Catholic Culture Solidarity
Catholic Culture Solidarity

Stories for March 2014

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Monday, Mar. 31

 Vatican unveils online resources for canonizations of John XXIII, John Paul II
 Pope's prayer intentions for April 2014
 Italian protester again climbs dome of St. Peter's
 Irish priest, returned to ministry after acquittal on abuse charges, takes new leave of absence
 Pair arrested trying to bring fake bonds to Vatican bank
 Pope praises Salesians' work with young people
 Italian bishops: no legal compulsion, but moral duty to report abuse complaints
 Leading Bolivian bishop rips government
 Pakistani Christian sentenced to death on blasphemy charges
 USCCB committee, Catholic Charities rue mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses
 Abuse scandal’s total cost: $2.74 billion since 2004
 Pope contrasts increasing faith of the man born blind, increasing blindness of Pharisees
 In address to blind and deaf, Pope reflects on cultures of encounter and exclusion
 Pope Francis confirms leadership of 3 Vatican departments
 Papal preacher devotes Lenten sermon to St. Ambrose and the Eucharist

Released Friday, Mar. 28

 Corruption aggravates poverty, Pope says in address to bishops of Madagascar
 Irish board monitoring abuse claims denies former director's charge that complaint was scuttled
 Greek president meets with Pontiff for talks on religion and society, economic ills
 Vatican exhibit will focus on history of the Bible
 Pope exhorts priests: be available for confessions
 Former Vatican bank president, cleared of charges, takes the offensive
 Pope Francis joins penitents, makes his confession at Vatican basilica
 Pope meets privately with ousted 'bling bishop'
 Report: gay activists attack Christian demonstrators in Germany
 Anger at Charlotte Catholic school after speaker criticizes homosexuality
 Human rights panel to decide whether archbishop’s assistant was illegally dismissed
 USCCB president weighs in on HHS mandate cases heard by Supreme Court
 US bishops’ conference grants nearly $2.5M to assist Church in Latin America, Haiti
 Vatican abuse commission member: bishops must be held accountable
 Report: 98 churches have been destroyed in Syria

Released Thursday, Mar. 27

 Minnesota judge quickly rejects lawyers' plea to seal archbishop's testimony
 Pope confirms secretary of Italian bishops' conference
 Liberal British Catholic paper suspends correspondent for disparaging remarks about Benedict XVI
 Cardinal Pell apologizes to abuse victim
 Vatican Radio completes archive of all recorded papal talks
 Schedule set for Pope's visit to Holy Land in May
 One diocese sues another in unprecedented abuse case
 At Vatican meeting, Pope prods Obama on freedom of conscience
 At Mass for Italian lawmakers, Pope distinguishes between sinners and the corrupt
 Victory for Georgia Catholic institutions against HHS mandate
 Michigan priest responsible for translating Pope's Twitter messages into Latin
 Philadelphia leaders 'confident' that Pope Francis will visit in 2015
 Philippine bishops welcome peace deal between government, Muslim rebels
 Archbishop Chaput weighs in on German bishops' stance on Communion for remarried
 Papal encouragement for interreligious peace effort in Central African Republic
 Victims discuss abuse at Jesuit mission in Montana

Released Wednesday, Mar. 26

 Maronite Patriarch: Lebanese voters, not factions, should choose next president
 Minnesota archdiocese again seeks delay in releasing abuse files
 Ukrainian Catholics face rising hostility from Russian police, Russian Orthodox
 Lebanese Christians, Muslims join in Marian devotion
 Pakistani court postpones hearing on appeal of Asia Bibi's blasphemy conviction
 Free-spending German bishop removed from diocesan leadership
 Pope mourns former Spanish prime minister
 Pope: without prayer, Mass, and confession, a priest becomes a ‘mediocrity’
 Former President Carter blasts Catholic teaching on women’s ordination
 Failed kidnapping attempt against Lebanese bishop
 CFO embezzled nearly $1.8 million from Society for the Propagation of the Faith
 In Britain, fetal remains burned to heat hospitals
 Philadelphia seminary to sell Eakins paintings
 Vatican abuse commission member: US response cannot be imposed on rest of world
 Syrian rebels attack Christian town, reportedly desecrate churches

Released Tuesday, Mar. 25

 New web site encourages Catholics toward frequent Confession
 Archbishop Chaput, Vatican official outline plans for World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015
 Italian cardinal blasts 'diversity education'
 Italian archbishop to write meditations for Good Friday observance in Rome
 Supreme Court hears Hobby Lobby case, hints sympathy for plaintiffs
 Questions rise about costs of new archbishop's residence in Atlanta
 Indonesian court bows to Islamic militants, revokes permit for Catholic church
 Lincoln's Bishop Conley challenges faithful to embrace life, eschew contraception
 Mary's humility shows the path to salvation, Pope says on feast of Annunciation
 British court dismisses fraud charges against Mormon leader
 Vatican newspaper publishes English translation of meditation before papal conclave
 ‘Special security measures’ to protect Peruvian bishop
 Gunmen attack Kenyan church, kill 6
 Iraq’s Christian leaders urge participation in elections
 Pope receives Greek Orthodox delegation

Released Monday, Mar. 24

 English priest says 'gay marriage' was faked to help friend find work
 New York Times explores Obama's ties to Catholic activism
 USA Today touts Cardinal O'Malley as America's most influential Catholic leader
 Police baffled by cocaine shipped to Vatican post office
 Coptic leader: 'Arab Spring' was really a winter
 Pope announces 'festival of forgiveness' next weekend
 5,000 attend funeral of 'underground' Chinese bishop; auxiliary, under house arrest, not in attendance
 Relics stolen from Italian church
 Priests should be waiting in confessionals, says Vatican official
 Cardinal Pell defends record under hostile questioning by royal commission
 Italian cardinal: Pope has no power to change teaching on marriage
 Life's fragility is part of its beauty, Pope says
 In face of polygamy, Christian marriage should be proposed ‘without ambiguity,’ says Pope
 Head of Syrian Orthodox Church dead at 80
 Like the Samaritan woman, leave behind your ‘water jar,’ says Pope
 Pope speaks of media’s sins, warns against clericalizing laity
 Pope Francis institutes Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
 Nigeria’s president meets with Pope, says Pontiff will visit nation
 English canonist named prelate-secretary of new Council for the Economy

Released Friday, Mar. 21

 Argentine priest explains story of Pope's 'stolen' rosary
 Cardinal Burke opposes Cardinal Kasper's proposal for divorced/remarried Catholics
 Repent or face hell, Pope warns Mafia
 Pope meets Malta's president-- and receives a special gift
 Salvadoran bishop predicts Romero beatification within three years
 Melinda Gates says her Catholicism does not temper her support for contraceptives
 Nigerian prelate says news strategy to counter Boko Haram is overdue
 Russia's move into Crimea endangers Moscow patriarchate's influence in Ukraine
 Prayer keeps the Word of God alive in our hearts, Pope says
 Pittsburgh’s bishop rejects Common Core standards
 2nd French basilica defaced by graffiti
 Report: Russian Orthodox move to seize other churches in Crimea
 Papal preacher devotes Lenten sermon to St. Augustine
 Bishop pleads for peace in Algeria
 Pakistan’s bishops condemn attack on Hindu temple
 Pope Francis recalls destruction, rebuilding of Monte Cassino

Released Thursday, Mar. 20

  Vatican staff unsettled by prospect of budget cuts
 Employment serves human dignity, Pope tells workers
 Japanese firm to digitize works in Vatican Library
 Pope meets families of Falkland war dead
 European bishops’ body urges voters to support European Union
 Belgian doctors open discussion of involuntary euthanasia
 Vietnam: political prisoners denied access to Bible, sacraments
 Pope meets Montenegro’s president
 Former Lebanese leader sees Christian exodus of ‘biblical proportions’
 Report: Pope to canonize 3 saints in April by ‘equivalent canonization’
 Crimean bishop compares situation to Gethsemane
 Bishop: Church not persecuted in Bahrain
 Vandalism at famed French basilica
 Obama’s meeting with Pope Francis will be 29th between Pope, US president
 Massachusetts bishops: raise the minimum wage

Released Wednesday, Mar. 19

 Priest, human-rights worker released after arrest in Sri Lanka
 Founder of Sant'Egidio community sees Pope Francis facing tough resistance within the Church
 Cast of 'Noah' attends papal audience, claims meeting with Pontiff
 Cardinal Dolan seeks state approval of educational tax credits
 Police enforce religious rules in 17 countries, study finds
 Syrian Islamic leader asks the world: stop sending weapons
 Nigeria: hundreds flock to Sunday Mass despite terrorist attack
 Reforms will ensure Vatican bank can never again embarrass Holy See, cardinal says
 Washington’s former John Paul II Cultural Center becomes a national shrine
 Research shows Pope Pius XII helped generate support for founding of Israel
 Minnesota court confirms: archdiocese must yield names of accused priests
 St. Joseph is model educator, Pope Francis says in general audience
 Head of Scottish abuse commission: Church should change her culture, theology
 California bishop urges faithful to sign up for health insurance
 Pope to lead penance service, hear confessions
 Ukrainian government: ‘stop the terror’ against clerics in Crimea
 Archbishop Gänswein: Pope Francis asked Benedict XVI to critique interview
 Group of African bishops expresses concern about charismatic prayer initiatives
 Archdiocese revises teacher contract, specifies unacceptable conduct
 Future Pope saved dozens of lives, say survivors of Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’

Released Tuesday, Mar. 18

 Australia: lawyer counters Cardinal Pell’s claim on abuse suit
 Vatican to be guest exhibitor at Turin book fair
 Chinese allow funeral Mass as ‘underground’ Church mourns Bishop Fan
 Saudi police censor hundreds of volumes at book fair
 Cardinal George hospitalized; flu cited
 Pennsylvania diocese laments priest’s incardination in Paraguay
 Indonesian Catholic fights sharia conviction in Malaysia
 Newark priest Fugee is laicized
 Prelate: Christians being persecuted in rebel-controlled northern Syria
 Laos: Christians told to abandon faith or leave village
 New Haitian cardinal brokers agreement to allow for elections
 Prelate warns of ‘genocidal war’ in Central African Republic, pleads for UN troops
 Nigerian bishops decry attacks on schools by Boko Haram, others

Released Monday, Mar. 17

 Religious leaders unite to condemn human trafficking
 Argentine president visits Pope at anniversary of his election
 Priest, human-rights worker arrested in Sri Lanka
 East Timor bishops meet with Pope as ad limina visits conclude
 Bill Gates reveals his family attends Catholic church
 Leftist nuns' group opposes challenges to HHS mandate
 Nigerian bishops condemn attacks on students, schools
 Newark archdiocese unveils policy for funerals of priests accused of abuse
 China: underground Church leader dead at 96
 Pakistan: appeals court considers case of Asia Bibi
 Member of House of Lords speaks out against persecution of Christians
 Russian Orthodox leader pays tribute to Pope Francis
 Priest kidnapped, released in Crimea
 Attend Mass, pray for emigrants, Irish bishops say in St. Patrick’s Day statement
 ‘Listen to Jesus,’ Pope Francis preaches during parish visit
 Pope to preside over prayer vigil for Mafia victims
 Pope Francis: carry a pocket-sized edition of the Gospel, read it daily

Released Friday, Mar. 14

 Spokesman hired by Cardinal Dolan leaves USCCB
 English bishop tells blogger-deacon to stop posting
 Massachusetts attorney general backs discrimination lawsuit against Catholic diocese
 Pope praises activist Argentine priests in new radio interview
 Papal preacher begins Lenten homilies
 American Catholics want doctrinal change, but do not expect it, poll finds
 Diocese in South Sudan 'completely destroyed' by new fighting
 Lenten Retreat finished, Pope and Curia leaders return to Vatican
 Former head of suppressed community is vicar general of Paraguay diocese
 Pope Francis invited to address US Congress
 Bishops, evangelical leaders meet with House GOP on immigration
 Bishop reflects on race in America
 Efforts to found new Catholic college in Ireland
 Orissa: convictions, acquittals in gang rape of nun
 Syria’s bishops lament continued violence, urge prayer, fasting for peace
 Amid fears of persecution, bishop rues West’s inaction on Crimea

Released Thursday, Mar. 13

 Pope's popularity riding high in Italian poll
 Portuguese Cardinal Policarpo dies suddenly at 78
 Cardinal Bertone gives account of 2013 conclave
 Russian Orthodox prayer services to be held in Paris’s Notre Dame
 Czech priest awarded Templeton Prize
 Christian neighborhoods in Pakistan’s capital face demolition; church destroyed
 Leading Nigerian prelates lament Boko Haram’s violence
 Cardinal Marx elected German bishops’ president; Cardinal Lehmann preaches on divorce, remarriage
 Class-action lawsuit filed against HHS mandate
 USCCB president writes President Obama, lauds efforts to work for peace

Released Wednesday, Mar. 12

 Striking Israeli diplomatic workers complicate planning for papal trip
 Vatican official: mercy comes first in approach to divorced/remarried
 Father Lombardi reflects on anniversary of Pope's election
 Vatican newspaper offers glimpse into Pope's Lenten Retreat
 Archbishop Nienstedt resumes public ministry, will not be prosecuted
 Pennsylvania priest charged with embezzling $124,000 from parish
 Ontario Catholic school student files homophobia complaint with human rights commission
 Report: US investigating clerical abuse in Puerto Rico; bishop accused
 Churches attacked, desecrated in Venezuela
 Prelate renews appeal for Japan’s earthquake victims
 US bishops issue statement on anniversary of Pope Francis’s election

Released Tuesday, Mar. 11

 Boko Haram death toll: over 500 Catholics in Nigeria
 Cadillac that carried Pope Paul across Holy Land in 1964 offered for visit by Pope Francis
 India: police search for clues in case of murdered seminary rector
 Swedish 'megachurch' leader converts to Catholicism
 Concert at Roman basilica in memory of Japanese earthquake/tsunami victims
 Benedictine sisters have top 2 CDs on classical music chart
 Arrests made in attack on Orissa prayer hall
 FBI investigates archdiocesan data breach; up to 90,000 affected
 India: prelate, opposition criticize Holy Thursday elections
 Fire destroys Milwaukee seminary’s historic buildings
 Chaldean Catholic patriarch reflects on 1st year in office
 Moscow patriarch weighs in on pan-Orthodox council
 Argentina: bishop supports drug tests for politicians
 Court backs Maryland crisis pregnancy center, bars enforcement of ordinance

Released Monday, Mar. 10

 Cardinal Dolan: Pope wants to understand—not endorse—civil-union proposals
 Wisconsin bishop says Pope Francis encourages strong stand on life issues
 Cardinal Pell: abuse victims should be allowed to sue dioceses in Australia
 Benedict XVI discusses John Paul II in interview excerpted in Italian newspaper
 New book by Cardinal Kasper explores pastoral approach for divorced/remarried Catholics
 Pope will visit South Korea in August
 ‘A Catholic spring in Iceland’
 Eastern Orthodox churches to hold pan-Orthodox council in 2016
 Kidnapped Syrian nuns released
 EEOC issues guidelines on accepting employees’ religious garb, grooming
 USCCB: pray for Holy Land peace
 Do not dialogue with Satan, but take refuge in God’s Word, Pope says
 Pope Francis names members of new Council for the Economy, appoints Cardinal Marx as coordinator
 Pope Francis challenges religious to witness to Christ’s poverty

Released Friday, Mar. 7

 Coordinate plans with parishes, Pope asks lay movements
 Cardinal George reveals cancer is advancing
 Vatican denies rumors that papal trip to Israel is in jeopardy
 Lenten Retreat begins Sunday for Pope, Vatican officials
 Rome’s hotels near capacity for canonizations of John Paul II, John XXIII
 Archbishop Chaput, civic officials head to Vatican to discuss September 2015 event to Philadelphia
 Annual Good Friday collection to support Church in Holy Land
 Pope meets with leader of World Council of Churches, urges prayer for Christian unity
 Papal secretary recalls Pope Benedict’s resignation
 New Haitian cardinal mediates in nation’s political crisis
 Swiss bishops’ conference criticizes proposed legalization of surrogacy
 4 Christian villages attacked in Nigeria
 Panelists criticize UN committee’s report on Holy See
 Catholic school news roundup: Seattle, Charlotte, North Dakota
 Group of US bishops to offer Mass for those who died in attempt to cross border

Released Thursday, Mar. 6

 Pope urges Roman priests to be good confessors-- and makes a confession of his own
 Appeals court rejects attempt by St. Paul archdiocese to block archbishop's testimony
 Former seminary teacher, colleague reflects on leadership of Pope Francis
 Archbishop Sheen moves closer to beatification; preliminary approval of miracle
 Leaders of Orthodox churches to meet to discuss council preparations
 Ukrainian Catholic leader welcomes Kerry’s support of Ukraine
 Report documents persecution of Christians, Muslims in India
 Patriarch of Jerusalem issues Lenten letter, expresses hopes for Pope’s visit
 Survey: Pope Francis popular; Mass attendance unchanged over past year
 USCCB, Catholic Charities back ‘Second Chance Act’
 Pope Francis: Lent should ‘shake us from our torpor’

Released Wednesday, Mar. 5

 Pope, Curial leaders will leave Rome (by bus) for Lenten Retreat
 Catholic bishop in Crimea pleads for peace, coexistence among ethnic groups
 Slain Italian priest was victimized because of his charity, bishop says
 Pope backs Brazilian bishops' Lenten drive against human trafficking
 German bishop demands change in Church teachings on sexuality
 Pope Francis: Lent is a time to react to material, spiritual misery
 Pope Francis praises Humanae Vitae, lauds Pope Benedict’s efforts against sexual abuse
 Priest labors alone in eastern Ethiopia
 Archbishop Kurtz: Ukraine’s religious liberty threatened by ‘invasive actions’
 Philippine bishops issue Lenten message on poverty
 USCCB, Southern Baptist officials call for new religious-freedom envoy post
 Congo’s bishops defend direct elections
 Pakistan: death sentence feared for man accused of blasphemy; attorneys threatened

Released Tuesday, Mar. 4

 CDF prefect: Church will not change doctrine on divorce/remarriage
 Vatican prelate sees mounting persecution of Christians
 Christian life always includes the Cross, Pope says
 Malaysia’s top court to hear challenge of ban on ‘Allah’
 Castel Gandolfo gardens opened to public
 Spanish cardinal to head supervisory commission for Vatican bank
 New Vatican coins feature portrait of Pope Francis
 Prayer hall attacked in Orissa
 Ecumenical Patriarch visits Hungary, meets with Catholic bishops
 Cardinal Kasper: women should have far greater role in Curia
 French Olympic chapel desecrated
 Ugandan Anglicans threaten schism over homosexuality
 Mexico: bishop leads thousands in march for peace and family
 Report: leading Russian Orthodox official backs military action in Ukraine
 Religious leaders appeal for 2-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Released Monday, Mar. 3

 Cardinal Pell sees closing of Vatican bank as unlikely
 Ukrainian Church leaders plead for peace; Russian patriarch promises help
 Bishops of Papua New Guinea decry treatment of refugees
 Italian priest killed; financial motive suspected
 Holy See, Burundi formalize accord
 Papal praise for group promoting spiritual exercises
 Newark archdiocese planning $100-million capital campaign
 Helena diocese will emerge from bankruptcy stronger, bishop says
 Christian witness describes Boko Haram atrocities, attacks on church
 Pope's secretary appointed secretary-general of new economics secretariat
 Pope summons religious leaders to Rome to discuss financial assets of religious orders
 Pope calls Spanish bishops to be in state of ‘permanent mission’
 Crimean bishop appeals for calm
 Increasing religious repression in Kazakhstan
 Christian girl slain in Pakistan
 Prelate endorses State Marriage Defense Act
 Report: Protestant families lose water, electricity in Mexican village
 Ukrainian Catholic leader: we must be willing to sacrifice our lives to defend the nation
 Pope Francis reflects on God’s Providence, appeals for peace in Ukraine
 Romanian leader meets with Pope

Want more news? Visit the Archives.

Subscribe to Insights...free!
News, analysis & spirituality by email twice-weekly from CatholicCulture.org.
First name:
Last name:
Email address: