VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Children are a blessing for humanity and for the church, bringing new life and energy to families and society, Pope Francis said. Unfortunately, he said, too often children are society's "great rejected ones, because they aren't even allowed to be born!" Continuing a series of...
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Q. I have been a Catholic all my life, but I have never really understood why Jesus had to die for our sins. Couldn't God have just forgiven us? (Eagan, Minnesota) A. Your question is one that has occupied theologians over the entire history of Christianity. I side with your position: God is God, a...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The first time Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa climbed the steps up to the papal altar in St. Peter's Basilica, he said, "it felt like I was climbing Mount Everest." The intimidating climb 35 years ago was to fulfill a mandate from St. John Paul II, who tapped the Capuchi...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the University of Notre Dame invited President Barack Obama to be its 2009 commencement speaker, it unleashed a firestorm of criticism on one of the country's most recognized U.S. Catholic institutions of higher education. Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, who retired...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Don't pack it in or shift into cruise control, Pope Francis told his fellow seniors. Today's frenetic world, especially young people and families, needs the older generation's prayers, wisdom and gifts to give them the encouragement, hope and faith they often lack, he said at...
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Q. I have a child with Type 1 diabetes. Currently there is some research being done toward a cure for this disease, but it involves embryonic stem cells. Should I refuse to hope for a cure that comes through this method? And if a cure does happen to come from this research, am I barred from using i...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- More than just a good metaphor, the "good shepherd" is a concrete role model for Christian leadership. "The fathers of the Bible" -- those, like Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses and David -- who God chose to lead his people, "are all shepherds of sheep," in the real sense that the...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Several Supreme Court justices wondered aloud at oral arguments March 4 whether a ruling against the Affordable Care Act's subsidies to millions of lower income Americans would lead to a "death spiral" for the health insurance program. "We're going to have the death spiral that...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Seeing the elderly only as a burden "is ugly. It's a sin," Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience. "We must reawaken our collective sense of gratitude, appreciation and hospitality, helping the elderly know they are a living part of their communities" and sources of...
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Q. My son and his fiancee will be married later this year and are wondering what the average stipend would be for the priest who does their wedding ceremony. They are assuming that there is no set fee but want to give what is reasonable. (Logansport, Indiana) A. Some parishes establish suggested fe...
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