Catholic News 2
BEIJING (AP) -- China said Saturday that its military seized a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater glider in the South China Sea to ensure the "safe navigation of passing ships," in one of the most serious incidents between the two militaries in years....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' enduring confidence that their elections are unimpeachably fair is teetering. Welcome to what much of the world calls reality, especially Russia's neighbors....
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- As he prepared for the final stop on his postelection "thank you" tour, President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday announced his pick for White House budget director, a tough-on-spending conservative congressman who advocates balancing the federal books....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Death in Aleppo was personal for Modar Sheikho. He lost his sister to government bombing early in the revolt. His brother was killed last month. And as they looked for a place to bury him, another airstrike killed his father....
(Vatican Radio) Russia's President Vladimir Putin has wrapped up a visit to Japan, inviting Japanese businesses to invest in eastern Siberia. The visit marked a warming of ties, two years after Russia seized Crimea.Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report: Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed a range of business deals for Japanese companies in Russia's Far East.The Kremlin has long promised to upgrade infrastructure in sparsely populated eastern Siberia but has lacked the cash.There will be greater cooperation, too, on several disputed islands that the Soviet Union seized after Japan surrendered in World War II. The two sides still have not agreed a peace treaty. The isles, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, are a rallying point for Japanese nationalists. On Friday, police in Tokyo stepped up security around Russian diplomatic missions. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said greater commercial exchanges will help to build trust. But P...
(Vatican Radio) Russia's President Vladimir Putin has wrapped up a visit to Japan, inviting Japanese businesses to invest in eastern Siberia. The visit marked a warming of ties, two years after Russia seized Crimea.
Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report:
Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed a range of business deals for Japanese companies in Russia's Far East.
The Kremlin has long promised to upgrade infrastructure in sparsely populated eastern Siberia but has lacked the cash.
There will be greater cooperation, too, on several disputed islands that the Soviet Union seized after Japan surrendered in World War II.
The two sides still have not agreed a peace treaty.
The isles, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, are a rallying point for Japanese nationalists. On Friday, police in Tokyo stepped up security around Russian diplomatic missions.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said greater commercial exchanges will help to build trust.
But Putin said no progress is possible as long as each side insists on its sovereignty.
Meanwhile, judo fan Putin wrapped up his visit at a judo hall in Tokyo.
The informal event underscored how Japan decided to break the international isolation around Putin since Russia annexed Crimea over two years ago.
It was the Russian leader's first official visit to a G-7 country since those nations imposed sanctions.
On Thursday, the European Union agreed to extend its sanctions until mid-way through next year. Meanwhile in Washington, there has been speculation that President-elect Donald Trump may seek to ease U.S. penalties against Russia.
(Vatican Radio) Russia has strongly denied U.S. claims that it hacked official emails. The war-of-words come as American President Barack Obama vowed to take action against Russia for its alleged interference.Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
(Vatican Radio) Russia has strongly denied U.S. claims that it hacked official emails. The war-of-words come as American President Barack Obama vowed to take action against Russia for its alleged interference.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was the principal celebrant at Mass in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the morning of December 17th. The Mass was that of the Saturday in the Third Week of Advent, and the concelebrants were the Cardinals resident in Rome.The reason for the extraordinary liturgical celebration was thanksgiving to God for the life of Pope Francis, who was born 80 years ago this day, on December 17th, 1936.The liturgy unfolded with the simple penitential settings of the season, and the readings were those of the day. The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, offered words of greeting in the name of all those present and of all the members of the College, saying, “The risen Jesus appeared to the disciples and addressed these well-known words to Simon-Peter: ‘Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ And the Apostle immediately replied: ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love you!’ It is wit...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was the principal celebrant at Mass in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the morning of December 17th. The Mass was that of the Saturday in the Third Week of Advent, and the concelebrants were the Cardinals resident in Rome.
The reason for the extraordinary liturgical celebration was thanksgiving to God for the life of Pope Francis, who was born 80 years ago this day, on December 17th, 1936.
The liturgy unfolded with the simple penitential settings of the season, and the readings were those of the day. The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, offered words of greeting in the name of all those present and of all the members of the College, saying, “The risen Jesus appeared to the disciples and addressed these well-known words to Simon-Peter: ‘Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ And the Apostle immediately replied: ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love you!’ It is with this love that Your Holiness today carries out His mission in the world. Then we know that we are close to you, especially today, on this beautiful day of your life.
Cardinal Sodano went on to say, “Our prayer shall be with you always, well mindful as we are of what we repeat in the Holy Mass every day, and that is: that by communion with the Body and Blood of Christ, may the Holy Spirit unite us in One Body.”
At the end of the Mass, Pope Francis offered thanks to the Cardinals present, saying, “For several days now, I’ve been thinking of a word that can seem ugly – no? – dotage. It is scary: just yesterday, [Office Manager for the Dept. for Relations with States in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See] Msgr. [Luigi] Cavaliere gave me [a copy of] Cicero’s De senectute - right? Really laying it on [It. una goccia in più]. Only, remember what I said to you on March 15 [2013], in our first meeting: ‘Old age is the seat of wisdom.’ Hopefully it is for me, right? Let us hope that it is so.”
The Holy Father also recalled a line of the Roman poet, Ovid: “Tacitu pede lapsa vetustas [with silent steps, old age slips up on one] It is a blow! But also, when one thinks of it as a stage of life that is to give joy, wisdom, hope, one begins to live again, right? And I can think of another poem that I quoted to you that day too [from the German poet, Hölderlin]: Es ist ruhig, das Alter, und fromm, “Old age is quiet and religious”.
(Vatican Radio) Memory was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at a Mass of which he was the principal celebrant in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, along with the cardinals resident in Rome, who were assembled to give thanks to God on the occasion of the Holy Father’s 80th birthday.Memory – not merely recollection – of parents and forefathers, of friends and relatives who have gone before him, of the signs of a life well and fully lived – but most especially the memoria Dei, the “memory of God” that is present throughout salvation history and is the characteristic and the hallmark of Christian life.Click below to hear our report “In Advent we started this journey, of vigilant expectation of the Lord. Today we stop, we look back, we see that the journey has been beautiful, that the Lord has not disappointed us, that the Lord is faithful,” he said.“We also see that both in histor...
(Vatican Radio) Memory was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at a Mass of which he was the principal celebrant in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, along with the cardinals resident in Rome, who were assembled to give thanks to God on the occasion of the Holy Father’s 80th birthday.
Memory – not merely recollection – of parents and forefathers, of friends and relatives who have gone before him, of the signs of a life well and fully lived – but most especially the memoria Dei, the “memory of God” that is present throughout salvation history and is the characteristic and the hallmark of Christian life.
Click below to hear our report
“In Advent we started this journey, of vigilant expectation of the Lord. Today we stop, we look back, we see that the journey has been beautiful, that the Lord has not disappointed us, that the Lord is faithful,” he said.
“We also see that both in history, and in our own lives, there have been wonderful moments of fidelity and bad times of sin,” Pope Francis went on to say, “but the Lord is there, with hand outstretched to help you up and tell you: ‘Be on your way forward!’ – and this is the Christian life – going forward, towards the definitive encounter. Let not this journey of such intensity, in vigilant expectation of the Lord’s coming, take away the grace of memory, of looking back on everything the Lord has done for us, for the Church, in the history of salvation. Thus shall we understand why the Church does read this passage [the Genealogy of Jesus, Mt. 1:1-17] that may seem a bit boring – but here is the story of a God who chose to walk with his people and become himself, in the end, a man, like every one of us.”
(Vatican Radio) To mark Pope Francis' 80th birthday, Our Sunday Visitor's new Managing Editor, Don Clemmer, put together a podcast with recollections from people who have known the Holy Father since his days as a schoolteacher in his native Argentina. You can find Part 1 by clicking here
(Vatican Radio) To mark Pope Francis' 80th birthday, Our Sunday Visitor's new Managing Editor, Don Clemmer, put together a podcast with recollections from people who have known the Holy Father since his days as a schoolteacher in his native Argentina. You can find Part 1 by clicking here
(Vatican Radio) Here is the second installment of a 2-part collection of reminiscences and recollections produced by the Managing Editor of Our Sunday Visitor (and long-time friend of Vatican Radio), Don Clemmer, in honor of Pope Francis' 80th birthday. This second part brings together a series of reactions from people who knew the man, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, when they heard he had been elected 265th Successor to Peter. Click here to listen to Part 2
(Vatican Radio) Here is the second installment of a 2-part collection of reminiscences and recollections produced by the Managing Editor of Our Sunday Visitor (and long-time friend of Vatican Radio), Don Clemmer, in honor of Pope Francis' 80th birthday. This second part brings together a series of reactions from people who knew the man, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, when they heard he had been elected 265th Successor to Peter. Click here to listen to Part 2
