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IMAGE: CNS photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, ReutersBy WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration welcomed a federal appeals court ruling that upheld a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's travel ban on refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries that also temporarily suspended the country's refugee resettlement program."We respect the rule of law and the American judicial process. We remain steadfast in our commitment to resettling refugees and all those fleeing persecution," Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, said in a statement Feb. 10."At this time we remain particularly dedicated to ensuring that affected refugee and immigrant families are not separated and that they continue to be welcomed in our country," the statement said.The bishop pledged that church agencies would continue to welcome people "as it is a vital part of our Catholic faith and an enduring element of our American values and traditions."In a decision ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Mohammed Badra, EPABy WASHINGTON(CNS) -- Christians and all people in the Middle East need the solidarityof the U.S. Catholic Church, said the chairmen of three committees ofthe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the head of the Catholic Relief Services board."Aconcern for our Christian brethren is inclusive and does not exclude a concernfor all the peoples of the region who suffer violence and persecution, bothminorities and majorities, both Muslims and Christians," said a Feb. 10 statementfrom four bishops."Tofocus attention on the plight of Christians and other minorities is not toignore the suffering of others," the statement said. "Rather, byfocusing on the most vulnerable members of society, we strengthen the entirefabric of society to protect the rights of all."Thegroup included Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the Ad HocCommittee for Religious Liberty; Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico,chairman of the Committee on Internat...
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Maria DominguezBy Nancy WiechecFLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (CNS) --An immigrant teacher and White House honoree fears President Donald Trump isundermining the community she has fought to lift up."It's only been two,three weeks since he was sworn in and I can see the fear and uncertainty in mystudents and their undocumented parents," said Maria Dominguez, who teachesfirst grade at Rodriguez Elementary School in Austin, Texas."A couple of parents thatI've met with this week have mentioned that they're afraid of what's going tohappen to their children if (the parents) were to be deported," she said in aphone interview with Catholic News Service.Dominguez said some fearthat their children could be placed in foster care and they would not knowwhere they are or how they are doing. Her first-grade students have expressedtheir own anxieties."My kids tell me thatthey don't want to go to Mexico," she said. "They were born here, and most ofthem have never even traveled to their ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler OrsburnBy Mark PattisonWASHINGTON(CNS) -- A massive donation of Ethiopian religious manuscripts to The CatholicUniversity of America in Washington makes the school one of the largest holdersof such texts outside Ethiopia.The valueof the donation, by Gerald and Barbara Weiner of Chicago, is estimated to be more than $1 million. The collection includes more than 215 Islamic manuscripts, 125Christian manuscripts, and 350 so-called "magic" scrolls with prayers toprotect the owner or reader from particular illnesses.Whatmakes the manuscripts valuable is that they're handmade, according to AaronButts, an assistant professor of Semitic languages and literature at CatholicUniversity. What makes them rare, he added, is that such texts are rarely seenoutside Ethiopia, and that the East African nation's rainy season often rendersthe books and scrolls unusable or illegible after repeated use. That so manytexts -- most of which date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, wi...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Without commenting on the authenticityof alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pope Francis has appointed aPolish archbishop to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and thethousands of pilgrims who flock to the town each year.The pope chose Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Praga as his special envoy to Medjugorje, theVatican announced Feb. 11."The mission has the aim of acquiring a deeperknowledge of the pastoral situation there and, above all, of the needs of thefaithful who go there in pilgrimage, and on the basis of this, to suggestpossible pastoral initiatives for the future," the Vatican announcementsaid.Archbishop Hoser's assignment has "an exclusivelypastoral character," the Vatican said, making it clear his task is separatefrom the work of a commission set up in 2010 by now-retired Pope Benedict XVIto investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary had appeared tothem daily b...
By Junno Arocho EstevesVATICANCITY (CNS) -- Obeying the true spirit of the commandments and not just a literal interpretation of them is whatmakes Christians become authentic witnesses, Pope Francis said. Asseen through Mary's example, following the commandments "is possible withthe grace of the Holy Spirit which enables us to do everything with love and tofully carry out the will of God," he said Feb. 12 before reciting theAngelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square."Maythe Virgin Mary, woman of docile listening and joyful obedience, help us to approach the Gospel notjust having a Christian 'facade,' but being Christian in substance," hesaid. Thepope reflected on the Sunday Gospel reading from Matthew, in which Jesus explainsto his disciples the Mosaic law and warns that "unless your righteousnesssurpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."Thisrighteousness, the pope said, must be "animated by love, charity andmercy" in order to ...
By Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The sexual abuse of children bythose who have vowed to serve Christ and the church is a horrendous monstrositythat represents "a diabolical sacrifice" of innocent, defenselesslives, Pope Francis said.The church, which must protect the weakest, has a duty"to act with extreme severity with priests who betray their mission andwith the hierarchy -- bishops and cardinals -- who protect them," the popewrote in the preface to a new book written by a man raped as a child by aCapuchin priest.The book, "My Father, I Forgive You" ("MonPere, Je Vous Pardonne"), was written by Daniel Pittet, 57, in an effortto describe how he fell victim to a predator abuser when he was 8 years oldgrowing up in Fribourg, Switzerland, and the challenges he faced when cameforward two decades later with the accusations. The book, currently publishedonly in French, was to be released Feb. 16. News outlets released the text ofthe pope's preface Feb. 13.Pittet -- who had been a mon...
By Valerie SchmalzSAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- The Trump administration'sapparent endorsement of parental school choice could present a "huge opportunity"for Catholic school parents, the president of the National Catholic EducationalAssociation told a group of Catholic high school teachers in San Francisco."Thiscould be a huge opportunity for parents wanting to choose the right school fortheir children," Thomas Burnford, NCEA president, told participants at theArchdiocese of San Francisco's annual high school teachers' consortium Feb. 3."Whateveryour politics, the current administration proclaims some understanding orbelief in support of school choice," Burnford said in his talk atArchbishop Riordan High School. In his remarks, he did not mention PresidentDonald Trump directly, saying in later comments he did not want to politicizethe subject of parental choice.Hisspeech was given four days before Betsy DeVos was confirmed by the Senate asthe nation's education secretary following a tiebr...
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Naked women are back in Playboy magazine, ending a year-old ban on the nudity that made the magazine famous....
