News

Charities Denied Injunction in Contraceptives CaseA Sacramento Superior Court judge has denied a motion by Catholic Charities of Sacramento for a preliminary injunction to block a state law that includes most religious institutions in a requirement that employers pay for contraceptives in prescripti

Bishops Dismayed Over RU-486 Decision But Resolve to FightBishops and other Catholic leaders responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the use of the RU-486 abortion pill with dismay, bewilderment and a firm resolve to continue the fight against abortion in all forms. Cardina

Roman Theologians Say Condom Use O.K. in Certain CasesThe discussion of whether the Catholic Church should tolerate the use of condoms as a lesser evil in fighting the spread of AIDS resurfaced at the Vatican as a result of an article in America (9/23). In that article, Jon D. Fuller, S.J., M.D., an

Theologians Urge National Procedure for MandatumA committee of the Catholic Theological Society of America has urged national review and appeal procedures if a U.S. bishop wants to withhold or withdraw a theologian’s mandatum. In a 61-page report the committee expressed strong continuing reser

Protestants Respond to Vatican DocumentThe World Council of Churches warned of potential damage to ecumenical dialogue following the release of a Vatican document emphasizing the Catholic Church’s pre-eminent status among Christian denominations. What a tragedy if the witness of joint Christia

False Sense of Religious Tolerance’ Worries VaticanTaking aim at the notion that one religion is as good as another, a new Vatican document emphasized the exclusive, universal and absolute value of Jesus Christ and said the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation. While acknowledging that n

Mother Church Not a Sister Church, Says RatzingerAddressing what it called common misuses of the phrase sister churches in ecumenical dialogue, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation issued a document stressing the Catholic Church’s unique identity as mother of all local churches. The docu

Labor Priest Gets Medal of FreedomMsgr. George G. Higgins, since the 1940’s one of America’s most noted labor priests, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during White House ceremonies on Aug. 9. For more than 60 years now, he has organized, marched, prayed and bled for the social

Revision of the General Instruction of the Roman MissalThe new General Instruction of the Roman Missal, published in Latin and released on July 28 in Washington, D.C., in an English study translation, introduces numerous minor changes in the way Mass is to be celebrated.It also makes a clear legisla

Encuentro 2000 Celebrates Diverse U.S. ChurchEncuentro 2000 opened with Native American drums calling the participants from across the nation to gather in assembly. At the end of its final liturgy, 5,000 worshipers tied ribbons to one another’s wrists, a traditional Hmong sign of sending forth