Catholic News 2
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says Islamic State fighters lack the courage to put up long-term resistance in Mosul, despite unleashing hundreds of car bombs that have killed and maimed Iraqi soldiers and civilians as the fight for Iraq's second-largest city appears set to extend well into next year....
Edinburgh, Scotland, Nov 28, 2016 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Need to find confession nearby at the drop of a dime? There’s an app for that.The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh announced last Tuesday at St. Peter's Square the first ever GPS-powered confession finder that uses technology to connect individuals with the closest confession and Mass times.“This is a little bit of smart technology that could make a big impact on how the Catholic Church brings the mercy of God and the joy of the Gospel to our contemporary world,” Archbishop Leo Cushley of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh stated, according to the Telegraph.“The idea was really inspired by the Holy Father himself. He said to be imaginative about what to do for the Holy Year of Mercy,” Archbishop Cushley told Vatican Radio. The archdiocese hopes the app will increase Mass attendance and help Catholics aged 18-55 to become more fully engaged within the local Church. Ultimately, th...
Edinburgh, Scotland, Nov 28, 2016 / 03:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Need to find confession nearby at the drop of a dime? There’s an app for that.
The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh announced last Tuesday at St. Peter's Square the first ever GPS-powered confession finder that uses technology to connect individuals with the closest confession and Mass times.
“This is a little bit of smart technology that could make a big impact on how the Catholic Church brings the mercy of God and the joy of the Gospel to our contemporary world,” Archbishop Leo Cushley of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh stated, according to the Telegraph.
“The idea was really inspired by the Holy Father himself. He said to be imaginative about what to do for the Holy Year of Mercy,” Archbishop Cushley told Vatican Radio.
The archdiocese hopes the app will increase Mass attendance and help Catholics aged 18-55 to become more fully engaged within the local Church. Ultimately, the app will also save on bulletin printing costs.
The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh contains more than 110 parishes spread over more than 2,000 square miles in Scotland. Although this archdiocese is the first to launch the app, The Guardian reported that five other dioceses in the country will likely incorporate the app in the near future.
Although some websites have minted similar concepts, such as MassTimes.org, “The Catholic App” is the first mobile-friendly service to offer sacrament-finding services to individuals on their phones. The app also offers a planning service to schedule confession in the future, incorporates local diocesan news, and delivers weekly spiritual inspirations.
“The Catholic App” was developed by tech company Musemantik.
Dr. Maciej Zurawski, founder of Musemantik, believes apps are the only way to keep in touch with the mobile generation.
“Websites are losing popularity – what is needed to engage with the mobile generation is an app that is smart and personal, an app that is like a companion, a friend that takes the initiative to inspire you – that’s the vision behind the Catholic App,” he sated.
The app, scheduled to go live in 2017, can be found on iPhones and other tablet devices. Other dioceses interested in The Catholic App can sign up on the app’s website.
Guadalajara, Mexico, Nov 28, 2016 / 05:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archbishop of Guadalajara has announced that his diocese is calling off its distribution of a list of missing persons, because of fears of retaliation against family and friends of those who have gone missing in the Mexican state of Jalisco.“The people, because of fear, do not want their names to appear,” Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega explained in a statement on the archdiocese’s decision.Within the past four years, drug cartels and organized crime have led to a massive uptick in violence and kidnappings across Mexico. Catholic priests and laypersons who have spoken out against the cartels’ crimes and activities have faced especially sharp persecution for their opposition to the violence.In the past three months, the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, has been asking for names of persons who have disappeared within the region. Originally, these names would be co...
Guadalajara, Mexico, Nov 28, 2016 / 05:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archbishop of Guadalajara has announced that his diocese is calling off its distribution of a list of missing persons, because of fears of retaliation against family and friends of those who have gone missing in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
“The people, because of fear, do not want their names to appear,” Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega explained in a statement on the archdiocese’s decision.
Within the past four years, drug cartels and organized crime have led to a massive uptick in violence and kidnappings across Mexico. Catholic priests and laypersons who have spoken out against the cartels’ crimes and activities have faced especially sharp persecution for their opposition to the violence.
In the past three months, the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, has been asking for names of persons who have disappeared within the region. Originally, these names would be compiled as a list to distribute within the archdiocese, to help find the missing persons and to give to the proper authorities.
However, Cardinal Robles stated that the plan could not be “carried out in its entirety because people are afraid to contribute data,” citing citizen’s distrust of local authorities and the pervasiveness of organized crime.
He added, though, that in some areas, such as in the city of Tala, Church authorities have received over 40 names of missing persons, which have been read at Masses in Jalisco. The cardinal further elaborated that some parishes in the archdiocese have also been continuing the search for missing persons as a pastoral initiative.
The Mexican non-profit “For Love to All,” which advocates for missing persons in Mexico, has stated that more than 3,000 persons have gone missing in the state of Jalisco in 2016 alone.
Roberto López Lara, Secretary General of Jalisco, has said that while he respects the cardinal’s decision, he disagrees with it. He noted that the state is the only one in the country with the inter-departmental resources to supervise investigations of disappeared persons, and stressed that the issue was a priority for the government.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Government orders for protesters of the Dakota Access pipeline to leave federal land could have little immediate effect on the encampment where scores of people have been gathered for months to oppose the $3.8 billion project....
HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro changed the flavor of the milk Cuban children drink at breakfast....
DETROIT (AP) -- The Fidel Castro that Sam Riddle and many other African-Americans admired was not the brutal revolutionary dictator who plunged Cuba into economic ruin and held the island nation in an iron grip....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly three weeks after Election Day, Michigan officials certified Monday that Donald Trump won the state by 10,704 votes out of nearly 4.8 million to claim all of its 16 electoral votes. There's more wrangling to come, though, on the final vote count for this oh-so-contentious campaign....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump's tweets can't erase the reality that he lost the popular vote in this month's election, according to The Associated Press' vote-counting operation....
NEW YORK (AP) -- The drama, disputes and falsehoods that permeated Donald Trump's presidential campaign are now roiling his transition to the White House, forcing aides to defend his baseless assertions of illegal voting and sending internal fights spilling into public....
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) -- Residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul fought each other around trucks delivering humanitarian aid as they jostled for scant supplies on Monday, while government troops fighting to retake the city from Islamic State militants inched closer toward the city center....
