Pope’s August prayer intention: people in the maritime world In his prayer intention for this month of August, Pope Francis urges prayers for seafarers and those working in the maritime world. By Robin Gomes Pope Francis on Tuesday released a video message containing his prayer intention for the month of August. He invites prayers for…
Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs Celebrates Graduate
This spring, Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, celebrated a major milestone with one of their neighbors. At the age of 21, after having come to the country as an asylum seeker, struggling with language barriers and becoming a first-time mother, Sindy Niz Juarez received her high school diploma from the Moon Township School District. Sindy…
Faith Based Organizations
TIP Report Highlights Work of Faith Based Organizations On June 25 the U.S. State Department issued the 2020 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. Included in the report each year are Topics of Interest. This year’s report included Faith-Based Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking which highlighted two organizations supported by the Felician Sisters of North America….
Federal Death Penalty After 17 Years
Federal Death Penalty After 17 Years Yesterday, Daniel Lewis Lee became the first person executed by the federal government in 17 years following an all-night legal battle. He was pronounced dead at 8:07 am EDT. The circumstances surrounding Mr. Lee’s execution (originally scheduled for 4 pm Monday afternoon) were nothing short of abhorrent. The Department…
Protect Our Children Act
Protect Our Children Act Child online sexual exploitation is rampant. As with all pandemics, online sexual abuse of children is not easy to detect, threatens lives, especially of the most vulnerable, and if unaddressed, will have daunting and irreversible impacts on families and society. In 2019, the New York Times reported, in a series of articles on this crime,…
Virtual Advocacy Days
Interfaith Immigration Coalition Virtual Advocacy Days The Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) is hosting virtual advocacy days from Tuesday, July 14 – Thursday, July 16 to demand that Congress defund the administration’s harmful anti-asylum policies and restore asylum protections. A series of legislative meetings are being organized along with an accompanying training to equip community members…
ICE to Release Children
Federal Judge Orders ICE to Release Children Due to COVID A federal judge ruled Friday evening that immigrant children held in ICE detention must be released by July 17 due to the danger of the coronavirus pandemic, an order that was met with urgings from rights groups for the concurrent release of parents as well…
CATHOLICS OF COLOR
CATHOLICS OF COLOR Several canonized and potential saints have already helped to pioneer the Church’s path toward equality for all its members.Born in Peru to a Spanish father and a Black mother (15791639), St. Martin de Porres has long been a patron of Black Catholics. In recent years, he has been joined by a growing…
Sister Thea Bowman
Sister Thea Bowman … religious sister, civil rights advocate, candidate for sainthood NA Staff, Jun 18, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- Sister Thea Bowman was the granddaughter of a slave, an advocate for racial justice, and the first African American woman to address the U.S. bishops’ conference. Two years ago, her sainthood cause was opened.
Pope adds three new invocations
Pope adds three new invocations to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary 22 June 2020 /“Mater misericordiae”, the Latin for “Mother of mercy”; “Mater spei”, or “Mother of hope”; and “Solacium migrantium”, or “Solace of migrants” are the new invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto, which is often…
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Saturday after Corpus Christi Immaculate Heart of Mary In the 17th century, Saint John Eudes promoted devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. He even composed an Office and Mass in honor of the Heart of Mary. It became a feast of the universal Church only in the 20th century and is celebrated on the day after…
World Refugee Day 2020
A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or…