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PHILADELPHIA - July 18, 2011 (WPVI) -- Sources confirmed to Action News on Monday that Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, will step down on Tuesday and his successor will be named. That successor will be Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver, those sources confirmed.

A grand jury on Thursday accused the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of failing to stop the sexual abuse of children more than five years after a grand jury report documented abuse by more than 50 priests. The new report said a senior church official charged with investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests had in fact allowed some of those accused to remain in posts that gave them continued access to children. It charged him with endangering the welfare of minors and accused three priests and a teacher of raping two boys between 1996 and 1999. “By no means do we...

The transcending issue of our day is the intentional destruction of innocent human life, as in abortion. We wish with all our hearts that no candidate and no party were advocating this heinous act against the human person. However, since it is a transcending issue, and even supported in its most extreme and horrific forms, we must proclaim time and time again that no intrinsic evil can ever be supported in any way, most especially when it concerns the gravest of all intrinsic evils: the taking of an innocent life... At this moment in our country’s history, defense of innocent...

Our own common sense tells us that not every issue is of the same importance. At various times in history, a people or nation is confronted with an issue that transcends others in importance and that demands a courageous response.The transcending issue of our day is the intentional destruction of innocent human life, as in abortion. We wish with all our hearts that no candidate and no party were advocating this heinous act against the human person. However, since it is a transcending issue, and even supported in its most extreme and horrific forms, we must proclaim time and time...

This is a breaking story - check back for updates. Thank God for our bishops. They have just released a press release on the USCCB website: Legal Protection for Unborn, Support for Mothers Both Needed, Say Cardinal Rigali and Bishop MurphyWASHINGTON—"Our faith requires us to oppose abortion on demand and to provide help to mothers facing challenging pregnancies," Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., said in an October 21 statement. The bishops urged Catholics to study the teaching of the Church, rather than rely on statements and materials from outside groups and...

ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- Like the Israelites who idolized the golden calf, the pro-life movement is challenged today by "the idolatrous gospel of total autonomy, sheer utility and false mercy," Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia told a gathering in Arlington Aug. 2. The cardinal, who chairs the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, spoke on the opening day of the Aug. 2-4 annual conference of directors of diocesan pro-life offices and state Catholic conferences, sponsored by the bishops' pro-life secretariat. "Those who have blind faith in embryonic stem-cell research and its so-called 'biblical power to cure' -- as House Majority...

Cardinal Rigali Slams Bills on Stem Cell Use WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- U.S. bishops are urging Congress to reject legislation that would promote the destruction of human embryos.Two bills, S.5 on embryonic stem cell research and H.R. 2560 on human cloning, are set for debate and vote.Regarding the stem cell bill, Cardinal Justin Rigali encouraged representatives "to reject this misguided and unethical legislation, which would force taxpayers for the first time to encourage deliberate attacks on innocent human life in the name of medical progress."Cardinal Rigali, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities, mentioned only...

“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (Gn 1:27). From the beginning of time, man and woman had a deep sense that the human body is sacred. Created in the divine image, the body is to be treated with respect. The People of Israel particularly gave evidence to this. The reverence with which they viewed the act of sexual intimacy as well as the procreative aspect associated with sexual love set the Israelites apart from other cultures in the ancient world. Many of these other nations engaged in...

Harrisburg, Aug. 01, 2005 (CNA) - Pennsylvania bishops released a document last week, clarifying the Church’s teachings on stem-cell research. “Questions and Answers on Stem Cell Research” explains why embryonic stem-cell research is morally unacceptable."At a time when public policy makers are considering spending taxpayer money to finance various bio-medical research initiatives, it is appropriate to consider the moral impact of such research," said Dr. Robert J. O'Hara, Jr., executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, said the ethical teachings of the Catholic Church could provide a framework for decision-making and the understanding of stem-cell...

Justin Cardinal Rigali Rumors began to fly even before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Los Angeles, June 15 to 17. The media said changes were going to be made in the responses that parishioners make during the Mass. Before you knew it, columnists began to opine about whether they liked the old or the new responses, and whether the new responses made sense. To all of that, Cardinal Justin Rigali says: “We want people to know that, yes, the bishops have approved, by a large vote, the changes in the Ordinary of the Mass. But it’s...

Clad in black robes, judges of all stripes paraded through a downtown Atlanta church Thursday to receive a blessing of peace and justice. Federal bankruptcy magistrates strode alongside Superior Court judges at the annual "Red Mass" ceremony, an ancient service that dates to the Middle Ages. The service was billed as an interfaith celebration, and afterward the Catholic hosts gave awards to a Jewish judge and Protestant attorney for their work. But the ceremony was not without a heavy political undertone. judges to re-examine the death penalty and called for a ban on embryonic stem cell research. Of abortion, he...

Cardinal Justin Rigali, writing in the Catholic Standard and Times, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said that the modern media’s obsession with pornography is “one of the most pervasive and destructive problems in our society.” “Our society," the Cardinal wrote, “is inundated with sex and sensuality largely from the media. Films, television programs, and advertisements are loaded with sexual reference as well as the promotion of sexual promiscuity.” The all-pervasiveness of sexual imagery in the media has led to the vast proliferation of pornography on the internet where it is accessible to anyone who can use a keyboard. It is...