News - April 2012 RSS Feed

Of all the Catholic Church's modernizing reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council, none was more evident to ordinary members of the faithful than changes to the liturgy. Latin gave way to local languages, women ceased to wear veils in church, and Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony and 19th-century hymns were replaced by devotional music in popular contemporary styles.

At the heart of defeating attacks on the country's religious liberty is the need for faithful to rebuild a Christian culture that serves as the essence of a democracy, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput wrote recently.

Lima, Peru (CNA/EWTN News) - Fifty years after St. Martin de Porres was canonized, two Peruvian priests from the Convent of St. Dominic in Lima where the 16th century saint lived, praised his many contributions to the Church.

The Cathedral Concert Series & Citgo will present “A Centennial Choral Spectacular” featuring the Cathedral Choirs and members from the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lee Gwozdz and Dr. Guadalupe Rivera, Jr. on Friday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m.

Washington D.C. (CNA) - New York Times writer Ross Douthat has defended Catholic theological and moral teachings, in a series of articles explaining how the Church is not “fundamentalist” but simply “orthodox.”

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The timing of Pew Hispanic Center's report saying Mexican migration to the U.S. had leveled off or reversed course ensured that it would get prominent play April 23-24, two days before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Arizona v. United States over that state's law cracking down on undocumented immigrants in the state, the report was cited widely in stories providing context for the supposed effect of such laws.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI wants the Catholic Church in America to be in the forefront of reviving Catholicism worldwide, the apostolic nuncio to the United States said in Columbus.

Some 600 junior high student­s from throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi attended the Youth Spectacular Sunday, April 22, at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds. Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey celebrated Mass at the close of the daylong event.

On Tuesday, April 24, Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi and the Office of Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, with assistance from youth groups from Nuestra Señora de San Juan de los Lagos, Madre de la Iglesia and Immaculate Conception Parish in Gregory, provided water, food, clothing and insect repellent spray to residents of the city of Gregory affected by last week’s flood.

Sister Helen Prejean was the featured speaker at the Coastal Bend Women Lawyers Association 2012 Woman of Distinction series held on April 18 at OMNI Bayfront. Sister Helen, CSJ is a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and her autobiographical account of her relationship with inmates on death row served as the basis for a feature film “Dead Man Walking.”

The first ever True Radiance Modesty Fashion Show in the Diocese of Corpus Christi will beheld on Thursday, May 3, at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Twenty-five high school aged young ladies will serve as models and backstage crew members for the event.

The Theater Arts Department at Blessed Pope John Paul II High School will present the musical “Sing” Broadway Bound on April 26–28 at 7 p.m. and on April 29 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $5 general admission and $10 reserved seating. For tickets and more information, call (361) 244-2469.

Blessed Pope John Paul II High School (JPII) defeated Flour Bluff High School 440 to 330 to capture the KEDT Challenge Championship for the second consecutive year.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Arianne Gasser of Canton, Ohio, is proud to call herself a graduate student at a prestigious Catholic university, and she also is proud to call herself an atheist.

VATICAN CITY - At midday April 21 Benedict XVI received members of the Papal Foundation on their annual visit to Rome. The agency is a Catholic association founded in Philadelphia in 1990 by the now-deceased Cardinal John Krol, which every year finances the needs of the Church around the world.

Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey went to the flood-stricken community of Gregory on Sunday, April 22, to celebrate Mass at Immaculate Conception Parish and to show his solidarity with the parish and the community.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI marked his 85th birthday by reflecting on his final years as he celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas–The Incarnate Word Academy (IWA) High School Academic Team held on to their Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Academic State Championship title for 2012— the fifth time in six years.

Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court Padre Isidoro Cavazos 2019 hosted a bi-annual multi-district meeting on March 17 at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Kingsville. Eleven new members were received into the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- It was a month before she had to decide her specialty in medical school, and Brooke Jemelka found herself at a crossroads. Then she delivered her first baby, "and my whole life changed," said Jemelka, a native of Yoakum, Texas.