Members of two dozen Roman Catholic churches closed or slated for closure by the Chicago Archdiocese are fighting to stay open. They’re appealing to the Vatican, claiming they are financially viable, despite the Archdiocese’s assessment to the contrary. Gerry Winters, president of Save St. Matthias Church, says the plan to merge his Lincoln Square parish Read more
The Spanish Episcopal Conference (SEC) on March 2 announced that more Catholics donated part of their state taxes to their Church in 2020 than ever before. Spaniards have the option of allocating 0.7% of their taxes to certain causes, including the Church. And in 2020 some 8.5 million people — about a third of all Read more
A 97-year-old woman is among those who fear they will be deported to countries ravaged by coronavirus. Others are in their 70s and 80s and say they face a life of fear and isolation if they have to return to their homelands. They’re among thousands of people affected by the Government freeze on Immigration New Read more
Sales for popular Dr. Seuss titles have soared on Amazon and Barnes and Noble following the announcement that six of the children’s book author’s titles are no longer being sold because of racist and insensitive imagery. Dr. Seuss books including “The Cat in The Hat,” “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” and “Green Eggs and Ham” Read more
New Zealand’s government is considering prioritising south Aucklanders in the coronavirus immunisation rollout as a controversial church leader said she would refuse the vaccine. No new community cases of coronavirus were recorded for the third consecutive day, reaffirming the government’s cautious optimism that its localised seven-day lockdown has been effective in containing the Auckland February Read more
Deacon Albert Graff, who turned 102 on Jan. 23, explains the secret to his longevity in two words: “Never retire.” An engineer by profession, he had scarcely retired after 25 years at General Atomics when he began his more than 30 years of ministry as a permanent deacon. “I retired from General Atomics in April Read more
Nine great apes at the San Diego Zoo – four orangutans and five bonobos – made veterinary history in recent weeks as the world’s first non-human primates known to be vaccinated against COVID-19, zoo officials said on Thursday. One of the recipients was a 28-year-old female Sumatran orangutan named Karen, who had garnered headlines at Read more
On January 30, Pope Francis met with Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, who was in Rome for a meeting of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. The Holy See Press Office did not release any information on the meeting other than that it took place. Much of the press speculated that the meeting was probably Read more
Refugees bound for Horowhenua are stuck in Ecuador due to a lack of international flights and safe travel routes. The quota programme started again in early February after borders around the world were closed due to Covid-19, and the first group of 35 quota refugees arrived within the week. The 90 refugees bound for Levin Read more
Violent militancy is on the rise in Pakistan amid an increasing trend of religiosity. While many Pakistani officials have celebrated the growing embrace for adhering to stronger religious ties among the population to unite the country, this increase has actually created further militancy and extremism. This is evidenced by recent attacks from religious extremist cells Read more