Follow Us

Follow Us

Catholic News

‘Follow Me’ SEEK conference to debut satellite event in Washington, D.C.

Procession for the final Mass at the SEEK conference Jan. 5, 2024, in St. Louis. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 29, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA). For the first time, the annual Fellowship of Catholic University Students’ SEEK conference next month will take place in two locations: Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., as national attendance for the event continues to grow. “After the growth of SEEK over recent years we are excited to offer the opportunity to attend SEEK in locations that are more convenient to attendees around the country,” the event website indicates. “Our regional SEEK location will have the same quality of world-class speakers, ability to connect with our dynamic sponsors, and opportunity to come together with a community of seekers and believers to worship, pray, receive, learn, and connect in a regional location.” The Jan. 2–5, 2025, satellite event in Washington, D.C., is completely sold ou

Massachusetts Catholic school expands with $20 million classical-inspired building

St. Benedict Classical Academy in Natick, Massachusetts, on its opening day, Dec. 2, 2024. / Credit: Adam Richins Photography CNA Staff, Dec 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA). A group of home schooling moms in Massachusetts banded together more than a decade ago with a vision: a classical Catholic school for their children centered on Christ.St. Benedict Classical Academy, which began in 2013 with 25 students, has since grown to more than 300 and until recently was operating out of a humble schoolhouse in Natick, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.But on Dec. 2, St. Benedict Classical Academy (SBCA) opened its new campus — a $20 million classical-inspired structure that the headmaster, Jay Boren, said is designed to “lift the hearts and minds of all who enter it to the contemplation of God.”“Architecture is the first teacher of the student, so it was very important to our community that the new schoolhouse ‘teach’ the student the importance of what th

White House backs off contraceptive mandate, potential win for Little Sisters of the Poor

null / Credit: Orhan Cam/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA). The Little Sisters of the Poor welcomed a Christmas blessing earlier this week that could help them end their near-14-year religious liberty battle with the U.S. government. On Monday afternoon, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a notice in the Federal Register stating that it has opted to withdraw rule changes to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraception mandate. Proposed by the Biden administration last year, the rule changes would have barred the nuns and other religious organizations from claiming exemptions to the ACA requirement that employers provide abortion and contraception coverage in their employee health plans.HHS stated that it decided to withdraw the Biden administration’s proposed rules so the government could “focus their time and resources on matters other than finalizing these rules.” The health agency fu

Texas sues NCAA over men in women’s sports, alleges ‘deceptive’ practices

null / Credit: Matthew D Britt via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 27, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), alleging that permitting men in women’s sports is a “false, deceptive, and misleading” advertising practice.The NCAA, which is the largest collegiate sports association, allows biological men who identify as transgender women to participate in women-only sports competitions if they bring down their testosterone levels through testosterone suppressants.Under the NCAA rules, each specific sport has a maximum testosterone level for a biological male to be eligible to compete in the women’s competition. Athletes are required to provide documentation several times per year to show their testosterone levels.The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA is “advertising and selling goods and services” as women’s sporting events

Catholic university in the Bronx now houses large collection of relics

A relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux (left) and a relic of St. Vincent de Paul (right) from the collection of relics housed at Manhattan University. / Credit: Archives of the De La Salle Christian Brothers CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA). In a hilly section of the Bronx you will find Manhattan University, a private, Catholic university established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a lay order dedicated to education. The university has also become home to a large collection of holy relics.Founded by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle in 1680, the Brothers of Christian Schools began to set up schools for poor boys to receive an education. The order quickly spread across France and other European countries and eventually spread around the world. The order is currently headquartered in Rome.In recent decades, however, the order has been shrinking, with many of its schools and other institutions shutting down in North America. As a result, boxes of documen

Jesuit High School ignites faith, inspires students to pursue priesthood

Jimmy Mitchell (front row, far left) leads a group of Jesuit students in a walking rosary after school. / Credit: Jesuit High School CNA Staff, Dec 27, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA). Talking to the graduates of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, who are now pursuing priesthood, a familiar refrain emerges: Most of them didn’t have a strong Catholic faith before entering high school, at least not a faith that they considered their own. “Like many Catholics today, much of my faith was very lukewarm growing up,” said Austin Smith, a 2017 Jesuit graduate and current fifth-year seminarian at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. But following their high school experience — at a school marked by a culture of peer ministry, readily available Catholic sacraments including daily Mass and frequent confession, inspiring retreats, and mission trip opportunities — several young men in recent years have found that God is calling th

Biden signs defense bill that eliminates funding for underage transgender drugs

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA). President Joe Biden this week signed a nearly $900 billion defense spending bill despite Democratic reservations about a provision that prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from covering transgender drug prescriptions for minors.The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 provides $895 billion in defense and military spending. The annual legislation, which often receives strong bipartisan support, passed the Senate 85-14 and the House 281-140.“This bill provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families and includes critical authorities to support our country’s national defense, foreign affairs, and homeland security,” Biden said in a statement.“Whil

Jubilee USA partners with Caritas International in debt relief campaign for poor countries

Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica before Mass on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2024, officially launching the Jubilee Year 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA). Continuing St. John Paul II’s mission from the 2000 Jubilee, a U.S.-based jubilee network is partnering with international aid organizations to provide debt relief for the world’s poorest countries during the 2025 Jubilee Year. Representatives from Caritas Internationalis and Jubilee USA Network, a league of faith-based development and debt-relief organizations, announced the five-year campaign, “Turn Debt into Hope,” during a Vatican press conference on Dec. 23, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network Eric LeCompte said during the conference that his organization is launching the effort “to finish the unfinished business of Jubilee 2000, when John Paul

Diocese of Oakland funneled millions into fund to avoid abuse payout, filing claims

Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, California. / Credit: Skier Dude, via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 CNA Staff, Dec 26, 2024 / 11:35 am (CNA). A bankruptcy court filing this month alleges that the Diocese of Oakland, California, poured tens of millions of dollars into a diocesan fund in order to avoid a payout to survivors of clergy sexual abuse. A Dec. 11 filing by attorneys on behalf of a committee of abuse survivors, lodged in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, claims the diocese “perpetrated a fraudulent scheme to funnel substantial assets away from what would soon become its bankruptcy estate” into the coffers of a “non-debtor alter ego,” the Oakland Parochial Fund (OPF).In the months leading up to its bankruptcy filings, the claim alleges, the diocese “entered into a series of synthetic management and services agreements” with the fund, after which it “transferred approximately $106 million in assets” to the fund before borrowin

When does Christmas actually end? Here are the different views

Three Kings. / Credit: NataBystrova/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 26, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA). How many days is Christmas? When should you finally take those lights off the porch or remove the tree? Read on for some of the arguments for and against commonly agreed-upon end dates for Christmas.‘Christmas is one day’This, of course, is the simplest answer. Christmas is typically celebrated on Dec. 25 for most of the world — or Jan. 7 for churches using the Julian calendar (Jan. 6 for yet another, considerably smaller, part of the world.) On this day, the liturgy celebrated is the feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Priests wear white vestments on Christmas, which is different from the violet they wear during Advent. ‘Christmas is an octave’There’s also an argument to be made that Christmas is eight days long. The Church regards Christmas as an octave, or eight-day celebration. The octave of Christmas begins on the feast of the N

1626 West 26th Street, Erie, PA 16508 | (814) 454-0171

Share by: