“If the Jetsons were Catholic, they would worship here,” the Oakland Tribune enthuses in an article about Oakland’s new Cathedral of Christ the Light.

The $190-million cathedral will be consecrated and dedicated tomorrow at a special private Mass.

The cathedral project, which took only three years to complete, is replete with 21st-century features such as bead-blasted candleholders, holy texts illuminated in stainless steel and embedded in the concrete floor, and a laser-generated, 58-foot-high image of Christ on the cathedral’s 90-foot Omega window.

The cathedral complex includes offices, a conference center and a free health clinic, staffed by a doctor and a nurse practitioner and...READ MORE

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams has come under fire from some members of his own church over his remarks today at Lourdes.

According to some of his co-religionists, the leader of the global Anglican Communion acted like a “papal puppet” during his historic visit to the Catholic shrine in southwestern France.

Archbishop Williams’s visit came only ten days after Pope Benedict XVI’s pilgrimage to Lourdes marking the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette Soubirous.

Speaking at an ecumenical service led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Archbishop Williams used Catholic terminology...READ MORE

Two New York-area bishops say The New York Times erred by implying it’s become easier for Catholics to vote for pro-abortion candidates.

In a Sept. 18 article, the newspaper claimed that recent revisions to the U.S. bishops’ statement on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” would “explicitly allow Catholics to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights if they do so for other reasons.”

Not true, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn stated in a letter published today by the newspaper.

“Actually, the bishops said candidates who promote fundamental moral evils such as abortion are cooperating in a grave evil, and...READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the tomb of St. Pio of Petrelcina next year.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, announced the planned visit during a Mass in San Giovanni Rotondo marking the 40th anniversary of Padre Pio’s death.

Padre Pio is entombed in San Giovanni Rotondo, the town in southern Italy where the Capuchin friar lived for more than 50 years until his death in 1968.

“Benedict XVI asked me to announce that everything is prepared,” Cardinal Bertone said during his homily at the Mass. “The Pope will come to San Giovanni Rotondo in 2009.”

Padre Pio was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Franciscan Father Gianluigi Pasquale, author of...READ MORE

Next month’s World Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in Rome has been convened to encourage Catholics to make better use of their Bibles.

Pakistani Catholic layman Christopher Paul has already taken that instruction to heart.

The Union of Catholic Asian News reported Sept. 22 about how Paul is using the Bible to teach English and deepen his students’ faith at the same time.

Since January, Paul has been giving free English-language classes five evenings a week to 10 Christian teenagers at St. Dominic School in Lahore, Pakistan. Each 90-minute class starts with a half-hour reflection on a Bible passage in English.

Paul said lack of money prevents many Christians, most of whom are...READ MORE