News

It’s been an eventful year for Pam Patnode, who became director of the Catholic School Leadership Graduate Certificate Program at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul this past summer, became an empty nester this fall and will become a grandma this coming winter.

Thirty-eight religious sisters representing a number of Latin American countries and serving in impoverished Latino communities across the U.S. prayed and sang during a visit to George Floyd Square in Minneapolis Nov. 15. They also marked a map at the site showing where visitors are from.

Catholic opponents of the death penalty, including Oklahoma City's archbishop, praised the Nov. 18 announcement that the Oklahoma governor granted death-row inmate Julius Jones clemency -- just hours before he was scheduled to be executed.

The U.S. bishops approved their statement on the Eucharist with 222 "yes" votes Nov. 17, the second of two days of public sessions during their Nov. 15-18 fall general assembly.

The U.S. bishops Nov. 17 approved a fresh version of ritual texts dealing with the distribution and reception of Communion outside Mass during their fall general meeting in Baltimore.

The U.S. bishops agreed Nov. 17 that the sainthood causes for three laypeople from the United States should be advanced by their respective dioceses.

During their fall assembly, the bishops were presented with, and voted to approve, revised national statutes for the catechumenate in both English and Spanish.

Bishops approved new guidelines governing financial investments of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that include wider limits on where money would be invested and advance a policy of engagement on corporate practices that impact human dignity.