Catholic News 2

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Serious issues face Saturday night's Republican presidential debaters in South Carolina, a state with deep-rooted military culture and home to a mass murder at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. But style is going to beg for attention alongside pressing matters of policy....

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- Marco Rubio enters Saturday night's Republican presidential debate facing immense pressure to right his campaign after faltering badly in the last contest and finishing a disappointing fifth in New Hampshire....

 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others.""Even as Americans rema...

WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 12, 2016 / 06:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A well-known Mexican artist is collecting millions of keys for an unusual reason.He will use the keys to create a 16-foot-tall bronze statue of Pope Francis.The statue’s design shows Francis holding in his left hand a white dove as it takes flight.Pedro Francisco Rodriguez, a famous sculptor in the Juarez area, is in charge of the project. To collect the bronze keys, project volunteers have placed containers in different shopping centers. All people who want to participate can drop off their keys there. Any shortfall in material will be completed by donations from local businesses, Father Hesiquio Trevizo, a spokesman for the Diocese of Juarez, said at a January press conference.Some of the shopping centers chosen include the Rio Grande Mall, Gran Patio Zaragoza, Las Misiones, Galerias Tec, Plaza Monumental, and Plaza las Americas, among others.The sculptor said he began work in late December. He hopes to have the ...

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 12, 2016 / 06:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A well-known Mexican artist is collecting millions of keys for an unusual reason.

He will use the keys to create a 16-foot-tall bronze statue of Pope Francis.

The statue’s design shows Francis holding in his left hand a white dove as it takes flight.

Pedro Francisco Rodriguez, a famous sculptor in the Juarez area, is in charge of the project. To collect the bronze keys, project volunteers have placed containers in different shopping centers. All people who want to participate can drop off their keys there. Any shortfall in material will be completed by donations from local businesses, Father Hesiquio Trevizo, a spokesman for the Diocese of Juarez, said at a January press conference.

Some of the shopping centers chosen include the Rio Grande Mall, Gran Patio Zaragoza, Las Misiones, Galerias Tec, Plaza Monumental, and Plaza las Americas, among others.

The sculptor said he began work in late December. He hopes to have the statue ready by April 2016.

When he is finished, the sculpture will be white, Rodriguez explained.

Fr. Trevizo said that organizers of the project do not know where the statue will be installed. They will search for a place where all the faithful and pilgrims can see and appreciate it.

Pope Francis is visiting Mexico February 12-17. The last city on his schedule is Juarez, which is situated on the U.S. border across from El Paso, Texas.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- A shooting at a suburban Phoenix high school that killed two 15-year-old girls and caused panic among parents was a murder-suicide, police said....

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The United States temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea in response to North Korea's nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch, ahead of talks next week to set up an even more sophisticated U.S. missile defense in a move that has worried China and Russia....

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times local):...

HAVANA (AP) -- The latest on Pope Francis's historic meeting in Cuba with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and his subsequent trip to Mexico (all times local):...

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis kicks off his first trip to Mexico on Saturday with speeches to the country's political and ecclesial elites, riding in on the success of his historic meeting in Cuba with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church....