Philadelphia, PA (June 23, 2015) – The World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015 today announced that Andrea Bocelli, the internationally acclaimed Italian tenor with more than 70 million records sold, and Juanes, a multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winning Colombian superstar, will travel to Philadelphia to perform at the Festival of Families on Saturday, […]

In comments made in conjunction with World Refugee Day, observed June 20, Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, called upon U.S. officials to do more to respond to the ongoing refugee crisis in the Middle East stemming from conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, gave their strong support for the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which is a federal non-discrimination act.

“I am deeply saddened by the mass murder that occurred at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina last evening. All life matters and when life is taken in such a violent way, all people of good will are devastated. The fact that nine people were shot to death as their pastor led Bible Study in their Church led to me to prayer throughout this day.

“The Holy Father’s new Laudato Si (“Praise be to you, Lord”) encyclical is a deep and complex appeal to conscience, a challenge to all of us to reexamine our stewardship of the environment and our love for the global poor.

«La nueva encíclica del Santo Padre Laudato Si (Alabado seas, Señor) es una profunda y compleja apelación a la conciencia, un reto a todos a reexaminar nuestra corresponsabilidad del medio ambiente y nuestro amor por los pobres del mundo.

The First World War lingers in the memory as humanity’s first encounter with industrialized killing on a mass scale. New weapons of the machine age obliterated forests, villages and fields – an entire way of life. This new type of war also deeply shaped the thinking of men who experienced it firsthand. Among them were J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, two of the greatest Christian writers of the last century.

With an open heart and gratitude I, along with my brother bishops in the United States, welcome Laudato Si’. In this beautiful and extensive treatment on care for our common home, the Holy Father calls all people to consider our deep and intertwined relationships with God, our brothers and sisters, and the gifts that our Creator has provided for our stewardship.

Faithful throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are encouraged to take part in the fourth annual Fortnight for Freedom being observed nationally June 21 to July 4, 2015, and sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Incarnation of Our Lord Church, Our Mother of Sorrows, and Holy Saviour Church will no longer serve as worship sites of Saint Helena Parish, Sacred Heart Parish and Saint John Fisher Parish, respectively, and will close as Roman Catholic Churches