The feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita, February 8, has been designated as the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged support for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act when it comes before the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 36, introduced by Representatives Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), proposes a ban on abortions at 20 weeks after fertilization.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. will celebrate Mass for the approximately 2,000 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who are attending the March.

Today, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the launch of the 2015 Catholic Charities Appeal, the single largest fundraising initiative in the Archdiocese directly supporting local Catholic Charities. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. is encouraging the faithful within the Archdiocese to support the Appeal by once again setting a $10 million fundraising goal.

Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), urged support for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act when it comes before the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 36, introduced by Representatives Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), proposes a ban on abortions at 20 weeks after fertilization.

The U. S. Supreme Court granted a request, January 16, to review the November 2014 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upholding the constitutionality of marriage laws in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

January 13, 2015 Confirmation Schedule – Spring 2015 (Subject to change)   CELEBRANT: ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP.  Friday, March 20 at 6 p.m., Visitation B.V.M., Philadelphia Thursday, March 26 at 6 p.m., St. Joseph, Warrington Thursday, April 9 at 5 p.m., Annunciation B.V.M., Havertown Friday, April 10 at 5 p.m., St. Dennis, Havertown […]

Communities should strive to live the words of Martin Luther King Jr., to move “from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a message for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on January 19.

The path to peace in the Holy Land requires respect for the human rights and dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians, said bishops from Europe, South Africa and North America, gathered in the Holy Land to pray for peace, January 15. The Co-Ordination of Episcopal Conference in Support of the Church of the Holy Land has met every January since 1998 to pray and act in solidarity with the Christian community in the Holy Land.

More than 50 years have passed since Martin Luther King Jr. stepped into America’s racial divide of the 1950s and 1960s. Although that divide has eased in some important ways, recent events show that much remains to be done. This month’s observance of Martin Luther King Day, January 19, therefore comes at a key moment. We should take advantage of it by reflecting on why King’s efforts to fight racial injustice bore such good fruit, and what his witness means for the United States today. It’s a moment for those of us who are Christians to reexamine our own lives in light of the Gospel, and to ground ourselves again in the same Word of God that gave Martin Luther King the courage and perseverance to seek healing where sin had wrought racial conflict.