- Catholic Standard

The COVID-19 vaccine clinic didn’t officially open until 10 a.m. on April 14, but by soon after 8 o’clock, hopeful people began lining up along Sacred Heart Way in Northwest Washington. By 9:15 a.m., there were about 35 people in line. Some had appointments to get a vaccine that […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Child Protection & Safe Environment from “the never-ending battle of working tirelessly and diligently to eradicate” abuse of minors and adults, according to the executive director of that […]

Without prayer, everything crumbles and any initiatives for Church reform will just be proposals by some group and not the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.“Everything in the Church originates in prayer and everything grows thanks to prayer,” the pope said April 14 […]

One of Africa’s most senior Catholic leaders has denounced the imposition of “foreign ideologies” across the continent and urged Africans to seek modernization without succumbing to Western influences that erode family bonds.“We are observing the spread of a mindset and […]

A report released April 14 by the Catholic Labor Network reveals that wage theft is rampant in the construction industry in the District of Columbia.The report, “The Underground Economy and Wage Theft in Washington D.C.’s Commercial Construction Sector,” found that “workers […]

Readings for the Third Sunday of EasterActs 3:13-15, 17-19Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 91 John 2:1-5aLuke 24:35-48My father-in-law’s father, Edward, was mistakenly listed as killed in action while serving his country as a pilot in World War I. His name was listed erroneously on a war memorial in France […]

Q. I am considering coming back to the Church after 50-plus years. In the meantime, though, I was married, divorced and remarried years later in a non-Catholic ceremony to a divorced man. Am I even eligible to receive the sacraments? A. Before answering, I would need to know more about your […]

In a packed last few days of the 2021 session of the Maryland General Assembly, legislators increased funding for the BOOST (Broadening Options & Opportunities for Students Today) scholarship program and approved several types of support related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislators also […]

After a night of protests and vandalism April 11 in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, following the police shooting of Daunte Wright, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis urged prayers for justice and peace.“I hope that as a community, we might be able to pause and pray, […]

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities has launched a campaign urging Catholics to write letters to pharmaceutical companies urging them to stop the use of abortion-derived cell lines in the development and testing of vaccines.Among the companies singled […]

To help foster a wider discussion on work that still must be done to safeguard minors and vulnerable people in the Catholic Church, a canon law journal published a series of talks by experts regarding accountability, transparency and confidentiality in the handling of abuse allegations.The talks […]

As the pandemic provoked shutdowns across the United States in March 2020, Jason’s stress level began to climb.He had to handle cash as an essential employee selling car parts at an AutoZone in McKinney, Texas, a state with no mask mandate. His precarious health – asthma, sarcoidosis, […]

The annual gathering of Catholic educators from around the country April 6-8 was in many ways a tribute to how they have done their jobs this past year amid COVID-19.It also was a road map of sorts to the hurdles they have faced and will continue to as the nation moves out of the grips of the […]

The latest victims of rampant kidnappings in Haiti are five priests, two nuns and three laypeople who were abducted together on their way to a parish near the capital of Port-au-Prince early April 11.Kidnapping cases happen almost daily in Haiti, which has been experiencing increasing insecurity, […]

The former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II remembers Prince Philip as a man so deeply interested in God that he often would arrange conversations with Jewish and Muslim scholars, then put himself into the role of the Christian theologian.Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican bishop who converted to the […]

When Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago developed a comprehensive plan over a two-year period, in 1991 and 1992, to address clerical sexual abuse issues in the Illinois archdiocese, he provided a copy of those procedures to all his fellow U.S. bishops at their annual meeting.“Their […]

Although coronavirus precautions have forced families and friends to be socially distant from one another, the faithful will always be close to Jesus through the Eucharist, Cardinal Wilton Gregory said.“The Eucharist allows us to have an intimate relationship with Christ, and through that […]

(This is the April 2021 “What I Have Seen and Heard” column by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, for the Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites of the Archdiocese of Washington.) Organized religions have experienced an obvious […]

Like the disciples, who experienced Jesus’s divine mercy after the resurrection, all Christians are called to become missionaries, sharing the Gospel of God’s love and mercy with others, Pope Francis said.“Today Jesus tells us, too, ‘Peace be with you! You are precious in my […]

Australian Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, a longtime Vatican diplomat and former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, died April 10 at the age of 96 in Newcastle, Australia.He celebrated his 80th birthday nine months before the death of St. John Paul II, so was not […]

Bullying in schools is nothing new, but in the COVID-19 era, it has taken different forms.And at this year’s annual National Catholic Educational Association convention, Catholic educators, who have already adapted to new ways of teaching and monitoring safety protocols this past year, were […]

The countries in the world with the most people baptized Catholics continue to be, in order: Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States and Italy.But, according to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, as of Dec. 31, 2019, the order and even the countries are different when looking at the […]

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster led Catholics of England and Wales in mourning the death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. The president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales issued a statement April 9, soon after the queen […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As religious leaders, scholars, experts and abuse survivors come together online to participate in a three-day international symposium on faith, healing and prevention, Pope Francis sent a message as part of a series of opening remarks for the event. Pope Francis hopes that […]

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Catholic educators met virtually this year at their annual conference, they took a close look at racism and how teachers should talk about its existence and work to promote an anti-racist environment in their schools. "The challenges are already there; talking about them […]

The April 3 Easter Vigil services around the world welcomed new Catholics in an ages-old ritual. For two of the people who came into the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Washington, though they have disparate immigrant histories from Vietnam and Northern Ireland, their journeys led them into […]

(The following is the text of the annual report from the Archdiocese of Washington’s Child Protection Advisory Board for July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.)  The Archdiocese of Washington’s Child Protection & Safe Environment office continues to expand its mission to create […]

On Easter Monday in 1940, the city of Washington, D.C., officially became its own archdiocese with the installation of Archbishop Michael Curley as the first archbishop of Washington. There was actually some confusion about whether this installation ceremony was even necessary. Because he had been […]

Dr. James Benton admits his journey to the Catholic faith “might seem like a long story” and “not surprising for someone hanging out around Jesuits for the last 16 years or so,” but he says his decision to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil “really accelerated in the […]

Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter Sunday of Divine Mercy Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 1 John 5:1-6 John 20:19-31 The biblical book from which our second reading is drawn is not always easy to understand, although it is quite easy to read. The letter called 1 John consists […]

On World Health Day, April 7, a new group of 31 U.S. Catholic organizations encouraged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine as an act of charity and solidarity with others.The group also emphasized the need for vaccine equity in the United States and around the world.“This is a clarion call for […]

The chapel is the centerpiece of the new St. Paul VI Catholic High School campus 32 miles from the nation’s capital.Anyone walking through the school’s main corridor sees the large crucifix marking the entrance to Mary Mother of the Church Chapel.It’s a place where freshman […]

As the U.S. took in almost 19,000 migrant children, labeled “unaccompanied minors,” in March, faith-based organizations such as Catholic Charities throughout the U.S. have been doing their part to help.In Texas, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Antonio set up over 2,000 cots […]

Although he wasn’t Catholic, since Matthew Eichner married his wife Mary Ferranti in 1994 at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Catholicism has been a part of his life, as they raised their two children and he accompanied her to Mass. “Italian culture and Catholicism […]

One year ago, I left my office for what I thought was a few weeks. Soon I was wearing gloves to the grocery store and sanitizing the groceries when I got home. Spring was a time of fear and high alert.At times it felt as if the days passed with unbelievable slowness as we all settled down into our […]

Father Hans Küng, the prominent and sometimes controversial Swiss Catholic theologian, died peacefully in his sleep in the university town of Tübingen, Germany, where he had lived and lectured since 1960, said a spokesman for his Global Ethic Foundation. He was 93.Father Küng was one […]

One month after Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq, Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based Chaldean Catholic patriarch, called for the development of school programs to educate Iraqis about the value of diversity in their country, but he also asked for enforcement of laws protecting the religious […]

Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon has called on the citizens of Myanmar, which is witnessing merciless killings by security forces, not to give up hope.“The Way of the Cross of Myanmar will never go in vain. It will end in the resurrection of freedom, democracy and peace and prosperity to […]

Q. I know a family who are originally from Jordan but are now U.S. citizens. They are members of the local Eastern-rite Catholic Church. They would like to get their 5-year-old grandson baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. Also, they said that while a relative who is an Eastern-rite Catholic nun […]

Nothing speaks so beautifully to the heart of ministry as “The Servant Song” by Richard Gillard.“Will you let me be your servant. ... Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.”After a year of isolating because of the COVID-19 pandemic and staying away from […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Easter season, which lasts until Pentecost, is a time for rejoicing and for always seeking out the risen Christ, Pope Francis said. "To find Christ means to discover peace of heart," he said April 5 as he led the recitation of the "Regina Coeli" prayer from the library of […]

How was your Easter? You might get asked that question and not think much of it. You would probably respond with what you did for Mass and if you were able to share a meal with loved ones. But the question should really be, “How is your Easter?” Easter is more than a day. It is […]

Taking a momentous journey is not a new experience for Jillian Shen. Born and raised in China, she moved to California to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UCLA and then her master’s degree in that subject at California State University in Los Angeles. Then she moved to […]

It’s not uncommon for children and their parents to review classwork together, especially with virtual learning during the pandemic. But Autiyonna Johnson, who is 28 and lives in the Washington, D.C., area, and her mother Natoyia Johnson, who lives in the St. Paul, Minnesota area, have been […]

The risen Christ on Easter offers hope to people experiencing sorrows in their everyday lives and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory said at an Easter Sunday Mass on April 4 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. “Easter […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Easter liturgies -- with the fire, sharing of light from the paschal candle, the renewal of baptismal promises and the proclamation that Jesus has risen -- assure people that it is never too late to start again, Pope Francis said."It is always possible to begin anew, […]

One year ago in April 2020, then-Archbishop Wilton Gregory celebrated his first Easter Vigil as the archbishop of Washington, but the normally joyful Mass lacked a congregation and there were no Baptisms, Confirmations for First Communions of new Catholics, due to government restrictions on public […]

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two Catholic bishops, six Catholic priests, the lay president of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and two Catholic organizations issued a statement April 1 calling for an end to violence against transgender individuals. "It should alarm all Catholics that individuals who are […]

This year, Easter Masses celebrated by Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory are being streamed online on the Archdiocese of Washington’s YouTube channel. The Archdiocese of Washington’s website at adw.org has a special web page at https://adw.org/media-events/events/holy-week/  with […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope Francis presided over the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion, the preacher of the papal household called on bishops and all Catholics to examine their consciences for ways they may be harming the unity of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis presided over the liturgy April 2 […]