The Assumption of Mary is represented above an altar in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes, France, in this 2014 photo. The feast of the Assumption of Mary is celebrated Aug. 15.   (CNS photo/Gunther Simmermacher, The Southern Cross)...
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Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,   Please accept my sincere thanks for your participation in the 2015 Catholic Parishes Campaign.   As Pope Francis so beautifully notes in his apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” we are called “to respond to the God of l...
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Book News  So … a Catholic walks into a bar and orders a beer.   Don’t wait for a punch line; there isn’t one. Instead, there is a wonderful story of home-brewed evangelism, which happens to be the title of the new book by Sarah Vabulas, known in the blogosphere as ̶...
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Here is the link to the July 17 digital issue of The Message: bit.ly/1Man7Bz...
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  VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Holy Year of Mercy will be an opportunity to encourage Christians to meet people's "real needs" with concrete assistance, to experience a "true pilgrimage" on foot, and to send "missionaries of mercy" throughout the world to forgive even the most serious of sins, sa...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a landmark ruling, a divided Supreme Court June 26 said same-sex marriage is constitutional nationwide. "The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy, and spirituality," wrote Justice Ant...
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While affirming the Church's long-standing social teaching on the dignity of every person, including those of same-sex attraction, I am disappointed at the Supreme Court's decision, which fails to uphold the divinely instituted nature of marriage as involving one man and one woman....
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The earth, which was created to support life and give praise to God, is crying out with pain because human activity is destroying it, Pope Francis says in his long-awaited encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." All who believe in God and all people of good wil...
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  Bishop Charles C. Thompson provided these comments following the June 18 release of “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment:   “Care for God’s creation is a core element of Catholic Social Teaching. In publishing this encyclical, Po...
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  Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has invited parishes across America to conduct a second collection for Nepal earthquake relief efforts. Some parishes in the Diocese of Evansville may conduct second collections for Catholi...
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