News & Commentary

Pope Leo greets actress Cate Blanchett

Pope asks big names in film to continue to challenge, inspire, give hope

Meeting an international cast of film directors and actors, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the power of cinema to help people "contemplate and understand life, to recount its greatness and fragility and to portray the longing for infinity."
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Faith leaders call for ‘healing’ after Rittenhouse verdict

A local Unitarian Universalist pastor and the head of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee issued statements urging calm in the days ahead after a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges.
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Pope encourages young people to be critical conscience of society

Pope Francis told young people that, with Jesus, people can find the courage to swim against the current, to be free and authentic, and to stand up for their dreams and ideals of truth, love, justice and peace.
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Catholic leaders applaud decision to commute Julius Jones’ death sentence

Catholic opponents of the death penalty, including Oklahoma City's archbishop, praised the Nov. 18 announcement that the Oklahoma governor granted death-row inmate Julius Jones clemency—just hours before he was scheduled to be executed.
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U.S. bishops focus on Communion, synodality, finances in fall assembly

The U.S. bishops, gathered for the first time in person since 2019, discussed the highly anticipated statement on the Eucharist without the heated discussion it stirred up in their previous meeting.
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Maryland couple donates spruce as Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree

The sleepy streets of Cecil County, Maryland, near the University of Delaware and White Clay Creek State Park were buzzing with activity the morning of Nov. 11, as one of the most iconic holiday symbols in the United States began ...
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Laudato Si’ Action Platform set to integrate encyclical into church life

The Vatican's seven-year plan to widen the reach of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on the environment is just what the church needs in a time of global climate change in the mind of Father Emmet Farrell, a retired priest living ...
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