by Peter Feuerherd
Editor's note: "The Field Hospital" blog series covers life in U.S. and Canadian Catholic parishes. The title comes from Pope Francis' words: "I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. …"
If you have a story suggestion, send it to Dan Morris-Young (dmyoung@ncronline.org) or Peter Feuerherd (pfeuerherd@ncronline.org).
An Illinois priest stole $300,000 from his parish. He said it was done to feed a gambling addiction. He’s been given time to pay the money back, and continues to work in the Joliet diocese.
There are 55 priests for 59 parishes in the diocese of Kalamazoo, Mich. Instead of closing parishes, the bishop there has decided to give pastors oversight over more than a single parish.
In advance of Pope Francis' anticipated response to the Synod of Bishops, PBS re-posted an earlier report on the complicated relationship between divorced Catholics and their church.
The first Catholic church in the Alaska Territory undergoes a renovation.
A pattern emerging, a story sure to be repeated around the country. A former parish music director sues a Chicago parish and the Archdiocese of Chicago after being fired following his announcing that he was engaged to his same-sex partner.
[Peter Feuerherd is a professor of communications and journalism at St. John's University in New York and contributor to NCR's Field Hospital blog.]
