Catholic World News (CWN) Feature Stories

Apostolic visitation of US nuns is making waves

Jul 2 2009 (CWN) - A front-page New York Times story on the Vatican's concern about women's religious orders in the US offers a strong indication that the apostolic ...

Vietnam: Redemptorist priest facing arrest for 'counter-revolutionary' activities

Jul 1 2009 (CWN) - Reports in Vietnam's state-controlled media claim that government authorities now have enough evidence to arrest a Redemptorist priest on charges of counter-revolutionary activity and damaging national unity. On Tuesday, June 30, the People's ...

US Catholic hierarchy shows support for legislation requiring massive tax hike

Jun 26 2009 (CWN) - The US bishops have given their enthusiastic support to the Waxman-Markey bill, a piece of legislation designed to address climate change, which Republican opponents have characterized as entailing "the largest tax increase in American ...

ADL injects new tension in Catholic-Jewish dialogue

Jun 24 2009 (CWN) - In the latest show of tensions between Catholic and Jewish leaders, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has issued a critical statement about a

Imitate Padre Pio, in devotion and service, Pope urges faithful

Jun 22 2009 (CWN) - Pope Benedict XVI held up Padre Pio as a model for all Christians but especially for priests-- for his loving care for those in need, but even more for his deep devotion and prayer-- during a tightly scheduled one-day visit to San Giovanni Rotondo ...

The Year for Priests explained: a quest for pastoral zeal

Jun 18 2009 (CWN) - The fundamental reason for a special Year for Priests is " to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal," Pope Benedict XVI explains in a letter to the world's priests that he released on June 18, on the eve of the ceremony that will ...

The case for canonical discipline of Archbishop Weakland

Jun 17 2009 (CWN) - In a strongly worded editorial that appears in the July edition of Catholic World ...

Cardinal Dziwisz recalls papal journey that brought down Communism

Jun 10 2009 (CWN) - Thirty years to the day after Pope John Paul II concluded his first apostolic journey to Poland-- a journey that marked the beginning of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe-- the June 10 edition of L’Osservatore Romano published

The Vatican response(s) to Obama's Cairo speech

Jun 5 2009 (CWN) - Church leaders in Rome and in the US have offered a wide range of responses to President Obama's speech at the University of Cairo-- suggesting that prelates, like lay Catholics, have different ideas on the delicate question of relations between ...

Pope appoints new head for Apostolic Penitentiary

Jun 2 2009 (CWN) - Pope Benedict XVI has made an important appointment to the Roman Curia, naming Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli to become the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, replacing Cardinal James Francis Stafford. The Apostolic Penitentiary is the Vatican ...

US bishops back comprehensive health coverage for illegal immigrants

May 27 2009 (CWN) - The American Catholic bishops have apparently thrown their support behind a proposal to offer comprehensive health care to illegal immigrants. In a May 20 letter to members of the US House of Representatives, Bishop William Murphy-- writing in ...

An Indian tragedy: doctor's suicide illustrates sex-selection pressure

May 22 2009 (CWN) - An Indian doctor has committed suicide after a court in the Punjab state upheld her conviction for violating a law that bars sex-determination tests during pregnancy. The death of Dr. Lakshmi Garg dramatically illustrates India's continuing ...

Pope to visit Montecassino on Sunday

May 22 2009 (CWN) - Pope Benedict XVI will visit the historic Benedictine abbey at Montecassino on Sunday, May 24, during a pastoral visit to the region. The Pope will travel to Cassino on Sunday morning, making the 80-mile trip by helicopter. Arriving at a soccer ...

Pope reflects on visit to Holy Land

Rome, May 20 2009 (CWN) - Following his usual practice after a pastoral voyage, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his weekly public audience on May 20 to a recounting of his trip to the Holy Land. Speaking to the 20,000 people who gathered in St. Peter's Square on a seasonably ...

Roundup: Reactions to Obama at Notre Dame

May 18 2009 (CWN) - President Obama's appearance at the Notre Dame commencement exercises produced an enormous outpouring of journalistic coverage. Prior to the event, the atmosphere was so feverish that when Duncan Maxell Anderson concocted a

Empty tomb is spur to Christian unity, Pope says at Church of the Holy Sepulchre

May 15 2009 (CWN) - "Here the history of humanity was decisively changed," Pope Benedict XVI said on May 15, after praying at the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. "The empty tomb speaks to us of hope-- the hope that does not disappoint, because it is the gift of the ...

Meeting Jerusalem's Eastern prelates, Pope pleads for unity

May 15 2009 (CWN) - On Friday, May 15, the final day of his visit to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI met with the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic patriarchs of Jerusalem, extending his fraternal greetings and reinforcing the commitment of the Catholic Church to ...

Jerusalem: Pope condemns anti-Semitism, backs two-state solution

Jerusalem, May 11 2009 (CWN) - Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Israel on Monday, May 11, and immediately set the tone for his visit with an introductory statement in which he forcefully condemned anti-Semitism and mourned the victims of the Holocaust, while also clearly calling for ...

In Jordan, Pope searches for voice of moderate Islam

May 11 2009 (CWN) - In Jordan, on the first stop of his week-long visit to the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI devoted much of his attention to relations between Christianity and Islam. Jordan was a natural site for the Pope's effort to establish some rapport with ...

Sunday: Pope Benedict speaks to the Christians of the Holy Land

May 11 2009 (CWN) - Pope Benedict XVI spent Sunday, May 10-- the 3rd day of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land-- with the Christians of Jordan, underlining the importance of a strong Christian presence in the Holy Land. Although media coverage of the papal trip has ...