Three years after the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, thanks to a former U.S. cardinal, a Pennsylvania statewide grand jury report, and abuse problems in Chile and elsewhere, the Church is in turmoil.  In this turbulent environment, the Holy See will host a world synod of bishops, October 3-28, in Rome.   Keyed to the theme of “young people, faith, and vocational discernment,” a more ironic, and more difficult, confluence of bad facts at a bad time for the meeting can hardly be imagined.

A celebration of the Hispanic Catholic community’s rich diversity

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will observe the Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on Sunday, October 7th with an Archdiocesan Rosary.

These schools are among only 49 private or religious schools in the country to receive this honor.  

Over the past few months I’ve turned my regular column space over to young adults on a number of occasions.  They’ve used this space to offer their views on the 2018 synod of bishops focusing on youth.  That synod begins this week in Rome, on Wednesday, October 3.  Below is a letter I received on September 30 from India.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has asked that all parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia consider taking up a one-time, special collection on the weekend of their choosing, September 29-30 or October 6-7, to support continued relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Florence.

I want to underline our commitment to helping abuse survivors, whether their claims are time-barred or not.