Tag: america

On
Laura Green, For the Catholic Herald

‘Climate Change in the Americas’ event bridges borders to care for our common home

In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis calls us to this vision: “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”

In this vein, “Climate Change in the Americas” hosted by the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) used technology to bridge borders, highlight the voices of community advocates from all walks of life, and bring people together to talk about the greatest threat to our common home and all who share it.

Read More
On
George Weigel

John Paul II and “America”

In the years preceding the Great Jubilee of 2000, John Paul II held a series of continental synods to help the Church in different locales reflect on its distinctive situation at the end of the second millennium and to plan for a future of evangelical vigor in the third.

These special assemblies were easily named in the case of the Synods for Africa, Asia, and Europe. But when it came to the synod for the western hemisphere, John Paul threw a linguistic curve ball that made an important point.

Read More
On
Fr. Robert Barron

Thoughts on Cardinal George

Second in a series of reflections by Fr. Robert Barron on the life of Cardinal Francis George.

The one who would proclaim the Gospel in the contemporary American setting must appreciate that the American culture is sown liberally with semina verbi (seeds of the Word).

The first of these, in Cardinal Francis George’s judgment, is the modern sense of freedom and its accompanying rights.

Read More
On
Francis X. Rocca, Catholic News Service

Pope will visit Philadelphia, attend World Meeting of Families

Pope Francis arrives to lead an audience at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September of 2015, making it the first confirmed stop on what is expected to be a more extensive papal visit to North America.

The pope made the announcement November 17, in a speech opening an interreligious conference on traditional marriage.

“I would like to confirm that, God willing, in September 2015, I will go to Philadelphia for the eighth World Meeting of Families,” the pope said.

Announcement expected

The announcement had been widely expected, since Pope Benedict XVI had said before his retirement that he hoped to attend the Philadelphia event. Popes typically fulfill their predecessors’ publicly known travel plans, as Pope Francis did in July 2013, when he attended World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who was in Rome for the families meeting, told Catholic News Service the announcement was “a surprise in the sense that it was announced so early; you know usually they don’t make these announcements — four months out is the typical and here we are 10 months away, and the Holy Father said he is coming to Philadelphia.”

Read More
On
Kevin Wondrash

Donate four-packs for St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantry garden

COTTAGE GROVE — Eager to get your garden going? A visit to a local garden center from Friday to Sunday, May 2 to 4, could give you that chance — and the opportunity to help local people in need.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is asking those visiting America’s Best Flowers Garden Center in rural Cottage Grove this weekend to purchase and donate vegetable-transplant four-packs destined to become fresh produce on the tables of Dane County families in need.

Read More
On
Fr. David Wanish, For the Catholic Herald

Focusing on the plight of immigrants during Lent

“Forty days in the desert” describes Jesus at the start of his ministry and the Christian community during Lent.

For me, henceforth, it will also bring to mind migrants who make a dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States. I learned on a tour with the organization Witness for Peace that the trip for those who start in southern Mexico or Central America can take one to two months and often includes walking through treacherous stretches of desert.

Read More