News

“We are approaching Christmas,” the pope said, and soon everywhere “there will be lights, decorated trees, even Nativity scenes,” but if they are not signs of faith in Jesus and a commitment to following him, then it is “all fake.”

The Refugee Resettlement Program program — which relies mostly on faith-based organizations to find homes, jobs and schools for refugees — is under attack, a casualty of the Islamic State group’s assaults on Paris Nov. 13 that killed 132 people.

“Producing or using pornography is gravely wrong. It is a mortal sin if it is committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent. Unintentional ignorance and factors that compromise the voluntary and free character of the act can diminish a person’s moral culpability,” says the approved version of “Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography.”

The Vatican calendar for the Year of Mercy set aside Sept. 4, 2016 as a possible date for the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata.

“These refugees are fleeing terror themselves—violence like we have witnessed in Paris,” said Seattle Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, chairman of the migration committee. “They are extremely vulnerable families, women, and children who are fleeing for their lives. We cannot and should not blame them for the actions of a terrorist organization.”

“That you have referenced poverty not once but twice in the document represents a significant and positive shift in our plans and priorities.”

The U.S. bishops Nov. 17 elected Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield as the new general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop McElroy questioned the lack of attention to the areas of concern that Pope Francis has made the keystones of his pontificate.

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich asked why the conference’s long-standing support of comprehensive immigration reform was not specifically mentioned in the 2017-20 strategic plan. He also mentioned that the emphasis by Pope Francis on a global abolition of the death penalty, also long supported by the conference, likewise was lacking as a specific priority.

The U.S. bishops will vote tomorrow on whether or not to approve new additions to its quadrennial “Faithful Citizenship’ statement, refreshed this year to take into consideration some contemporary concerns and some of the new issues that Pope Francis has been bringing to the attention of the global church.