Following a special session of the Hawaii Legislature that for two weeks turned the state Capitol into high-spirited exhibition of populist democracy, Gov. Neil Abercrombie Nov. 13 signed the bill causing all the commotion and made Hawaii the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Normally the trip from Maasin to Tacloban takes about three hours, but with the fallen trees and debris, getting aid there takes longer, said a priest from Southern Leyte province.
Purported visions of Mary, if taken in the wrong spirit, can sow confusion and distance people from the Gospel, Pope Francis said.
As far as English photographer Lee Jeffries knows, Pope Francis has never seen his pictures, yet he is sure they would be to his taste.
The goal of the Year of Faith, which concludes Nov. 24, has been to educate Catholics about basic church teachings, strengthen their faith and inspire them to share it with others. If it has succeeded, as organizers say it has, the credit ultimately lies less with its special projects and events than with the historic papal transition that occurred in its course.
New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan called upon his brother bishops to champion the cause of people around the world being persecuted because of their faith even as the bishops continue to prevent what he described as infringements upon religious practice in the United States.
Crime families in Italy are not happy with Pope Francis and would hurt him if they could, said an Italian prosecutor who has spent years investigating organized crime and has written a book about the apparent Catholic devotion of mafia bosses.
Pope Francis made the first state visit of his pontificate Nov. 14, traveling two miles from Vatican City to Italy’s presidential palace, where he voiced the church’s solidarity with the nation in facing social challenges that included immigration, unemployment and the well-being of families.
The devastation brought on by Super Typhoon Haiyan is on a scale so big it is “unimaginable,” said Jesuit Father Edwin Gariguez, head of Caritas in the Philippines.
John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, told a group of Catholic journalists Nov. 7 that Catholic education should not be taken for granted.