Portal:Catholicism/News/Archive

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• August 28, 2013: Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak warns foreign leaders not to use protecting Christians as an excuse to intervene in the current political violence in Egypt. (CNS)
• July 28, 2013: Pope Francis presides at the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2013 at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach for a crowd estimated at 3-million. (Los Angeles Times)
• July 5, 2013: Pope Francis publishes his first encyclical letter, Lumen Fidei, on the importance of faith in a person's life. (CNN)
• July 5, 2013: Pope Francis approves the causes for canonization for his predecessors Bl. John XXIII (pictured) and Bl. John Paul II. (TIME)

2013

• June 23, 2013: Syrian priest Fr. François Murad is killed at a convent in Gassanieh by militants in the Syrian civil war. (Agenzia Fides)
• May 28, 2013: Pope Francis plans to complete the encyclical on faith begun by his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. (CNS)

Sean Cardinal O'Malley

• May 10, 2013: Cardinal Sean O'Malley (pictured), Archbishop of Boston, announces he will not attend commencement ceremonies at Boston College as the invited speaker, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, supports abortion legislation. (Boston Globe)
• April 17, 2013: Melkite-Greek Patriarch of Antioch Gregory III Laham estimates that over 1,000 Christians have been killed, and a further 400,000 have been displaced, as a result of the Syrian Civil War. (Christian Today)
• April 11, 2013: Servant of God Father Emil Kapaun is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a United States Army chaplain during the Korean War. (U.S. News & World Report)
• April 8, 2013: The 95th plenary session of the Mexican Episcopal Conference begins in Mexico City. (Agenzia Fides)

• April 5, 2013: Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, calls for the end of violence and a political solution to the Syrian civil war (Free Syrian Army fighter pictured). (AsiaNews)
• April 2, 2013: The Partnership for Church Reconstruction in Haiti (PROCHE), a collaboration of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the French Episcopal Conference, and the German Episcopal Conference, announces that church rebuilding following the 2010 Haiti earthquake is moving forward at a faster rate. (CNS)
• March 28, 2013: Pope Francis names Mario Poli, formerly Bishop of Santa Rosa, as his successor as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. (GlobalPost)
• March 19, 2013: The inauguration of Pope Francis takes place in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City. (RTÉ News)

• March 13, 2013: Pope Francis (pictured), formerly Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, is elected pope, concluding the papal conclave. (The Globe and Mail)
• March 12, 2013: The cardinal electors take the oath of secrecy and close the doors to the Sistine Chapel, ceremonially beginning the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. (CNN)
• March 8, 2013; The College of Cardinals determines the conclave to elect Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's successor will begin on Tuesday, March 12. (New York Times)

• March 7, 2013; The final cardinal elector, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City, arrives in Vatican City, allowing the College of Cardinals to set a date to start the conclave. (CBC News)
• February 28, 2013: The Holy See is vacant (coat of arms sede vacante pictured), as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI becomes the first pope in almost 600 years to resign the papacy. (Vatican Radio)
• February 25, 2013: Pope Benedict XVI issues a motu proprio amending canon law to allow the cardinals to begin the conclave to elect his successor earlier than normally allowed, if all the cardinal electors are present. (Financial Times)
• February 25, 2013: Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, resigns amid reports of inappropriate behavior, and states he will not participate in the upcoming conclave. (The Independent)
• February 14, 2013: Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore testifies before the Maryland General Assembly, calling for an end to the death penalty in the state. (CNA)

• February 11, 2013: Pope Benedict XVI (pictured) announces his resignation as pope, effective February 28. (CNS)
• February 8. 2013: Cardinal Giovanni Cheli, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants, dies at age 94. (Gazzetta del Sud)
• February 1, 2013: Archeparch Louis Sako of Kirkuk is elected Patriarch of Babylon, succeeding Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly as Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. (AP)
• February 1, 2013: Archbishop of Los Angeles José Gómez releases church documents related to sexual abuse cases in the archdiocese. (Zenit)

2011

• January, 2011: Catholic theology professors start a memorandum Church 2011. (Church 2011)

2010

• February 20, 2010: The fourth annual Clericus Cup kicks off in Rome with the Pontifical North American College defeating the Collegio Pio-Brasiliano in a shootout. (CNA)
• February 19, 2010: At an ordinary consistory, Pope Benedict XVI announces that six beatified Catholics will be canonized on October 17. The six are Stanislaw Soltys, Can. Reg. Lat.; Andre Bessette, C.S.C.; Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola, F.J.; Mary MacKillop, R.S.J.; Giulia Salzano, S.C.S.C, and Battista da Varano, O.S.C. (VIS)

Archbishop Dominik Duka

• February 13, 2010: Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Dominik Duka, OP (pictured), Bishop of Hradec Králové, as the new Archbishop of Prague. (AP)
• February 12, 2010: The Pave the Way Foundation will digitize and publish online a collection of documents from the Vatican Secret Archives concerning Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church's activities during World War II. (ZENIT)
• January 26, 2010: Caritas Internationalis has raised over US$60 million in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake and are delivering 100 tonnes of food to feed 50,000 survivors in Port-au-Prince. (Reuters)
• January 18, 2010: Pope Benedict XVI names Bishop André-Mutien Léonard of Namur to be the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Malines-Brussels and Primate of Belgium. (CNA)
• January 12, 2010: Joseph Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, is killed when his office collapses during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. (Trinidad & Tobago Newsday)
• January 4, 2010: The American Astronomical Society awards the George Van Biesbroeck Prize to Father George Coyne, SJ, the former director of the Vatican Observatory. (Baltimore Sun)

2009

• December 24, 2009: French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray suffers a fractured hip in an attack on Pope Benedict XVI (pictured) by a Swiss woman at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. (Los Angeles Times)
• December 19, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI approves decrees of heroic virtue for nine Servants of God, including his predecessors Pius XII and John Paul II, granting them the title venerable, and advancing their causes for sainthood. (The Sunday Times, ZENIT)
• December 3, 2009: Following a meeting in the Apostolic Palace, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI agree to upgrade Kremlin–Vatican relations to full diplomatic ties with a Russian embassy to the Holy See and an apostolic nuncio in Moscow. (BBC News)

• December 2, 2009: American Cardinal John Patrick Foley announces that after 25 years, he will no longer provide English language commentary during broadcasts of the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica (interior pictured). (CNS)
• November 27, 2009: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe authorizes Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to negotiate with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia for the release of hostages. (Colombia Reports)
• November 22, 2009: Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas is beatified by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal in a ceremony at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. (The Jerusalem Post)
• November 9, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI publishes the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, establishing personal ordinariates for groups of Anglicans who seek to enter full communion with the Catholic Church. (Rome Reports)

Cardinal Turkson

• October 24, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI names Cardinal Peter Turkson (pictured) of Ghana as the new president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (AP)
• October 20, 2009: Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that Pope Benedict XVI is preparing an Apostolic constitution to normalize the process of former Anglicans who wish to enter full communion with the Holy See. (VIS)
• October 11, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI canonized five saints in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica; the five are Archbishop Zygmunt Szcezesny Felinski, Father Damien De Veuster SS.CC., Sister Jeanne Jugan L.S.P., Friar Francisco Coll y Guitart O.P., and Brother Rafael Arnaiz Baron O.C.S.O. (CNN)
• September 27, 2009: Around 120,000 people attended a Mass in Brno that concluded a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the Czech Republic. (Reuters)
• September 10, 2009: Hundreds of Catholic protesters blocked a highway in Bangalore following an early-morning vandalism and arson attack on St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in the city. (Times of India)

Blessed Damien of Molokai

• September 9, 2009: A relic of Blessed Damien of Molokai (pictured) will be returned to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, where Father Damien was ordained to the priesthood, following his canonization on October 11. The relic, which is currently in Belgium, will visit a number of cities in the mainland United States before touring the Hawaiian Islands and being reinterred in the Cathedral in Honolulu. (ZENIT)
• September 8, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI approves the beatification of five Servants of God during October and November, Eustachio Kugler of Germany, Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás of Spain, Carlo Gnocchi of Italy, Zoltan Lajos Meszlenyi of Hungary, and Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas of Jerusalem. (ZENIT)
• August 18, 2009: Several bishops from the United States, including Cardinal Sean O'Malley, visit the bishops of Cuba and call for the lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. (AFP)
• June 2, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI appoints Italian Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli as the Major Penitentiary, replacing American Cardinal James Stafford. (CNS)
• June 1, 2009: American bishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport has filed suit in Federal court against the State of Connecticut, seeking that the classification of the diocese as a "lobbying organization", following a protest organized by the diocese at the state capital, be overturned as a violation of the diocese's First Amendment rights. (CNS)
• May 26, 2009: Friars of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) gather in Assisi for their 187th general chapter, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the order's founding, and to elect a new minister-general. (ZENIT)

• March 22, 2009: The Polish media reports that the cause for beatification of Pope John Paul II (pictured) has been concluded at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and that the late pontiff could be beatified as early as April 2, 2010, the fifth anniversary of his death. (CNA)(Catholic Register)
• March 8, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI (pictured) will visit Israel, Palestine, and Jordan in May. (BBC News)
• February 23, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI names Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan as the successor of Cardinal Edward Egan as the next Archbishop of New York. (AP)

• February 4, 2009: Holy Name Cathedral (pictured), the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, suffers extensive fire and water damage during an early-morning three-alarm fire. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• January 24, 2009: Pope Benedict XVI rescinds the excommunications of four bishops consecrated in 1988 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. (Catholic News Agency)

• January 14, 2009: The Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone (pictured), will visit Spain in early February to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Zenit)
• January 9, 2009: A crowd estimated at 3 million participate in the annual procession of the Black Nazarene statue in Manila. (inquirer.net)
• January 6, 2009: Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of Caritas Internationalis, calls for a cease-fire in Gaza so that the injured can obtain health care. (Catholic News Service)

2008

• December 18, 2008: The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference calls for Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, to step down. (Catholic News Service)

Saint Brigid's Roman Catholic Church

• May 22, 2008: Donor gives 20 million dollars to save Saint Brigid's Roman Catholic Church (The New York Times)
• May 21,2008: The Vatican announces growth of the church in Africa (The Christian Post )
• May 16,2008: Pope Benedict XVI composes a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan following with a declaration that May 24 would be a day for prayer for China (Catholic World News)
• May 15, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI says God could have made life on other planets. (Daily Mail)
• May 5, 2008: The Church recognized a lengthy series of Marian apparitions which are said to have occurred Saint-Étienne-le-Laus between 1664 and 1718.(Catholic World News)
• May 5, 2008: The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (pictured) meets Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.(Catholic World News)
• April 29, 2008: French bishops confirm a visit from Pope Benedict XVI to France.(Catholic News Agency)
• April 29, 2008: A lawyer in the Philippines files a criminal complaint against Pope Benedict XVI and Manila Cardinal Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales.(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• April 17, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI travels around Washington.Voa News
• April 16, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States.USA TODAY

2007

• With 862,000 worshippers, who attended Catholic mass each week compared to 852,000 who went to Church of England services, Roman Catholics have overtaken Anglicans in church attendance in Britain. (Financial Times) - 2007-12-23
  
• United States Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee angered Catholic voters by courting a controversial preacher accused of disparaging Catholics. (Reuters) - 2007-12-23
• Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, was received into the Roman Catholic Church. (Times Oniline) - 2007-12-22