Greek Orthodoxy in the U.S.: A Family Affair
by Michael J.L. La Civita
(From Catholic Near East May – June 1996)
A history of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States.
Byzantine Catholics in the Midwest
by the Rev. Nicholas Rachford, J.C.L.
(From Catholic Near East May – June 1995)
Though transplanted from central Europe, Byzantine Catholics in the Midwest continue to follow the ancient rites and traditions of their church.
A Spiritual Homecoming
by Michael J.L. La Civita
(From Catholic Near East September – October 1994)
The history of the small but dynamic Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in India.
The Art of Pysanky
text by Burnette Grega
photos by John Maio
(From Catholic Near East May 1993)
The origin and history of the Eastern European tradition of decorating Easter Eggs.
Eastern Catholicism in the American West
by Father Christopher Zugger
photos by Cary Herz
(From Catholic Near East July 1991)
The Byzantine Church is alive and well in, of all places, the American southwest.
Working Hard to Build Community
text and photos by Joan Tedeschi
(From Catholic Near East Spring 1989)
The lay men and women of this parish brought it to life and sustain it. In turn, it enlivens and sustains them.
Profiles
by Michael J.L. La Civita
(From ONE January 2012)
The Orthodox Church in America
America’s Eastern Rite Catholics: Living Witnesses to Faith
by Regina J. Clarkin
(From Catholic Near East Magazine Spring 1982)
Eastern Catholics from around the world continue to celebrate their ancient liturgies on America’s shores.
New Melkite Bishops
Catholic News Service (16 June 2011)
The Vatican
announced approval of two new Melkite Catholic
archbishops who had been elected by the Greek Melkite
Synod of Bishops.
Nashville’s Coptic Catholic Community
Catholic News Service (15 August 2011)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — The small
community of Coptic Catholics in Nashville, consisting of
about 40 families who have moved to the city from their
native Egypt, threw open their arms wide to welcome
Cardinal Antonios Naguib, patriarch of the worldwide
Coptic Catholic Church.
Views of Islam Differ in Europe and US
Catholic News Service (19 August 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Europe’s experience of
anti–Islam legislation and sentiment grows out of a
different social and cultural environment than is found in
the United States, according to a political scientist who is following the issue.
Baltimore Archbishop to Head Equestrian Order of the Holy
Sepulchre
Catholic News Service (30 August 2011)
Pope Benedict XVI
appointed Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore as
pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the
Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, based in Rome.
U.S. Muslims Ten Years After 9/11
Catholic News Service (12 September 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A decade after the
terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, led to a backlash against Muslims, many Americans are still
uncomfortable with followers of Islam and think its
teachings are at odds with American values.
California’s New Chaldean and Assyrian Parish
Catholic News Service (13 September 2011)
ORANGEVALE, Calif. (CNS) — Tom Simon
genuflects and kneels in prayer before the tabernacle. “It
takes love, faith and sacrifice to build a house of the
Lord,” he says.
New Maronite Chapel at National Shrine
Catholic News Service (28 September 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a ceremony reflecting their Lebanese heritage, Maronite Catholics gathered Sept. 23 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the consecration of a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon.
New Maronite Patriarch to Visit U.S.
Catholic News Service (3 October 2011)
BEIRUT (CNS) — Maronite Patriarch Bechara
Rai will make his first pastoral visit to the United States
Oct. 4-25.
Maronite Patriarch Visits United States
Catholic News Service (25 October 2011)
NEW YORK (CNS) — Unless Middle Eastern
countries support religious freedom and respect human
rights, the “Arab spring” movement will devolve into an
“Arab winter,” said Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai.
Assisi Encounter Inspires Events in the United States
Catholic News Service (3 November 2011)
GARRISON, N.Y. (CNS) — Peace begins with the
individual, and each person is called to be a peacemaker.
Bishops Urge Catholics to Help Iraqis
Catholic News Service (16 November 2011)
BALTIMORE (CNS) — The nation and American
Catholics both can help keep Iraq from sliding into chaos
once U.S. troops leave the country at the end of the year,
said two U.S. bishops who visited Iraq for four days in
October.
U.S. Melkite Bishop Considers Ordaining Married Men
Catholic News Service (17 November 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — To address a shortage
of priests in his nationwide eparchy, the Melkite Catholic
bishop of Newton, Mass., is exploring the possibility of
ordaining married men as priests.
New head of U.S.C.C.B. Ecumenical and Interreligious Office
Catholic News Service (21 November 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Father John William
Crossin, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales
who served most recently as executive director of the
Washington Theological Consortium, has been named
executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Time to Give Iraq a Chance to ‘Function Independently’
Catholic News Service (9 December 2011)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Over the past nine
years in Iraq, the sacrifice of the U.S. military “and our nation as a whole has been tremendous,” Army chaplain Father Joel Panzer said, and soldiers in general feel “it’s time for us to leave” to give the nation the impetus “to function independently.”
Bishops Concerned About Middle East Christians
Catholic News Service (11 January 2012)
JERUSALEM (CNS) — Almost a year after the
eruption of the Arab Spring uprisings, the Middle East is a
place of hope and fear for Christians, said Bishop Gerald
F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz.
Jerusalem Religious Leaders on Environment
Catholic News Service (22 March 2012)
Adelie penguins walk on the ice at Cape Denison in Antarctica in this 2009 file photo. Religious leaders have urged people to take their faith-based commitment to the stewardship of God’s creation to the U.N. Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil 20-22 June. (photo: CNS/Paukine Askin, Reuters)
Strike on Iran Lowers Bar on Waging War
Catholic News Service (12 April 2012)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — While Iran’s secret
nuclear program has raised serious questions about that
country’s intentions, a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would not be justified under Catholic teaching in the eyes of the U.S. bishops and other Catholic leaders.
Eastern Catholics Offer Much to U.S. Church
Catholic News Service (16 May 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While their numbers
are small and their material resources are few, members of
the Eastern Catholic churches in the United States have
much to offer the country in terms of their fidelity to
Christ despite persecution and their deeply religious
cultures, said Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for Eastern Churches.
U.S. Eastern Catholic Bishops
Catholic News Service (18 May 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Eastern Catholic
bishops in the United States share their brother bishops’ concerns about religious freedom and evangelization, and see their distinct liturgies as powerful tools for expanding their flocks.
Chaldeans Face Moral Risks in United States
Catholic News Service (18 May 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Iraqi Catholics fleeing
physical danger in their homeland often find themselves
unprepared for the moral threats awaiting their families in
the United States, said the head of Chaldean Catholics in
the Western U.S.
U.S. Bishops’ Response to Syrian Massacre
Catholic News Service (31 May 2012)
Official for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops responds to the Syrian massacre.
West Bank Priest Calls on President Obama
Catholic News Service (14 June 2012)
JERUSALEM (CNS) — U.S. President Barack
Obama must be more pro-active in his support of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rather than
denigrating his ability to bring about a peace agreement
with Israel, said a West Bank priest.
Catholic-Muslim Dialogue
Catholic News Service (16 July 2012)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Participants in the 13th
annual West Coast Muslim-Catholic Dialogue compared
and contrasted the qualities of the believer in Islam and
Catholicism during a recent meeting in Orange, Calif.
Vatican Laments U.S. Deaths in Libya
Catholic News Service (13 September 2012)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the wake of the deaths of a U.S. ambassador and three staff members in Libya and the unrest triggered by a U.S.-made amateur film hostile to Islam, the Vatican decried disrespect toward all religions and deplored all violence as unacceptable.
Laity To Help Grow Eastern Catholic Churches
Catholic News Service (25 September 2012)
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (CNS) — The message hit Patrick Keegan loud a clear: He’s a leader in his Byzantine Catholic parish just as much as his pastor.
Christmas Stamp Depicts Holy Family in Egypt
Catholic News Service (12 October 2012)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Postal Service Oct. 10 released a Christmas stamp featuring an image of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt.
Bishop Calls on U.S. to Defuse Israeli-Palestinian Tensions
Catholic News Service (13 November 2012)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a Nov. 8 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace took both Israel and Palestine to task for actions that he said undermined the possibility of a two-state solution in the Holy Land.
In Turkey, Prayer, Reflection After Embassy Attack, Death of US Tourist
Catholic News Service (5 February 2013)
ISTANBUL (CNS) — In the second row of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Ayhan Mutlucu sat in silence after 11 a.m. Mass. She had the seen TV reports that U.S. tourist Sarai Sierra was dead, apparently murdered after disappearing two weeks earlier in a nearby area.
Pope Extends U.S. Romanian Diocese to Canada
Catholic News Service (24 April 2013)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Romanian Catholic bishop of St. George, based in Canton, Ohio, no longer ministers just to Romanian Catholics in the United States, he also has formal responsibility for all Romanian Catholics of the Byzantine rite across Canada.
Jerusalem Christian Churches Issue Communiqué
Father Elias Mallon provides a brief description of the rocky political landscape that lay ahead of Palestine in its bid for statehood.
Coming to America
The Associated Press reports on Arab Christians leaving the Middle East for the West, a trend CNEWA has been detailing for years.
Unfinished Business in Iraq
In Iraq, close to a decade of war and humanitarian crises has left much work to be done, if the nation is to rebuild and heal.
"He is a Great Example for Humanity"
Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai visits the Lebanese-American community of Detroit.
The "Best-Kept Secret of the North American Catholic Church"
A recent conference in Ohio brought together hundreds of Eastern Catholics from many churches.
Page One: Headlines for 11/14/12
Stories of interest for the day.
Page One: Headlines for 1/11/13
Stories of interest for the day.
Picture of the Day: Prayers for Boston
People comfort each other after explosions went off at the Boston Marathon on 15 April. (photo: CNS/Jessica Rinaldi, Reuters)
Picture of the Day: India's Christians in the New World
Catechism and Bible study are priorities for Indian-American Christian communities. (photo: Maria Bastone)
Picture of the Day: "Little Ethiopia"
A boy receives Communion at an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Temple Hills, Maryland. (photo: Erin Edwards)
Picture of the Day: East Meets West
Today, the Vatican announced this coming Sunday, 19 May, Cardinal Cleemis Mar Baselios, major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church, will take possession of his titular church in Rome, St. Gregory VII al Gelsomino. (photo: John E. Kozar)
(From CNEWA Connections DECEMBER 2012)