Articles by Matt McDonald
Cardinal Dolan on St. Patrick’s funeral: ‘We don’t do FBI checks on people who want to be buried’
Feb 21, 2024 / 18:05 pmCardinal Timothy Dolan applauded priests at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for deciding not to celebrate Mass when a crowd acted with “irreverence and disrespect.”
UPDATE: Irreverent funeral service at St. Patrick's Cathedral for trans activist sparks outcry
Feb 16, 2024 / 22:15 pmThe Feb. 15 funeral service was held for Cecilia Gentili, a high-profile trans activist and sex-worker advocate.
Catholic volunteer killed on way home from adoration was ‘old soul’
Jan 24, 2024 / 13:00 pmRyan Realbuto, 23, was shot and killed in an attempted robbery on Jan. 18 while walking home from a Holy Hour and social event in Washington, D.C.
Trenton Bishop released from Rome hospital after heart attack
Jan 9, 2024 / 17:40 pmBishop David O’Connell suffered a heart attack while in Rome where he was preparing to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two lay diocesan staff members.
Kansas bishop to walk 19 miles in pilgrimage for peace
Jan 5, 2024 / 17:50 pmBishop Gerald Vincke, 59, who leads the Diocese of Salina, is planning to walk from St. Mary’s Church in Glasco to St. John the Baptist in Beloit.
Trenton bishop suffers heart attack in Rome
Jan 5, 2024 / 13:05 pmBishop David O’Connell, 68, was in Italy to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two members of the diocese’s staff to holy sites in Rome and Assisi.
Christmas 2023: Unusual back-to-back Mass schedule could hurt parishes’ collections this year
Dec 22, 2023 / 16:44 pmThe worry is that some parishioners will fulfill their Sunday or Christmas Day obligation but not both.
Irish priest calls musician Shane MacGowan’s raucous funeral Mass ‘a scandal’
Dec 14, 2023 / 16:00 pmThe Mass included a live performance of “Fairy Tale of New York” and other nonreligious songs composed by the late singer-songwriter.
Local bishops: Steubenville-Columbus diocesan merger back in play
Dec 13, 2023 / 17:25 pmThe bishops who lead the dioceses of Columbus and Steubenville in Ohio could present a merger plan to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops next year.
Bishop Strickland was advised to leave Tyler Diocese but can still say Mass there
Dec 8, 2023 / 10:17 am“I have received no such instruction,” Strickland said by text Thursday night, responding to a report that he has been barred from saying Mass in the diocese.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a swing vote on abortion, dies
Dec 1, 2023 / 17:40 pmPresident Ronald Reagan nominated O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court in July 1981, fulfilling a campaign promise to name the first woman to the nation’s highest court.
Hard-living Irish musician Shane MacGowan received last rites before he died, family says
Dec 1, 2023 / 14:15 pmMacGowan was raised a Catholic and often used Catholic imagery in his songs, though he did not practice the faith for most of his adult life.
First Ratzinger Prize winners since Pope Benedict's death go to two Spanish theologians
Nov 10, 2023 / 16:06 pmWhile Pope Francis ordinarily presents each award personally, this year the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, plans to do so instead.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist Catholic, won’t seek reelection
Nov 9, 2023 / 17:06 pmDemocratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s decision to leave the U.S. Senate may hurt the Democrats’ chances of keeping it in 2024.
Biden NIH nominee grilled on funding for gender transition research, fetal tissue
Oct 20, 2023 / 10:40 amMonica Bertagnolli answered questions for about two hours on Capitol Hill on Wednesday before the Senate Health Committee.
Illinois governor launches national fundraising organization to stump for abortion access
Oct 19, 2023 / 10:30 amThink Big America is “dedicated to safeguarding reproductive rights and standing up against the right-wing extremists who want to take us backwards.”
‘No wiggle room’: Muslim parents object to LGBT curriculum at Minnesota charter school
Oct 18, 2023 / 11:54 amMuslim parents at a Minnesota public charter school are objecting to books that teach about same-sex attraction and gender identity in elementary grades.
Facility-based abortions drop 30% in North Carolina after 12-week abortion ban, data show
Oct 17, 2023 / 11:20 amIn May the state Legislature enacted a bill largely banning abortions after 12 weeks, with some exceptions. The state’s previous limit was 20 weeks.
Southwestern Virginia church named basilica
Oct 14, 2023 / 10:04 amThe former St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in the Diocese of Roanoke, Virginia, is now the Basilica of St. Andrew.
Boston Archdiocese opposes bill eliminating time limits for child sex abuse claims
Oct 5, 2023 / 12:21 pmThe current bill being considered by the Legislature would eliminate the time limit and allow lawsuits at any time against a purported perpetrator.