Catholic News 2
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(Vatican Radio) The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation offers Catholics and Lutherans an opportunity to take further steps towards reconciliation and full Christian unity. That was Pope Francis’ message on Monday to an ecumenical delegation from Germany, led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops conference, and top Protestant Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairman of the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD).Welcoming the delegation to the Vatican, Pope Francis praised the positive relationship between Catholics and Lutherans in Germany, urging them to be courageous and determined in their continuing journey together. “We share the same baptism”, he said, “we must walk together tirelessly!”Reflecting on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation , he said it’s an opportunity to put Christ back at the centre of their ecumenical relations. Just as the question of a merciful God was the driving force of Luther and ...
(Vatican Radio) The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation offers Catholics and Lutherans an opportunity to take further steps towards reconciliation and full Christian unity. That was Pope Francis’ message on Monday to an ecumenical delegation from Germany, led by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops conference, and top Protestant Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chairman of the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD).
Welcoming the delegation to the Vatican, Pope Francis praised the positive relationship between Catholics and Lutherans in Germany, urging them to be courageous and determined in their continuing journey together. “We share the same baptism”, he said, “we must walk together tirelessly!”
Reflecting on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation , he said it’s an opportunity to put Christ back at the centre of their ecumenical relations. Just as the question of a merciful God was the driving force of Luther and the other Reformists, so it must be at the heart of our joint efforts propose the radical truth of God’s limitless mercy to men women today.
Speaking of the tragedy of divisions and conflict, fomented by political interests, the Pope praised the initiative of the German delegation to hold an ecumenical service of penitence and reconciliation entitled “Healing memories – witnessing to Jesus Christ”.
Catholics and Lutherans will also be participating in other joint events this year, he said, including a shared pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a congress to present new translations of the Bible and an ecumenical day dedicated to shared social responsibility.
Thanks to a shared spiritual communion that has been rediscovered over recent decades, the Pope said, Catholics and Lutherans can together deplore the failures of the Reformation on both sides, as well as appreciating the many gifts which we have received from it.
The current challenges of faith and morals facing our Churches today, Pope Francis concluded, impel us to step up our efforts and increase our cooperation in the service of the poor and the protection of our planet. In a period of serious divisions and new forms of exclusion, he said, we are urgently called by God to follow the path of unity and reconciliation.German
Zimbabwe’s Bishop-elect of Gokwe Diocese, Rudolf Nyandoro, has appealed for team spirit in the diocese.Pope Francis on 28 January 2017 appointed Monsignor Rudolf Nyandoro as the new Bishop of Gokwe Diocese in Zimbabwe. Monsignor Nyandoro takes over from Bishop Angel Floro who resigned from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Gokwe after reaching retirement age. A press release issued from Zimbabwe’s Apostolic Nunciature in Harare announced Monsignor Nyandoro’s appointment.“Today, 28 January 2017, His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Gokwe presented by Right Reverend Bishop Angel M. Floro (according to can.401.1 of CIC). At the same time, the Holy Father appointed Rev. Fr. Rudolf Nyandoro, Chancellor of the Diocese of Masvingo, as the new Bishop of Gokwe,” read the press statement.In an interview with Zimbabwe’s ‘Catholic Church News,’ the Bishop-elect who was unti...
Zimbabwe’s Bishop-elect of Gokwe Diocese, Rudolf Nyandoro, has appealed for team spirit in the diocese.
Pope Francis on 28 January 2017 appointed Monsignor Rudolf Nyandoro as the new Bishop of Gokwe Diocese in Zimbabwe. Monsignor Nyandoro takes over from Bishop Angel Floro who resigned from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Gokwe after reaching retirement age. A press release issued from Zimbabwe’s Apostolic Nunciature in Harare announced Monsignor Nyandoro’s appointment.
“Today, 28 January 2017, His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Gokwe presented by Right Reverend Bishop Angel M. Floro (according to can.401.1 of CIC). At the same time, the Holy Father appointed Rev. Fr. Rudolf Nyandoro, Chancellor of the Diocese of Masvingo, as the new Bishop of Gokwe,” read the press statement.
In an interview with Zimbabwe’s ‘Catholic Church News,’ the Bishop-elect who was until his appointment a lecturer at Bondolfi Teachers’ College said he never dreamt that one day he would be raised to the office of Bishop.
“When I received the news, I was deeply disturbed, shocked and I couldn’t believe my ears. It is something that I never expected in my life. I was contented as a lecturer and with my pastoral duties,” said Monsignor Nyandoro.
Monsignor Nyandoro implored God’s grace to lead him in his new ministry as the Shepherd of Gokwe Diocese and called upon the people of the diocese to work together with him. He said the Church is one and just as he worked in Masvingo as a priest, he was ready to work in Gokwe as a Bishop so that God’s will would be done. He highlighted the importance of team spirit in carrying the diocese forward as well as in dealing with challenges that come “our way”.
Bishop-elect Nyandoro said: “The Church is one and we expect to work together with the priests, religious and the laity. Challenges will always be there, but if we work as a team, we will overcome them.”
The Bishop-elect is equally confident that his predecessor will help him find his way in the diocese. He is optimistic that resources abound in Gokwe with human capital as the best resource.
Monsignor Nyandoro said he will fit into existing plans of the diocese and would not rush to implement new changes but complete what has been put in place by his predecessor.
‘I haven’t planned anything except that I ask people to be with me in prayer. The diocese is not new, and there are plans already in place. We will continue with those plans until they are completed,” Monsignor Nyandoro said.
In a word to the priests, he encouraged them to be loyal to their Bishops, to be prayerful and to do their pastoral work to the best of their ability. To the faithful, he said: “The world is ever changing with technology facilitating many changes, and people need to pray so that the devil cannot outwit their faith through technological advancement but use technology to promote the growth of the Church.
The 49-year-old bishop-elect was born on 11 October 1968 to Justin and Epiphania Nyandoro in Gutu under Masvingo Province. He did his primary education at Dambara Primary School after which he proceeded to Chikwingwizha Minor Seminary for secondary education. In 1990, Monsignor Nyandoro joined the major seminary starting in Chimanimani and completed his theological studies at Chishawasha Major Seminary before his ordination in 1998 by the late Bishop Francis Mugadzi.
After his ordination, he worked at Mukaro Mission. When the Diocese of Masvingo was created in 1999, Monsignor Nyandoro was assigned to Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Masvingo between 2000 and 2006. Between 2006 and May 2009 he served as the Rector of St. Kizito Minor Seminary at Mukaro Mission before he moved to be Rector of Bondolfi Teachers College until 2016. He succeeds Bishop Floro who has been at the helm of the diocese for 17 years.
Bishop-elect Nyandoro will be ordained Bishop in Gokwe at a date to be announced.
(Br. Alfonce Kugwa; Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference)
Church in Kenya to launch a multi-media campaign aimed at the creation of a climate conducive to credible and peaceful national elections.The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has tasked the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), the Commission for Social Communications (Waumini Communications) and Caritas Kenya to work out a media campaign that will help towards the creation of a climate conducive to credible and peaceful national elections slated for August 2017.A communications team drawn from the two commissions, Caritas Kenya and Kenya’s Catholic Radio stations has been created. This week, the communications team met consultants in a three-days workshop to strategise on how to develop peace messages that would be relayed on television, radio, newspapers and digital media platforms across the country.The team which is to work in close collaboration with Bishops and priests in ensuring that political leaders and Kenyans embrace peace was informed that the...
Church in Kenya to launch a multi-media campaign aimed at the creation of a climate conducive to credible and peaceful national elections.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has tasked the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), the Commission for Social Communications (Waumini Communications) and Caritas Kenya to work out a media campaign that will help towards the creation of a climate conducive to credible and peaceful national elections slated for August 2017.
A communications team drawn from the two commissions, Caritas Kenya and Kenya’s Catholic Radio stations has been created. This week, the communications team met consultants in a three-days workshop to strategise on how to develop peace messages that would be relayed on television, radio, newspapers and digital media platforms across the country.
The team which is to work in close collaboration with Bishops and priests in ensuring that political leaders and Kenyans embrace peace was informed that the country needs credible elections for Kenyans to get a government that is mandated by the will of the people.
Addressing the team at Emmaus Centre in Nairobi, Future of Kenya Foundation Democratic Governance, Policy and Strategy Specialist, Africa Region, Cyprian Nyamwamu said, there is need to set up a serious and strong vetting mechanism consistent with Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya. The vetting process would ensure that corrupt, fraudulent, anti-democracy, anti-cohesion and anti-peace individuals do not get elected to power come August 2017.
Nyamwamu said the media campaign would be in line with Article 81 of the constitution.
“We need to deal with hate speech, incitement, ethnic and clan biases that are likely to bring about serious conflict and possible violence in the counties and even nation-wide,” He said
“This ethnic balkanization of our nation and reducing elections to an ethnic census must be stopped by a group of conscious and courageous Kenyans who present a different and people-centered narrative,” Nyamwamu added.
Nyamwamu also noted that there is need for a robust framework for election monitoring and observation of all the pre-election, election and post-election processes. This was necessary in order to promote the credibility of the process revealing that, currently the government does not seem interested in funding the processes of election observation or civic education. He said the government was leaving everything to the goodwill of foreign partners- who actually fund these methods through the taxes of their nationals- which he said was a regrettable situation.
The Catholic Church’s campaign for Peaceful and Credible elections in Kenya will commence with the launch of the Lenten campaign which is scheduled to take place on 25 February 2017 at the University of Nairobi Graduation Grounds.
(Rose Achiego in Nairobi)
(Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Monday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father focused on the theme of Christian freedom, saying that the follower of Christ is a “slave” – but of love, not of duty, and urging the faithful not to hide in the “rigidity” of the Commandments.The Pope took the Responsorial Psalm, 103 (104) as his starting point: a “song of praise” to God for His wonders. “The Father,” said Pope Francis, “works to make this wonder of creation and with His Son to accomplish this wonder of re-creation.” Pope Francis also recalled an episode in which a child asked him what God was doing before He created the world: “He was loving,” was the response.Open your heart, do not take refuge in the rigidity of the CommandmentsWhy then did God create the world? “Simply to share His fullness,” Francis...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Monday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father focused on the theme of Christian freedom, saying that the follower of Christ is a “slave” – but of love, not of duty, and urging the faithful not to hide in the “rigidity” of the Commandments.
The Pope took the Responsorial Psalm, 103 (104) as his starting point: a “song of praise” to God for His wonders. “The Father,” said Pope Francis, “works to make this wonder of creation and with His Son to accomplish this wonder of re-creation.” Pope Francis also recalled an episode in which a child asked him what God was doing before He created the world: “He was loving,” was the response.
Open your heart, do not take refuge in the rigidity of the Commandments
Why then did God create the world? “Simply to share His fullness,” Francis said. “To have someone to whom [to give] and with whom to share His fullness.” In the re-creation, God sends His Son to “set things right” – to make “the ugly one handsome, of the mistake a true [cast], of the villain a good guy”:
“When Jesus says: ‘The Father is always at work: I, too, am always at work,’ the teachers of the law were scandalized and wanted to kill him for this. Why? Because they could not receive the things of God as a gift! Only as Justice: ‘These are the Commandments: but they are few, let’s make more. And instead of opening their heart to the gift, they hid, have sought refuge in the rigidity of the Commandments, which they had multiplied up to 500 or more ... They did not know how to receive the gift – and the gift is only received with freedom – and these rigid characters were afraid of the freedom that God gives us: they were afraid of love.”
The Christian is a slave of love, not of duty
The Pope went on to note that it was after that, that the Gospels tell us, “They wanted to kill Jesus.” To this, he added, “Because he said that the Father made this wonder as a gift: receive the gift of the Father!”:
“And that is why today we have praised the Father: ‘You are great, O Lord! I love you so much, for you have given this gift. You saved me, you created me.’ And this is the prayer of praise, the prayer of joy, the prayer that gives us the joy of the Christian life. And not the closed, sad prayer of the person who never knew how to receive a gift because he is afraid of freedom that always carries with it a gift. Such a one knows only how to do duty, but closed duty. Slaves of duty, but not love: when you become a slave of love, you are free! It is a beautiful bondage that, but such men did not understand that.”
Ask how we receive the gift of redemption and forgiveness of God
Here, then, are the “two wonders of the Lord,” he went on to say: “the wonder of creation and the wonder of redemption, the re-creation.” The he asked, “How do I receive this gift that God has given me – creation? And if I receive it as a gift, do I love creation, do I care for the created order?” The reason, he stressed, is that it is a gift:
“How do I receive the redemption, the forgiveness that God has given me, the making of me a son with His Son? Lovingly, tenderly, with freedom? Or do I hide in the rigidity of the closed Commandments, that are more and more “safe” – with emphasis on the scare-quotes – but that do not give joy, because they does not make you free. Each of us ought to ask himself wonder how he is experiencing these two wonders: the wonder of creation and even greater wonder of re-creation. May the Lord make us understand this great thing and make us understand what He was doing before creating the world: He was loving. Let us understand His love for us, and may we say – as we said today: ‘Lord, you are great! Thank you, thank you!’ Let us go forward like this.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Messages about America, inclusiveness - and, yes, even "four years of awful hair" - kept bubbling up in Super Bowl 51 ads from Airbnb, the NFL and a line of personal care products. But there was still plenty of escapism and light humor for those who weren't into the politics....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawyers for Washington state and Minnesota have told a federal appellate court that restoring President Donald Trump's ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries would "unleash chaos again."...
(Vatican Radio) Catholic bishops in the Philippines on Sunday called for resistance to a wave of apparent executions by police and vigilantes. In a pastoral letter read out in Mass, the bishops said not speaking out on the matter is tantamount to complicity.Listen to Alsatair Wanklyn's report In their pastoral letter, the Philippine bishops said while there is a drugs problem that needs to be faced, the enormous death toll is unacceptable.Many are killed not because of drugs, the bishops wrote. And those who kill them are not brought to account.The bishops added: An even greater concern is the "indifference" of many to what is going on."To keep stilent in front of evil is to be an accomplice," they said.There have been more than 7,000 recorded killings in only seven months, since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched a campaign against drug pushers and users.There have been reports of bounties paid to police officers who kill, and last week human ri...
(Vatican Radio) Catholic bishops in the Philippines on Sunday called for resistance to a wave of apparent executions by police and vigilantes. In a pastoral letter read out in Mass, the bishops said not speaking out on the matter is tantamount to complicity.
Listen to Alsatair Wanklyn's report
In their pastoral letter, the Philippine bishops said while there is a drugs problem that needs to be faced, the enormous death toll is unacceptable.
Many are killed not because of drugs, the bishops wrote. And those who kill them are not brought to account.
The bishops added: An even greater concern is the "indifference" of many to what is going on.
"To keep stilent in front of evil is to be an accomplice," they said.
There have been more than 7,000 recorded killings in only seven months, since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched a campaign against drug pushers and users.
There have been reports of bounties paid to police officers who kill, and last week human rights campaign group Amnesty International accused police of hiring contract killers.
"One killing is a killing to many - we have seven thousand.
Amnesty campaigner Wilnor Papa went on to urge the International Criminal Court to investigate.
President Duterte responded, calling the Amnesty campaigners "naive." He said the killings are not random but warranted.
In their letter, the bishops said Philippine officials have no right to take away life, as they are God's steward and not the owners of life.
They added, corruption is a serious problem among police and judges. They said one reason for the spread of lawlessness is the slow pace of court cases. And in this, often it is the poor who suffer most.
Last week, the Philippine national police chief announced a pause in the anti-drugs campaign, citing a need to drive out corrupt officers.
But he suggested the war on drugs would then resume, unabated.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The number of children killed in Afghanistan's conflict rose by 25 percent in 2016, according to the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan....
