WASHINGTON — While health-care reform legislation and other policies out of Washington in 2010 present new threats to unborn life, people who are working to give women alternatives to abortion are facing new obstacles.

The majority of obstacles are legislative, such as cuts to abstinence-education funding under the Obama administration, and governors’ vetoes of state-level pro-life legislation.

There are also new attempts to regulate crisis-pregnancy centers, such as a bill in New York City that has been held up in committee. New York Int. 0371-2010 would require each crisis-pregnancy center to disclose to clients that it does not provide “abortion or FDA-approved contraceptive drugs and...READ MORE

Resilience.

This single word aptly describes the Catholic clergy and faithful of Chicago, particularly at Holy Name Cathedral.

In just two years, this community has twice endured the closing of their church for months at a time.

In February of 2008, a large piece of the cathedral’s decorative ceiling fell to the floor and required every square foot of the roof to be restored and refitted (23,000 pieces in all). 

Not even a year later, an early-morning fire ravaged the church’s roof, destroying many recent repairs and leaving more than a foot of water in the sanctuary.

Amidst the utter destruction, however, hid a silver lining.

Engineers and firefighters later relayed that without...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — The year 2010 saw Vatican approval of the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

2011 will be the year people in the pews finally start hearing it — and praying it.

The missal is scheduled to enter use on Nov. 27, the First Sunday of Advent. Dioceses across the country are already putting programs and timelines in place to prepare for the change.

The new translation is the result of years of work in response to the Vatican’s call for a more faithful rendering of the original Latin. It is also expected to more fully convey the sacredness of the texts of the Mass.

Father Richard Hilgartner, associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat...READ MORE

Jeffrey Tucker thought he had heard it all in the world of music. Then he attended a chanted Mass.

Unlike the secular music he was used to, the simple chant he heard raised his mind and heart to God. This life-changing experience facilitated his conversion to the Catholic faith in 1985.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed with much of the music he heard in church. Tucker decided to do something about it. In 2002 he became a member of the Church Music Association of America, and has been the managing editor of the group’s journal Sacred Music since 2005.

Tucker is also editorial vice president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, which bills itself as “the research and education center of...READ MORE

Bishop Macram Max Gassis, 72, shepherds the Diocese of El Obeid, the largest of nine dioceses in Sudan.

The war-ravaged country, 10 times the size of Great Britain, is divided religiously and ethnically between the largely sub-Saharan African and Christian south and the Arab Muslim north, which wields power from the capital in Khartoum.

Until the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement halted a long civil war, more than 2 million Sudanese died as the north savaged the south. Bishop Gassis himself was forced into exile for testifying about Khartoum’s depredations before the United Nations, the U.S. Congress and the European Union. Since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement took effect, he...READ MORE

RENO, Nev. — New survey results on the effect of Catholic radio show what Catholic radio operators have long known: The medium is having a positive impact on listeners, their parishes and the Church.

The survey, conducted in November by MBA students at John Paul the Great Catholic University on behalf of the Immaculate Heart Radio network, showed that just over half the survey respondents are more active in their local parishes as a direct result of listening to Catholic radio.

“The results are overwhelming,” said Doug Sherman, founder and president of Immaculate Heart Radio, which broadcasts on 24 stations throughout the American Southwest. “We knew we were having an impact on people …...READ MORE

TRUMBULL, Conn. — For the 15th straight year, the Knights of Columbus unveiled a crèche on the Town Hall green in the town of Trumbull, Conn., Dec. 19.

Fifteen years ago, it wasn’t as simple as it is today.

The Trumbull crèche became a national test case, and the Knights’ victory at the U.S. Supreme Court allowed groups to display Nativity scenes at Christmas on public property throughout the United States.

Bridgeport, Conn., Bishop William Lori, supreme chaplain of the Knights, was scheduled to preside at this year’s ceremony, but he was among those travelers stranded by severe weather in Europe.

In his place, Father Brian Gannon, pastor of St. Theresa Church in Trumbull, blessed the...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s signature Dec. 22 on the bill repealing the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy portends ominous consequences for the armed forces’ morale and fighting effectiveness.

That’s according to people who opposed reversing the Clinton-era compromise on military prohibitions on homosexuality dating back to the earliest days of the U.S. armed forces. (U.S. Navy prohibitions against immoral conduct were penned by John Adams in the mid-1770s.)

The new policy of allowing homosexuals in the military to be open about their same-sex lifestyles, they warn, also threatens the religious freedom of military chaplains. About 3,000 chaplains serve in the armed...READ MORE