News

Charities Gear Up for Hurricane RecoveryCatholic Charities was just one of several national organizations gearing up to provide assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast east of New Orleans on Aug. 29 and left dozens dead in its wake. Insurance firms were expectin

Brother Roger of Taizé Murdered in ChurchBrother Roger Schütz, the 90-year-old Protestant founder of the ecumenical Taizé community in France, was stabbed in the throat during a Vespers service in the Reconciliation Church near Maçon in France on Aug. 16. He died almost immediately. Some of thos

Pope Benedict XVI Addresses Communion by Divorced and RemarriedDuring a meeting on July 25 with about 140 priests, religious and deacons from the Valle d’Aosta region of Italy, where he was vacationing, Pope Benedict XVI engaged in a wide-ranging discourse. Divorced and civilly remarried Catho

Roberts Nominated to Supreme CourtJudge John G. Roberts, 50, was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court on July 19 by President George W. Bush, who called him a man of extraordinary accomplishment and ability who has a good heart. Roberts has been a judge of the federal appeals court for the District o

No Insurmountable Problems to Diplomatic Relations With China, Says Vatican A top Vatican official said there were no insurmountable problems to establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, said on

Basil Pennington Dead at 74; Known Worldwide as Writer and Teacher of PrayerAbbot M. Basil Pennington, the Trappist monk known worldwide for his books and ministry on centering prayer, died on June 3 at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester from injuries sustained in a

Catholic Press Group Silent on ResignationCatholic Press Association members voted 48 to 28 on May 26 against a statement expressing concern about the resignation of Thomas J. Reese, S.J., as editor in chief of America magazine and emphasizing the importance of Catholic journalists’ exercising

Two Reports Show Ecumenical ProgressDespite differences, there are many parallels in the way Catholics and Methodists foster and express communion with God and one another through their respective church structures, says a report released on May 13 by the U.S. Catholic-United Methodist dialogue. The

Justice for ImmigrantsCiting reasons as broad as Catholic teaching about the right to migrate to improve one’s life and as narrow as the need of one emigrant from Guyana to support his family, more than a dozen church organizations and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on May 10 launched

Jesuit Officials Say America Editor Resigned After Vatican ComplaintsJesuit officials in Rome said Thomas J. Reese, S.J., resigned as editor in chief of America magazine after repeated complaints from then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who objected to the magazine’s treatment of sensitive church