The Italians are changing the translation of the Our Father, while Germans opt out

by Carol Glatz - Catholic News Service January 26, 2018

ROME (CNS) — After special study, the German bishops’ conference decided to stick with the traditional wording in the Lord’s Prayer while the Italian bishops’ conference has decided to change the words of the prayer in their translation of the Roman Missal. The decisions come after the French bishops decided that beginning early December last […]

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Catholic, as the new U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. He is pictured in a 2017 photo. (CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

Sam Brownback confirmed as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom

by Catholic News Service January 26, 2018

Nominated to the post in July by President Donald Trump, Brownback was confirmed Jan. 24. The Senate vote was 49-49 and Vice President Mike Pence cast the tiebreaking vote.

Faith, News

Pope Francis’ favorite icon of Mary gets restored

by Nicole Winfield - Associated Press January 25, 2018

History’s first Latin American pope is particularly devoted to Marian iconography.

Faith, News

German bishops grapple with blessings for gay marriage

by Tom Heneghan - Religion News Service January 24, 2018

Two bishops have now spoken out in favor of considering some form of benediction for gay and lesbian couples.

Students attend a prayer vigil Jan. 23 at a church in Marion, Ky., after a 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun that day at Marshall County High School. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for prayers for the victims killed and injured in a pair of school shootings in Kentucky and Italy High School in Texas Jan. 22. (CNS photo/Harrison McClary, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

USCCB president calls for prayer after pair of school shootings

by Catholic News Service January 24, 2018

Cardinal DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Christians experience the pain of the family and friends of the victims “as if it were our own.”

20180124T1007-14097-CNS-POPE-PERSECUTION-YEZIDI

News, Politics & Society

Persecution based on religious belief is unacceptable, pope says

by Carol Glatz - Catholic News Service January 24, 2018

Pope Francis called on the world community to do more to protect the Yezidi minority in Iraq and Syria.

20180122T0910-14007-CNS-CONGO-CHURCH-RALLIES

News, Politics & Society

10 Catholic priests arrested in protests in Congo

by Fredrick Nzwili - Religion News Service January 23, 2018

“The church deplores the excessive use of force on demonstrators who were only armed with Bibles, rosaries and branches.”

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, smiles as he processes from the sanctuary after celebrating the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Jan. 18. The all-night vigil is held before the annual March for Life, which this year marked the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the nation. (CNS photo

News, Politics & Society

Cardinal Dolan praises House for voting to protect babies who survive abortion

by Catholic News Service January 23, 2018

“A child born alive following an abortion should receive the same degree of care to preserve her life and health as would be given to any other child born alive at the same gestational age,” said Cardinal Dolan of New York.