In his homily during a Mass for seminarians and their families, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory addressed how parents, who made the promise to raise their son in the faith at his baptism, can continue, along with the archbishop himself, to love and support the seminarians during the upcoming academic year. “All our promises are sincere,” he said. “But they need the grace of the Holy Spirit to persevere.” Read More

HOUSTON (CNS) — Confronting social justice issues such as bullying was at the top of the agenda for the 600 or so youth gathered in Houston for the 23rd biennial convention of the Junior Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver. Bullying is an issue that plagues many young people, especially African Americans. An effort spearheaded by Kennedy Wiltz, a 16-year-old Our Lady Star of the Sea parishioner in Houston, and 17-year-old Carrington Guillory of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the event marked a turning point for youth division of the Knights of Peter Claver, and for the two themselves. Read More

Sister Pat Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch marched into the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill recently with their identification and $50 worth of bail money, knowing what was coming. The nuns were in Washington, D.C., on July 18 for the Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children, which drew more than 200 Catholics from around the United States. Wearing placards with pictures of children who died while in federal custody over purple Sisters of Mercy T-shirts, they prayed the rosary and sang. A Jesuit priest blessed the group as authorities arrived, handcuffing each protester with a zip tie. Read More

Washington D.C., Feb 24, 2016 / 03:12 am (CNA).- For Fr. Stephen Thorne, Black History Month is not only a chance to remember the struggles faced by the African-American community throughout the centuries. It’s also an opportunity to learn from the witness of one of the oldest communities of Catholics in the U.S. This witness of Black Catholics, in the face of discrimination and animus, is a gift all Catholics can learn from, said Fr. Thorne, an African-American priest in the Philadelphia archdiocese. “The resilience of African-American Catholics today is a sign of (their) great faith,” he told CNA. Read More

Norfolk, Virginia, Jul 4, 2019 / 03:41 am (CNA).- An immigrant parish, burnt down, with only the crucifix remaining. A parish rebuilt, transformed and a key part in giving back to the community. In a sense, one parish’s story of struggle, pressure and rebirth is metaphor for the American Catholic experience. St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, Virginia, is the only black Catholic church in the United States that is also a basilica. Its dramatic history captures both the broader American Catholic history of persecution, growth and acceptance, but also a witness to the unique challenges faced by black Catholics over the centuries. Read More

Washington D.C., Jul 11, 2019 / 11:15 am (CNA).- Members of Congress heard testimony on Wednesday about harsh conditions in migrant detention facilities at the U.S.-Mexico border, including from a bereaved migrant mother whose infant child became sick in detention and eventually died. “I am here because the world should know what is happening to so many children inside ICE detention,” Yazmin Juarez, a 19 year-old migrant from Guatemala, said in her testimony through a translator before members of the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on July 10. Read More

Washington D.C., Jul 15, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- It is an overcast day with threatening rain clouds overhead, but the mood in the basement of Holy Name of Jesus Church in Northeast Washington is downright sunny. Here, a group of Catholic teens are hard at work helping to prepare the “Holy Foods Market” food pantry for one of its monthly openings, and then later in the day they would make and distribute bagged lunches to some of DC’s homeless population. The teens, under the supervision of adult volunteers, were participating in Encounter the Gospel of Life’s Service Camp, a weeklong program that place groups of teenagers with nonprofits in the Washington, D.C. area, where they serve during the day. At night, there are keynote speeches, concerts, prayers, and community building. Read More

Vatican City, Jul 14, 2019 / 05:36 am (CNA).- Helping a person in need requires compassion toward their situation, Pope Francis said Sunday, encouraging Catholics to think first about their own hardness of heart, not the sins of others. “If you go down the street and see a homeless man lying there and you pass by without looking at him, or you think: ‘Eh, the effect of wine. He’s a drunk,’ do not ask yourself if that man is drunk, ask yourself if your heart has hardened, if your heart has become ice,” the pope said July 14. Read More