News from United States & Canada covering parishes, dioceses, religious orders, community groups, homelessness, moral & political issues and pilgrims.
On 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Church in Canada celebrated the National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. This project, with the approval of the Bishops of Canada, has been coordinated since 2002 by the Canadian Catholic Indigenous Council.
The following reflection by the Council, draws on theme of the United Nations 2019 year of I...
The Beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, due to take place on 21 December, has been postponed.
In a statement released on 3 December, the Bishop of Peoria, Most Rev Daniel Jenky, said the delay was "not due to any allegation against Sheen involving the abuse of a minor" but was because a few members of the Bishops' Conference had "asked for further consideration."
Born to an Ir...
Archbishop José H Gomez of Los Angeles was elected president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today, during the Fall General Assembly in Baltimore. Archbishop Gomez 67, was elected president on the first ballot with 176 votes. The Archbishop has served as vice president of the Conference since 2016. Archbishop Allen H Vigneron of Detroit was elected as USCCB vice president. Bot...
One year ahead of the 2020 national elections, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have launched a year-long initiative inviting Catholics to model "civility, love for neighbour, and respectful dialogue."
Civilize It: Dignity Beyond the Debate . . . will ask Catholics to pledge civility, clarity, and compassion in their families, communities, and parishes, ...
Scott Wright
Director, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
On October 12, at the US/Mexico border, where the Santa Fe bridge divides the sister cities El Paso and Juarez, Mexico, the waters of the Rio Grande flow below, bounded on both sides by layers of barbed-wire fences. Under the late afternoon sun, 200 people, young and old, lay and religious, Latino and Anglo, crossed by...
Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, led more than 400 Catholic demonstrators on Wednesday, 4 September to protest against the inhumane treatment of child migrants and their families at detention centres across the US. In recent months at least seven children have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centres. Many more are being separated from their families for ...
Cardinal Daniel N DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued the following statement regarding Hurricane Dorian that has left more than 20 people dead in the Bahamas and is moving closer to the southeast coast of the United States.
Cardinal DiNardo's full statement follows:
"As we continue to be vigilant for...
Catholic Charities USA have expressed grave concern over the Trump administration's plan to allow officials to detain migrant families indefinitely while judges consider whether to grant them asylum. At present, under1997 Flores agreement, immigration authorities cannot usually detain families with children longer than 20 days.
Catholic Charities said in a statement today: "The announceme...
The American Pax Christi Anti-Racism team is joining members of the Episcopal Church on 25 August to participate in a Healing Day of National Bell Ringing to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first slaves from Africa.
Organisers are inviting Catholics to contact their parishes asking them to toll their church bells at 3pm this Sunday, to commemorate this tragic event and to...
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has written a letter to President Trump calling on President Trump to end all divisive rhetoric The letter, affirmed by the 663 LCWR members, during their annual 2019 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 14 states: "We implore you to never use language that disrespects, dehumanises, or demonises others. We expect our president, and all who ser...
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has expressed concern and opposition to a new ruling that is expected to have negative consequences for families accessing critical public benefits.
The new rule, concerning who in the United States receives public benefits and who does not, was scheduled to be published today, Wednesday, 14 August, but could take another 60 days be...
A police operation in the State of Mississippi has left dozens of children without parents. Hundreds of adults were arrested across the state after more than 600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) agents launched a series of raids last Thursday.
Until yesterday, state officials, lawyers and defenders of migrants did not know where the children had been sent, after their par...
The following statement was issued by the United States Region of the Missionary Society of St Columban on 7 August.
The US Region of the Missionary Society of St Columban stands with the families and victims of the violence that left 31 persons dead and many more injured in El Paso and Dayton over the weekend, and decries the culture of racial hatred promoted by our nation's lea...
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has become the first North American denomination to declare itself a sanctuary church body. The decision was voted on at their meeting in Milwaukee on Thursday,
As a sanctuary church the ELCA is committed to serving and supporting migrant children and families in communities across the country.
Earlier in the day, the Rev Elizabeth Eaton, p...
