Catholic News 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- John Glenn, depicted in "Hidden Figures" as a space trailblazer who also gave critical support to pioneering black women at NASA who helped him orbit the earth, was fondly remembered by the cast at the movie's premiere....
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- If president-elect Donald Trump keeps his promise, surplus military grenade launchers, bayonets, tracked armored vehicles and high-powered firearms and ammunition will once again be available to state and local U.S. police departments....
ISTANBUL (AP) -- Turkey declared a national day of mourning and paid tribute to the dead Sunday after two bombings in Istanbul killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium. The carnage was claimed by a Turkey-based Kurdish militant group....
CHICAGO (AP) -- A blanket of snow will cover the Great Lakes and the Northeast ahead of an expected dip into Arctic-cold temperatures....
QAYARA AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition forces have killed or gravely wounded more than 2,000 Islamic State fighters in the battle for Mosul since October, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Islamic State militants re-occupied Palmyra on Sunday, taking the ancient central city from government troops in a major advance after a year of setbacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq, a Syrian government official and the group said....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump has lost no chance to bash or threaten individual companies that cross him....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called a recent CIA assessment of Russian hacking "ridiculous" and says he's not interested in getting daily intelligence briefings - an unprecedented public dismissal of the nation's massive and sophisticated intelligence apparatus....
(Vatican Radio) A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday killed 25 people and wounded another 49.The attack, during the celebration of Mass, in one of the deadliest carried out against the religious minority in recent memory.The bombing came two days after a bomb elsewhere in Cairo killed six policemen, an assault claimed by a group that authorities say is linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic militants in Egypt have targeted Christians in the past, including a New Year's Day bombing at a Church in the city of Alexandria in 2011 that killed at least 21 people.Authorities said an assailant lobbed a bomb into a chapel close to the outer wall of St Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian Church and home to the office of its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II, who is currently visiting Greece. Speaking after the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on Sunday morn...
(Vatican Radio) A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday killed 25 people and wounded another 49.
The attack, during the celebration of Mass, in one of the deadliest carried out against the religious minority in recent memory.
The bombing came two days after a bomb elsewhere in Cairo killed six policemen, an assault claimed by a group that authorities say is linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Islamic militants in Egypt have targeted Christians in the past, including a New Year's Day bombing at a Church in the city of Alexandria in 2011 that killed at least 21 people.
Authorities said an assailant lobbed a bomb into a chapel close to the outer wall of St Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian Church and home to the office of its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II, who is currently visiting Greece.
Speaking after the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on Sunday morning, Pope Francis expressed special closeness to "my dear brother Tawadros II" and he prayed for the victims of this and other terrorist attacks that have been perpetrated in the past 24 hours.
Please find below the statement by His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom:
11 December 2016
It is with great sadness that we receive the news today of at least 25 people brutally murdered by an explosion during regular Sunday worship at St Peter’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, adjacent to the Grand Cathedral of Saint Mark.
Our prayers are with those whose lives have been so senselessly ended, those who have been injured, and every family and community affected. We also pray for every Coptic parish and community across Egypt as they fill their churches this morning, as well as for the broader Egyptian society that fall victim to similar inhumane attacks.
Many within our Coptic community in Britain will have family and friends in Egypt, and we also pray for them at this time of uncertainty.
We share in this tragedy but are encouraged by the strength and resilience of our brethren in Egypt that we have grown accustomed to and learn from. We pray God’s peace and protection upon the Christians of Egypt, the broader Egyptian society, Christians around the world worshipping this morning and all faith communities that fall prey to similar attacks.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday invited the faithful to rejoice of a joy that is not ‘superficial’ or purely ‘emotional,’ of a joy that is not that of ‘worldliness’ or ‘consumerism’, but an authentic joy that touches us deeply as we await the coming of Jesus.The Pope’s catechesis on the third Sunday of Advent, which is also called ‘Gaudete Sunday,’ focused on the invitation of St. Paul to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.”Speaking to the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said the announcement of Salvation changes everything: “the desert blooms, consolation and joy pervade our hearts.”And quoting from the Gospel of Matthew: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them,” Francis said “th...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday invited the faithful to rejoice of a joy that is not ‘superficial’ or purely ‘emotional,’ of a joy that is not that of ‘worldliness’ or ‘consumerism’, but an authentic joy that touches us deeply as we await the coming of Jesus.
The Pope’s catechesis on the third Sunday of Advent, which is also called ‘Gaudete Sunday,’ focused on the invitation of St. Paul to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near.”
Speaking to the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, the Pope said the announcement of Salvation changes everything: “the desert blooms, consolation and joy pervade our hearts.”
And quoting from the Gospel of Matthew: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them,” Francis said “these are not words, but facts” and they demonstrate how salvation, brought by Jesus regenerates us.
So, he said, we are called to join in with this feeling of exultation permeating the liturgy for Gaudete Sunday, pointing out that as Christmas approaches its signs “are evident on our streets and in our homes.”
“These external signs” of Christmas, the Pope continued, “invite us to welcome the Lord who always comes and knocks on our door,” and also to recognize Jesus in the poor and needy we encounter.
Highlighting the fact that a Christian who is not joyful is lacking in something, Pope Francis said “today we are invited to rejoice in the imminent coming of our Redeemer; and we are called to share this joy with others, giving comfort and hope to the poor, the sick, the lonely and the unhappy.”
