News stories tagged with "catholic"

(02/06/12) The top Roman Catholic official in the North Country is blasting the Obama administration for requiring churches to provide health insurance to employees that includes services such as contraception and sterilization. more

(06/28/11) The Catholic Church leads opposition to New York's new law legalizing same sex marriage. In a statement over the weekend, Bishop Terry LaValley of the Diocese of Ogdensburg called the law "deeply disappointing and troubling."

The statement calls marriage between a man and a woman the only "authentic" marriage.

David Sommerstein spoke yesterday with Bishop LaValley about the new law and about his parishioners reaction to his statement. more

(04/28/09) A growing number of Americans see same-sex marriage as a civil right. But for the Roman Catholic Church, legalization of gay marriage represents another erosion of traditional marriage. In the eyes of the Church, the institution of marriage has already been battered by high divorce rates and by more children being born out of wedlock. Brian Mann spoke in-depth with Sister Jennifer Votraw. She's chancellor and director of communications for the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

(04/22/09) Roman Catholic officials in the North Country say the Bishop for the Diocese of Ogdensburg is being re-assigned. Martha Foley has more.

(01/19/09) The Diocese of Albany is closing two North Country churches next year and four other churches will be forced to share priests. The decisions were announced on Saturday following a two-year process that included public input from Roman Catholics throughout the diocese. In Glens Falls, St. Alphonsus church will close. Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Granville will also shut down. Churches in Corinth and Lake Luzerne will merge and share a priest by next summer, but both buildings will remain open. Churches in Chestertown and Hague will also merge. In all, the diocese will close thirty-three worship sites. The downsizing reflects a growing priest shortage. In the 1960s, there were more than 400 priests in the diocese. That number is expected to drop below 100. Attendance has also declined in many churches. Bishop Howard Hubbard called the changes a "painful adjustment." He pointed out that the church where he worshiped as a child in Troy is one of the parishes slated to close.

(02/17/06) A public inquiry into an alleged pedophile sex ring in Cornwall, Ontario is grabbing headlines in Canada. The Ontario government this week began a sort of "truth and reconciliation" process. As David Sommerstein reports, it's designed to lift the sordid cloud that's plagued Cornwall for years and promote community healing.

(07/27/05) Nine Roman Catholic women were ordained deacons and priests on Monday on a boat on the St. Lawrence River. The ceremony violated church law. The Vatican has never accepted women clergy. But it was a festive affair.

(03/29/05) In ponchos and mittens, parents and teachers picketed the Catholic Diocese in Ogdensburg yesterday. They were protesting the decision to close St Mary's school in Potsdam. The elementary school will be closed at the end of this year. Church officials blame declining enrollment. But parents say that parishioners were divided on supporting the school.

(03/23/05) St Mary's school in Potsdam announced it's shutting its doors at the end of this year. The closing will affect 78 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, 30 students in pre-kindergarten, and about 15 teachers and faculty. It's not the first North Country Catholic school to close - a school in Redford's also closing this year, and Tupper Lake's school closed a few years before. But the closing of St Mary's didn't go without a long fight.

(07/16/04) In May, Bishop Robert Cunningham took over as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg. Bishop Cunningham will serve as spiritual leader for nearly 130,000 Catholics across the North Country. But he inherits an organization that's struggled in recent years with a shortage of priests and with the church sex scandal. Earlier this year, the diocese removed eight priests from active duty, citing "credible" allegations. Bishop Cunningham sat down recently to talk with Brian Mann about his life, his faith, and the future of the North Country's Catholic
church.