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Migration Committee Chairman Lauds Enactment of Anti-Trafficking Legislation

WASHINGTON - Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, today hailed the enactment of H.R. 7311, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA). Passed by Congress on December 10, the legislation was signed by President Bu...

Survey shows most U.S. adults support laws limiting or regulating abortion

WASHINGTON - A nationwide survey commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has found that four out of five U.S. adults (82 percent) think abortion should either be illegal under all circumstances (11 percent) or would limit its legality. Thirty-eight (38) percent would limit abortion to the narrow circumstances of rap...

Dignitas Personae, Vatican Instruction on Bioethics, Welcomed for Guidance on issues of Procreation, Medical Research

Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of a Person), an Instruction from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on ethical issues arising from biomedical research, provides guidance on how to respect human life and human procreation in our heavily scientific age, said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States ...

Catholic Campaign for Human Development ends all funding to ACORN

BALTIMORE - Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the national anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has ended all funding to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Bishop Roger Morin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Catholic Campaign for Human Development, announced ...

Poll shows overwhelming support for immigration reform among Catholics

WASHINGTON - A recent Zogby poll of Catholics nationwide showed overwhelming support for reform of our nation's immigration laws, with Catholics supporting a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented persons in the country.The poll conducted October 17-20, included a sample of 1,000 people who self-identified as Roman Catholics ...

Official Catholic Directory statistics show Catholics still 22 percent of U.S. population

WASHINGTON - Data in the 2009 Official Catholic Directory, also known as the Kenedy Directory, show there are 68,115,001 Catholics in the United States, making up 22 percent of the U.S. population. The total number of Catholics is an increase of about one million from the previous year.The directory is based on information collected from dioceses a...

National Vocation Awareness Week to be celebrated January 10-16

WASHINGTON - The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, January 10-16.          "This week provides the opportunity for parishes across the country to promote vocations through prayer and education," said Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, chairman of the Bis...