"I've felt a calling to dedicate my life in a more direct and personal way to serving the marginalized, empowering the vulnerable, healing those suffering from spiritual wounds, and accompanying those discerning their own futures," Mr. Habib wrote in an essay published in America, explaining his announcement. Read more

The office has technically been vacant since the last archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, resigned in October.

Wuerl had been damaged by claims that he covered up sex abuse in his previous diocese of Pittsburgh.

He had also maintained - in the face of claims to the contrary - that he knew nothing about the predatory sexual activities of his notorious predecessor, Theodore McCarrick.

Washington is perhaps the most sought-after diocese for ambitious American bishops - but a particular kind of bishop.

While the Archbishop of New York finds himself rubbing shoulders with media and cultural luminaries, Washington's archbishop has priceless access to lawmakers and political lobbyists.

McCarrick's talents as a fundraiser and Wuerl's masterful diplomacy served them well in the post.

But because Washington is at the very heart of the current sex-abuse crisis, the Vatican couldn't afford simply to hand the see to the next bureaucrat in line.

The Vatican had to decide whether it wanted a reformer who would expose McCarrick's network of enablers and fellow-predators - or, shall we say, someone more discreet, who would protect the Church's public image.

Which role will Archbishop Gregory play, if he has indeed been chosen?

Gregory, who would be the first African-American Archbishop of Washington, served as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2001 until 2004, leading the American bishops through the first chapters of the Spotlight revelations.

It was under his leadership that the USCCB drafted its protocols for handling allegations of predatory priests, known as the "Dallas Charter" - though McCarrick was its principal author.

In any event, Gregory certainly has more experience in dealing with the fallout from clerical sex abuse than most of his brother bishops.

He is not, however, the sort of reformer that conservative Catholics were hoping for. Continue reading

• Image: Fox

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington said that this is in recognition of the US's large Hispanic population and the fact that Serra spoke Spanish.

Spanish is also the Pope's native tongue and Francis is the first pontiff from the New World, where Spanish is the main language, Cardinal Wuerl said.

The Washington Mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the adjoining campus of the Catholic University of America.

A Jumbotron translation to English will be at the venue.

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House speaker John Boehner announced the "historic visit" by Francis.

This will be the first time a Pope has addressed a joint meeting of Congress.

Francis will speak to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives together.

Mr Boehner said he was "truly grateful Pope Francis has accepted our invitation".

Other highlights during the Pope's US visit will include the canonisation of Blessed Junipero Serra and a visit to the United Nations in New York.

No official announcement of the details of these parts of Pope's US visit has been made.

But it has been announced that the Pope will participate in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia on September 26-27.

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The live, half-hour show, scheduled to start in July, is a major step for the broadcaster, whose message is typically expressed through devotional talk shows, replays of Mass and religious education programming such as series on the Eucharist or the saints.

EWTN — the initials stand for Eternal Word Television Network — was started by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation in a garage at her Alabama monastery in 1981.

Its programming now reaches more than 146 million homes in 127 countries and 16 territories on more than 5200 cable systems, wireless cable, direct broadcast satellite, low power television and individual satellite users.

By planting a stake in Washington — in an office space near Capitol Hill — EWTN hopes to raise its profile on issues where religion converges with public affairs: abortion, contraception, stem cell research, immigration, the death penalty, terrorism and repression of Christians abroad, according to a Washington Post report.

"It's a deliberate choice to be in the midst of everything," said Michael P. Warsaw, EWTN's president and chief executive. "We hope it has an impact on policymakers and the inside-the-Beltway crowd."

The Post reported that experts on media and Catholic affairs said EWTN would fill a void, because there is no other daily news TV progamme that is pitched to the estimated 75 million Catholics in the United States.

And while the network's guests include a steady diet of those who represent the conservative wing of the church, EWTN does not stoke right-wing fury like a Fox News commentator.

"EWTN has a lot of people on its air, and they don't all sing from the same songbook," said John L. Allen Jr., a Vatican authority and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

The network is almost entirely funded by donations from a committed audience. Its pitch is: "Keep us between your gas and electric bill."

Sources:

TribLive

Eternal Word Television Network (Wikipedia)

Image: The Catholic Company

"We are uneasy with the aggressive efforts of Catholic bishops to oppose R-74 and want to support the 71 percent of Catholics who support civil marriage for gays as a valid Catholic position," the former priests said in a statement.

Pat Callahan, a former priest who organized the statement, said in a report by the San Francisco Chronicle: "This is the first public action we've taken."

Washington's four Catholic bishops have meanwhile started to intensify their campaign to vote against same-sex marriage.

Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of the Diocese of Yakima said in a pastoral letter that Referendum 74 "jeopardizes freedom rather than expands it" and "endangers our religious liberty and the rights of conscience."

"Once marriage is redefined as a genderless contract, it will become legally discriminatory for public and private institutions such as schools to promote the unique meaning of marriage . . .This law will challenge our right to educate about the unique value of children being raised by his or her own mother and father in a stable home," Tyson wrote.

The states of Washington, Maryland and Maine will vote on marriage equality this November. Minnesota is voting on a constitutional amendment that would enshrine marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt has warned any active priests opposing the gay marriage ban to keep their feelings to themselves.

With no threat of ecclesiastical retaliation, three retired priests and dozens of former priests have made public statements against the proposed amendment.

With same-sex marriage fueled by an $8.5 million campaign warchest, the Catholic bishops are taking their case to the pews, the San Francisco Chronicle report said.

"Although our surrounding popular culture may define human identity by the terms ‘gay' and ‘straight,' our church has a deeper and more accurate understanding of human identity based on male and female — sexual difference," Tyson said.

Same-sex marriage has never won a statewide vote, although Washington voters approved civil unions in a 2009 referendum.

But the statewide Elway Poll last week pegged support for Referendum 74 at 57 percent.

Sources

• San Francisco Chronicle
• Newsday
• Image: Newsday

The charismatic octogenarian, once described by Cardinal Sean O'Malley as the "Joan of Arc" of the pro-life movement, was a ubiquitous figure at the Washington event for 38 years, introducing the many luminaries who addressed the crowd of several hundred thousand during the rally before the march.

Gray was a lawyer and former federal employee who devoted herself full-time to the pro-life movement after the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

This "tugging at her heartstrings" ultimately led her to retire from law and devote herself to the pro-life cause.

She used the phrase "no exceptions, no compromise" to sum up her belief that life begins at conception and that no abortion should be legal.

Father Frank Pavone, former national director of Priests for Life, recalled that Gray was in many respects an unwitting founder of an event that was destined to transform the pro-life movement by drawing hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic pro-life advocates to Capitol Hill every year.

"She never expected or planned to start a March for Life," he said. "She would often tell me with a humorous recollection, ‘You know Father, they just wanted to have a meeting, and some of us came together, and we decided to use my house for the meeting, and we thought we would have one march and that would be it.

"And before you know it, I was in charge of this march. And it's not something that I wanted or anticipated, but we came together, we did it, and before we know it we had to do it a second time and one thing led to another."

Sources:

LifeSiteNews

Associated Press

Image: LifeSiteNews