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Church cops? Congregation eyes its own unusual police force
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Briarwood Presbyterian Church already has more than 4,000 members, two private schools and its own radio station. And if administrators have their way, the wealthy congregation could soon add something that no other American church has: its own police force....
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null / Credit: terazitu/ShutterstockSt. Paul, Minn., May 11, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Jerry Laughlin, 46, who took over a fifth-generation farm near Imogene, Iowa, in 1999 and hopes to move more into farming crops for food rather than industrial use, is grateful for his Catholic faith amid the challenges of farm life. Seeing farming as a sacred profession is exactly what an "epic apostolate" founded 100 years ago aims to foster. Laughlin is considering, with his pastor, Father Lazarus Kirigia, starting a chapter of Catholic Rural Life at his parish.Built on Archbishop Edwin O'Hara's vision and philosophy of Catholic rural life, it continues his legacy of helping the rural Church promote U.S. farming and how it can foster virtuous living, while it also grapples with problems the archbishop identified a century ago, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said at a May 8 anniversary event titled "Rejoicing in the Harvest: Celebrating 100 Years of Catholic Rural Life" at the University of St...
Archbishop J. Michael Miller celebrates Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Delta before the March for Life in Victoria, British Columbia, on May 9, 2024. He prayed that they "may be worthy and effective messengers of hope." / Credit: Paul SchratzVictoria, Canada, May 11, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).At a pro-life Mass before the March for Life in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller prayed that those heading to the British Columbia Legislature "may be worthy and effective messengers of hope to a world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to choke the fragile growth of grace in people's hearts."The acceptance of abortion in particular in the law and the popular mind is "a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil," the archbishop said.He told the pro-life worshippers that they are "praying in a special way that rever...
A powerful tornado hit St. Mary's Catholic Church in rural Barnsdall, Oklahoma, on May 6, 2024. / Credit: Daniel McCay/Eastern Oklahoma CatholicCNA Staff, May 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).A rural Oklahoma parish hit this week by a powerful tornado suffered serious damage, especially to its parish hall. But amid the rubble, broken glass, and winds possibly as high as 175 mph, the church's tabernacle containing the body of Christ remained intact.Father Emmanuel Nduka, who pastors three local churches including St. Mary's, told CNA that the tabernacle's survival served as a sign of God's presence amid the devastation in the small Oklahoma town of Barnsdall."God is in control. There's no reason why our church should be standing after what happened in Barnsdall Sunday night," the priest told CNA.Nduka lives in a neighboring town 30 minutes from Barnsdall, but early on May 7, as soon as he heard about the damage to the church, he raced over. No one was in the church building at the...
