

After Acorn

BY Steve Weatherbe

Organization Discovers Bishops-Funded Groups Backing Abortion and Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

TOMBALL, Texas — The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. bishops’ anti-poverty program, was little affected by the Acorn scandal last month. Long before the video sting operation revealed some Acorn employees apparently helping people disguise illegal activities, the campaign had... READ MORE

2 New Saints Cured Americans

BY Marge Fenelon

Sts. Damien of Molokai and Jeanne Jugan

October 11-17, 2009 Issue

VATICAN CITY — On Oct. 11, there will be rejoicing on the island of Molokai, perhaps rejoicing like never before.

That’s the day Damien de Veuster, a missionary priest who served patients with Hansen’s disease there, will be canonized in Rome.

The same day Pope Benedict XVI also will... READ MORE

Where Are the Children?

BY Steve Weatherbe

World Is ‘Running Out of People,’ Documentary Warns

October 4-10, 2009 Issue

SALT LAKE CITY — In Europe, town squares are shown emptying of people. In China, children vanish from playground swings. In America, acres of new homes go unsold.

These are some of the compelling images from the 2008 documentary Demographic Winter and its sequel of this spring, Demographic Bomb,... READ MORE