Free Republic

In a tiny house on the West Side, two nuns provide a daily break for Mexican immigrant mothers struggling to raise families in a foreign culture. The nuns teach English, computer skills and arts and crafts. They celebrate birthdays and invite residents to the local Catholic church for Masses. If requested, they give advice on applying for citizenship. It's free. No questions asked. Not about religion. Not about legal status. But the work of the 7-month-old Presentation Ministry Center and similar organizations could be in jeopardy, according to opponents of a bill approved by the U.S. House in December. As...

Byzantine Lent & Easter The 10 weeks before Easter are called the Triodion, or the Three Odes because during that time no more than 3 odes are sung at the Canon of Matins. It includes the Time Before Lent, or Prophonisimon, the 40 days of Lent, and the Holy and Great Week. 2 weeks before Lent are called the Prophonisimon, or Herald of Lent. They prepare us for the proper mood of penance and self-denial. They include the Week of the Pharisee and Publican and the Week of the Prodigal Son. The 2 weeks before Lent is Meat-Fare Week during...

Pastoral Statement by the Catholic Bishops of Texas on Immigration Reform Legislation (H.R. 4437) January 23, 2006 We are strongly opposed to legislation which was recently passed by the United States House of Representatives, H.R. 4437 the so called Border Protection Antiterrorism, Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. This extremely punitive and shameful legislation will not solve the problems facing our nation regarding security along the U.S.-Mexican Border. We are greatly dismayed that many Texas Representatives voted for this bill. We urge the members of the United States Senate especially our two senators, Senator John Cornyn and Senator Kay Bailey...

When Archbishop José Gomez asked retired Valero Energy Corp. President Edward Benninger who could help the Archdiocese of San Antonio streamline its budget, Benninger gave him three names. "Edward Benninger" was on the list. The archbishop Friday tabbed Benninger to fill the newly created job of vice chancellor for administration. Benninger will be looking for ways to bring modern business practices to the work of the archdiocese starting Monday. "There are always ways to do thing better," Benninger said. "If you look hard at any operation, you see ways you make it more efficient." There's plenty to put a pencil...

The first Roman settlements on that river [Rhine], ...Cologne, a city whose earlier name, Colonus, meant "colony," began as fortified military outposts. That city was living proof both of the savagery of which an unleashed America was capable- by 1945, 90 percent of Cologne's city center was reduced to rubble- and of our nation's sensitivity, for our skilled bombadiers had spared the great Cologne Cathedral, whose twin steeples, before the Eiffel Tower was erected in 1889, had been the tallest structures in the world. The other thing that took us to Cologne were the relics of the Three Kings, the...

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) -- Members of what is believed to be the first workers' union in a Roman Catholic church say church leaders are trying to break the labor contract and undermine the union. About 50 lay workers at five churches in the Diocese of Brownsville had signed with the United Farm Workers in 2003. But the union says membership is down to about 30 because of the absorption of one church into another and a pastor's pressure on workers at another. A church tribunal is considering whether a new pastor has to abide by the contract. "During the two...