News - February 2021 RSS Feed

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone announced Feb. 25, 2021 the appointment of Father Mark Doherty as the new rector of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University. Father Doherty has been the interim rector since October, 2020.

According to the movie “Love Story” “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

CHICAGO -- Catholic Extension has joined the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations to engage youth around the globe in raising awareness of religious freedom and cultivating interreligious respect through a campaign called #forSafeWorship.

WASHINGTON -- When health care chaplains talk about the need for self-care, they really mean it, especially after this past year.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has yet to sign decrees in sainthood causes that follow the new path he approved in 2017, that of giving one's life in a heroic act of loving service to others.

VATICAN CITY -- For believers, the ability to practice their faith and receive spiritual guidance are "the highest of essential services," and pandemic practices over the past year have shown they are not automatically super-spreader events, the Vatican foreign minister said.

LOS ANGELES -- For Jesus' parents, "answering God's call meant their whole lives were turned upside down," not unlike the events of the past year, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said Feb. 21 at the close of the all-virtual 2021 Religious Education Congress.

ROME -- Used at the Easter vigil and at baptisms and funerals, the paschal candle symbolizes Christ who brings light and hope to a world lost in the darkness of sin and death.

WASHINGTON -- If the House of Representatives passes the Equality Act, its mandates will "discriminate against people of faith" by adversely affecting charities and their beneficiaries, conscience rights, women’s sports, "and sex-specific facilities," said the chairmen of five U.S. bishops' committees.

WASHINGTON -- About 60 pro-life leaders signed a letter objecting to confirmation of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's nominee to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In his autobiography, Nikos Kazantzakis shares how in his youth he was driven by a restlessness that had him searching for something he could never quite define.

WASHINGTON -- During a Feb. 22 evening program on CNN, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory offered a prayer for those who have died from COVID-19 asking God to "grant enteral peace to all our sisters and brothers lost to this disease."

WASHINGTON -- Just as it was in much of American society this past year, the financial toll exacted by the coronavirus pandemic affected poor parishes and dioceses more starkly than it did larger and more well-to-do Catholic institutions.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco said the "justice system is working" is a statement issued late Feb. 19 following the arraignment of five people on charges of felony vandalism for toppling a St. Junipero Serra statue outside a Catholic church Oct. 12, 2020.

Local pastors appreciate that celebrating Mass indoors for their parishioners is no longer forbidden by health department rules but indicated outdoor Mass is here for the duration of the pandemic. 

To most individuals, pro-life means “I don’t approve of abortion.” But that is not only what pro-life means.

I am Catholic by birth. I consider Scripture and the Mass sacred. My heart has been touched by both and has guided me in all my life’s decisions.

In a recent article you featured the preaching series of our pastor, Father Gustafson. The article was interesting, but the final sentence stunned me. It read, “St. Hilary was one of those churches that was declining.” If that statement was referring to all the churches’ lack of services due to the COVID virus, I understand it, but if suggesting that the “declining” had anything to do with the steady, spiritual ministry of the church, I must strongly disagree. Under the exemplary pastorate of Father William Brown, the church was quite thriving. In particular, his preaching was intelligent, often filled with great humor, grounded in his own spiritual journey to which we could relate, and always drawing us to a deeper relationship with Christ.

After a divided U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Feb. 5, overruling portions of California’s restrictions on indoor religious services during the COVID-19 pandemic, Archbishop Cordileone issued a statement characterizing the safety measures as an “abuse of power” by our public health officials.

According to Archbishop Cordileone, “this decision makes clear we can now return to worshiping safely without risk of harassment from government officials.” Too bad public safety and the science-based findings of most health experts during a raging pandemic (475,000 deaths nationwide, 45,000 California alone) didn’t figure in Archbishop Cordileone’s concerns, while such issues are the overriding concern in the minds of those big bad government officials. Wonder who it is who’s playing politics here and who is following the science and the experts.