News & Commentary

A file photo shows spring flowers blooming outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception named a Jubilee Year site

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, the nation's patronal church, has been named a special place of pilgrimage for the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year 2025, the theme for which is "Pilgrims of Hope."
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Priest killed, one missing as church assesses damage from Haiti quake

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti collapsed the bishop's residence in Les Cayes, killing one priest, leaving one missing and injuring Cardinal Chibly Langlois.
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US bishops support immigration provisions in $3.5 trillion spending bill

The U.S. bishops' migration chair said Aug. 12 that the Catholic leaders were pleased the $3.5 trillion spending plan passed by the Senate a day earlier would provide "lawful permanent status to qualified immigrants."
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Some Catholic hospitals now require employees to get COVID-19 vaccine

Mercy Sister Mary Haddad, president of the Catholic Health Association, is on a mission. She hopes to clarify some of the current confusion leading to both vaccine hesitancy and recent protests over vaccine mandates being put in place to curb the ...
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Environmental leaders: UN climate report can spur prayerful action

Amadou Diallo, a program manager for Catholic Relief Services in Senegal, knows from talking with the farmers and cattle herders in his country that the cyclical droughts the country experienced occurred about once every 10 years for generations.
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Australian outback school named for teen on way to sainthood

An Australian outback diocese has announced what is believed to be the world's first high school to be named after a teenage computer programmer beatified by Pope Francis last year.
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Street Masses bring Catholic Church to the people in Chicago neighborhood

CHICAGO (CNS) -- For the neighbors who came out for a recent street Mass in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, blessings abounded. The weather held, with no rain and a breeze to lift the heat. Cicadas sang and birds twittered in ...
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