ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- A funeral Mass was scheduled for Jan. 26 at St. Louis Cathedral Basilica for Stan Musial, the Hall of Fame outfielder-first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. Musial, a Catholic who played all 22 of his major-league seasons with the Cardinals, died Jan. 19 at age 92 at his home...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has asked Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, to lead his Lenten retreat Feb. 17-23. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported Jan. 18 that the cardinal will focus on "Ars orandi, ars credendi" (the art of...
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OXFORD, England (CNS) -- A Catholic bishop in war-torn Mali whose diocese lies in the path of Islamic insurgents said "people are hiding in their homes, unable to venture out." Bishop Augustin Traore of Segou, Mali, told Catholic News Service by telephone: "Although our churches are still intact, p...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Catholic bishops have launched "Nine Days of Prayer, Penance and Pilgrimage" to take place Jan. 19-27 as part of events marking the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion virtually on demand in the U.S. Jan. 22 is the actual anniversary of the...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Spirit and prayer come in handy for the "delicate" and unique mission of helping protect the pope and maintain law and order on the Vatican's perimeter, said the head of an Italian police force's special unit. Performing police and security duties "in the heart of Christianity...
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Even as people across the nation continue to mourn the children and teachers who were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the question of what drove killer Adam Lanza to commit such a horrific crime is already being debated. Violent video games were cited as an ag...
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EASTON, Mass. (CNS) -- The Family Rosary division of Holy Cross Family Ministries in Easton has gathered more than 80,000 pledges from people around the globe who said they would pray the rosary daily during the 2012-13 Year of Faith. The pledges, which came in response to a program offering free r...
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PARIS (CNS) -- A French bishops' spokesman urged politicians to "listen to the streets" after hundreds of thousands of people rallied against same-sex marriage. "We're facing questions about society -- what the family is, what marriage is, and whether there's a difference between men and women," Ms...
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OXFORD, England (CNS) -- In a wooded suburb of this fabled university city, a battered typewriter sits on a desk beside a bay window that overlooks a tangled landscape of oaks and beeches.Nearby, ancient bookshelves guard a leather armchair surrounded by wall maps and pictures depicting a fantasy w...
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SALTILLO, Mexico (CNS) -- During Mass on the feast of the Epiphany, Father Pedro Pantoja asked a group of parishioners in attendance to pray for his Central American guests -- all of whom were seeking to sneak into the United States. "We want you to pray for peace," Father Pantoja instructed. "They...
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