Mary Farrow

Mary Farrow

Mary Farrow worked as a staff writer for Catholic News Agency until 2020. She has a degree in journalism and English education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Articles by Mary Farrow

Chaput to FOCUS leadership conference: We need Christian friends 

Jan 2, 2020 / 15:45 pm

Christian friendships are necessary for living a life of faith, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia told college students in a homily Thursday.

Should Catholics care about poetry?

Jan 1, 2020 / 15:51 pm

Do you remember the last poem you read, or heard?

What people with intellectual disabilities can teach us about friendship

Dec 30, 2019 / 15:38 pm

When French Catholic Jean Vanier brought two men with intellectual disabilities to live with him in his home, he did so more out of a sense of religious duty than anything else.

Suicide is on the rise - What can the Catholic Church do to help?

Dec 28, 2019 / 15:02 pm

On Monday of National Suicide Prevention Week this year, popular evangelical pastor and mental health advocate Jarrid Wilson, 30, reportedly committed suicide. Just hours prior to his death, Wilson had posted a message on Twitter about Jesus’ compassion for the depressed and suicidal.

Can tattoos be sacramentals? 

Dec 27, 2019 / 15:30 pm

When the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the English Carmelite, St. Simon Stock, she carried the Carmelite scapular in her hand and told him: “This shall be the privilege for you and for all the Carmelites, that anyone dying in this garment shall be saved.”

Strong online boundaries make for the happiest relationships, study finds

Dec 27, 2019 / 02:55 am

Cutting ties with old flames, before the internet, used to be easy.

St. Augustine and a patient husband led this long-searching Christian to Catholicism

Dec 26, 2019 / 15:01 pm

For Colorado native Juliana Pybus, faith has always been a central part of her life.

Mentors are key in program to get civilly married couples back to Church

Dec 24, 2019 / 06:45 am

When Mary Rose Verret first welcomed Douglas and Elizabeth into her home, Douglas’ boots squished with the sewage he worked with, and Elizabeth smelled of french fries from her fast food job. Douglas was also just a few years of out jail.

Are millennial Christians really killing evangelization?

Dec 23, 2019 / 15:06 pm

Millennials are notoriously blamed for being killers of previously-thought-necessary industries and activities: Applebees. Napkins. Golf. Mayonnaise. Lunch. And so on.

Erie diocese opens sainthood cause of lay educator, advocate for those with disabilities

Dec 20, 2019 / 15:45 pm

When Dr. Gertrude Barber became the assistant superintendent of the Erie School District in Pennsylvania, the standard practice for educating children with disabilities and special needs was to institutionalize them.

Catholic dating gets a makeover

Dec 17, 2019 / 03:06 am

It all started with a Twitter rant.

Did ‘thousands’ of women die from illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade? WaPo says no

Dec 14, 2019 / 04:00 am

In its 2019 roundup of the biggest lies of the year (dubbed the biggest ‘Pinocchios’), the Washington Post included a false but oft-repeated claim that “thousands” of women died while undergoing illegal abortions before the legalization of abortion in the United States.

Catholic leaders say food stamp cuts will harm people, but not put them to work

Dec 6, 2019 / 14:05 pm

A new rule that will disqualify roughly 700,000 people from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps, will not help people find or keep employment, leaders of Catholic charitable and social policy organizations told CNA.

Is it weird that Catholics venerate relics? Here's why we do

Nov 29, 2019 / 12:02 pm

“We are many parts, but we are all one body,” says the refrain of a popular '80s Church hymn, based on the words of 1 Cor. 12:12. 

How this Croatian cardinal saved thousands of Jewish lives

Nov 22, 2019 / 04:00 am

The story of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac.

Knights of Columbus give hundreds of new coats to Denver’s homeless before snowfall

Nov 20, 2019 / 16:15 pm

On a partly cloudy and relatively pleasant November morning in downtown Denver, volunteers with the Knights of Columbus set up tents for distributing new puffy winter coats, as well as snacks, socks and water, to homeless people.

Alasdair MacIntyre: True friendships are rare, but possible

Nov 17, 2019 / 15:01 pm

For Aristotle, the definition of perfect friendship was so narrow that precious few could achieve it.

Bishop Bransfield disinvited from US bishops' meeting

Nov 4, 2019 / 16:25 pm

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has canceled their invitation for Bishop Michael Bransfield, former head of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, to attend their upcoming annual fall meeting due to allegations of sexual abuse and financial misconduct.

Cardinal Dolan on Biden communion denial: 'I wouldn't do it'

Oct 31, 2019 / 15:58 pm

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York has responded to questions about the denial of Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden last Sunday.

Judge orders police to return some files to Diocese of Dallas taken in May raid 

Oct 30, 2019 / 18:00 pm

A Dallas county district judge has ordered Dallas police to return certain documents to the Catholic Diocese of Dallas that were seized during a raid on diocesan property on May 15.