WILLIAMSBURG, Va. ( AP) — A Williamsburg church founded by slaves is celebrating its 240th anniversary with the ringing of a long-silent bell. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is among the activists and actors scheduled to attend the celebration Monday at First Baptist Church. Colonial Williamsburg conservators restored the church bell, which had been silent since […]

SHELDON, Iowa (AP) — An northwest Iowa church is opening its doors each night this week so people can gather and pray for the upcoming caucuses and the nation. The Sioux City Journal reports that Barb Hibma, a national area leader for the National Day of Prayer Task Force, asked the Living Water Community Church […]

VATICAN CITY Actor Leonardo DiCaprio brushed up his Italian to greet Pope Francis at the Vatican Thursday, discussed their shared concern over the environment and gave the pontiff a check for his charitable works. “ Your Holiness, thank you for granting me this private audience with you,” DiCaprio said in Italian as he arrived in […]

BRUNSWICK During the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wants all believers to both experience God’s mercy and compassion and bring it into the lives of others through corporal and spiritual works of mercy. As part of their celebration of Maine Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 31-Feb. 6), St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick plans to […]

And Jesus answering said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:18-19 kjv Becoming Whole Ten lepers were cured but only one […]

A little more than a week ago, we moved from our roomy New Englander in the small shipbuilding city of Bath to a little fixer-upper in the woods. “Do you need help?” a friend asked the previous day at church. “Oh, no,” I confidently replied. “It should only take an hour or two to load […]

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has changed church regulations to explicitly allow women and girls to participate in the Easter Week foot-washing ritual, after having shocked many Catholics by performing the rite on women and Muslims just weeks after he was elected. Proponents of women’s ordination hailed Francis’ decree, while traditionalist Catholics warned that it would […]

“And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16 Rooted in Tradition We do not always think of Jesus as a Jewish man who was deeply rooted in the religious tradition of […]

NEWCASTLE The Ecumenical Food Pantry is celebrating a gift of more vital space for storage. The Second Congregational Church, where the pantry operates, provided a larger room for the EFP to expand its storage. The operation had been overflowing its space for quite some time and the additional space means that the EFP is able […]

LEWISTON Bishop Robert P. Deeley will celebrate a special Mass to close the Year of Consecrated Life in the Diocese of Portland on Tuesday, February 2, at 4:30 p.m. in the lower chapel of the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul on 122 Ash Street in Lewiston. All in consecrated life and all who wish […]