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JERUSALEM (AP) -- A proposal to make mosques reduce the loudspeaker volume of their call to prayer has sparked an uproar among Israel's Muslims, underscoring their fraught relationship with the country's Jewish majority....
NIMRUD, Iraq (AP) -- Nearly a month into the fight to retake Mosul, government forces pushed Islamic State militants out of nearby Nimrud, home to some of Iraq's richest archaeological treasures. And when soldiers finally surveyed the extremists' destruction of the ancient sites, one said that those who carried it out "don't have a place in humanity."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress's routine of publicly shaming drug company executives over high prices works no better than a placebo: It may make some people feel better, but it doesn't treat the problem....
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Standing in democracy's birthplace, President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a parting plea to world leaders not to let the fear of globalization tugging at Europe and the U.S. pull them away from their core democratic values. He argued it wasn't too late for a course correction....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Asked on TV earlier this year whether a President Donald Trump would ever mix politics with business, his eldest son, Donald Jr., said there was no risk of that. The son, an executive in his father's company, insisted the two wouldn't discuss the business if Dad ever got to the White House....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received an unusual presentation at the end of his General Audience on Wednesday: A representation of Noah’s Ark made out of over 140 kilograms of chocolate.It is a gift of “La banda degli Orsi” [The Band of Bears], which is a charitable organization in Genoa that supports the city’s Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital. The organization has over 200 volunteers who visit patients and their families every day.The chocolate ark took three days to build, and contains over 50 edible animals made by pastry chefs and chocolatiers from all over Italy. Several extra animals were made, and have been sold by “La banda degli Orsi” to raise funds for the Genoa hospital.The Chocolate Ark was also to be used to support patients of a children’s hospital, but in a more direct way: At the end of the Audience, the Ark was donated as a special dessert for the young patients at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Pediatric ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received an unusual presentation at the end of his General Audience on Wednesday: A representation of Noah’s Ark made out of over 140 kilograms of chocolate.
It is a gift of “La banda degli Orsi” [The Band of Bears], which is a charitable organization in Genoa that supports the city’s Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital. The organization has over 200 volunteers who visit patients and their families every day.
The chocolate ark took three days to build, and contains over 50 edible animals made by pastry chefs and chocolatiers from all over Italy. Several extra animals were made, and have been sold by “La banda degli Orsi” to raise funds for the Genoa hospital.
The Chocolate Ark was also to be used to support patients of a children’s hospital, but in a more direct way: At the end of the Audience, the Ark was donated as a special dessert for the young patients at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, located in Rome.
(Vatican Radio) An international conference is set to take place in the Vatican for business leaders with the goal of promoting economic and social inclusion.The conference – hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Christian Union of Business Executives (UNIAPAC) – takes place 17-18 November and follows a 2014 conference attended by Pope Francis.Business executives from several multinational corporations and Church leaders will reflect on ways to “create a working environment based on the principles of the Christian social thought, including solidarity, subsidiarity and the pursuit of the Common Good”.Listen to Devin Watkins' report: Business executives and Church leaders are set to meet in the Vatican this week to work together for social inclusion and to put into practice the principles of Catholic social teaching.The international conference carries the title: ‘Business Leaders as Agents of Economic an...
(Vatican Radio) An international conference is set to take place in the Vatican for business leaders with the goal of promoting economic and social inclusion.
The conference – hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Christian Union of Business Executives (UNIAPAC) – takes place 17-18 November and follows a 2014 conference attended by Pope Francis.
Business executives from several multinational corporations and Church leaders will reflect on ways to “create a working environment based on the principles of the Christian social thought, including solidarity, subsidiarity and the pursuit of the Common Good”.
Listen to Devin Watkins' report:
Business executives and Church leaders are set to meet in the Vatican this week to work together for social inclusion and to put into practice the principles of Catholic social teaching.
The international conference carries the title: ‘Business Leaders as Agents of Economic and Social Inclusion’.
At a press conference ahead of the event, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the conference serves as a bridge between the needs of workers and those who direct the process of production.
“In order to achieve a better balance in society, we need to dialogue, to carry on a constant exchange of views in a cooperative context between production managers, production owners, and people employed in this context.”
One business leader participating in the event is Felix Pole, Chairman of the nickel mining conglomerate CMI.
Mr. Pole told me he is aware of the negative and positive impacts the mining industry can have on a society and hopes to learn more about how to promote social inclusion.
“Our concern is to demonstrate or to be a part of a dialogue which shows that mining can have such a big social impact both positive and negative, and often it is perceived for its negative rather than its positive [impacts]. We’re sending a message and to a certain extent we want to listen to see what other people’s views are of how they see social inclusion and the role of the business leader.”
One focus of the conference is Pope Francis’ own evaluation of business in Laudato Si’, in which he says: “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world”.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, ReutersBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Offering counsel and admonishing sinners are works ofmercy, but they are not a license to pretend to be better than others, PopeFrancis said.Tocounsel others is a chance to see how well you, too, measure up to essentialstandards, he said Nov. 16 to people gathered in St. Peter's Square.In his final general audience during the Year of Mercy, which was to close Nov.20, Pope Francis reflected on two verses in the Gospel of St. Luke (6:41-42) inwhich Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of noticing "the splinter in yourbrother's eye," but not perceiving "the wooden beam in your own.""Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; thenyou will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye," Jesussays.Those verses and Jesus' vision of leadership as service, thepope said, help guide Christians in how to carry out the works of mercytraditionally described as instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtfu...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Offering counsel and admonishing sinners are works of mercy, but they are not a license to pretend to be better than others, Pope Francis said.
To counsel others is a chance to see how well you, too, measure up to essential standards, he said Nov. 16 to people gathered in St. Peter's Square.
In his final general audience during the Year of Mercy, which was to close Nov. 20, Pope Francis reflected on two verses in the Gospel of St. Luke (6:41-42) in which Jesus warns against the hypocrisy of noticing "the splinter in your brother's eye," but not perceiving "the wooden beam in your own."
"Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother's eye," Jesus says.
Those verses and Jesus' vision of leadership as service, the pope said, help guide Christians in how to carry out the works of mercy traditionally described as instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing sinners and bearing wrongs patiently.
"We are all very good at recognizing something that may be an annoyance" and thinking, "How much longer must I listen to this person's complaints, gossip, requests or bragging," he said.
Patiently putting up with people is an essential part of the faith, he said, because God showed so much mercy and patience with his people.
The best example, the pope said, is seen in the Book of Exodus when the people became "truly unbearable," always finding something new to complain about every time God brought relief to each preceding grievance.
"What must we do with bothersome people?" the pope asked. First, look in the mirror and see "if we, too, may sometimes prove to be bothersome to others."
"It's easy to point a finger at other people's faults and shortcomings, but we must learn to put ourselves in the other person's shoes," he said.
Like his father, Jesus showed a lot of patience, too, the pope said. For example, when James' and John's mother begged Jesus to grant her sons positions of power in his future kingdom, Jesus used the opportunity to offer instruction on the true purpose of his coming -- to sacrifice himself for and care for others, not wield power over them.
The spiritual works of instructing the ignorant and admonishing sinners, he said, are all about helping people grow in the faith and discover the path to true joy.
Think, for example, how hard it is for catechists, "especially when kids would rather be playing than listening to the catechism," he said. Instead, these women and men patiently dedicate their time to teaching young people about the faith.
It is wonderful and important to help people seek what's truly essential so that they, too, can share in the joy of "savoring the meaning of life."
So often people just dwell on things that are "superficial, ephemeral and banal," sometimes because they've never run into anyone who encourages them to look deeper, seek something better and appreciate what really matters, he said.
Teaching people to see what is essential is especially critical today when it seems so many "have lost (their) bearings and chase after short-term pleasures."
Jesus shows how to avoid "envy, ambition and adulation -- temptations that are always lurking even among us Christians. The need to counsel, admonish and instruct must not make us feel superior to others, but, above all, requires us to go back into ourselves to make sure we are consistent with what we are asking of others."
At the end of the audience, in anticipation of the Nov. 20 celebration of Universal Children's Day, the pope launched an appeal for protecting children and their right to an education.
Pope Francis said he was appealing "to the conscience of everyone -- institutions and families -- so that children may always be protected and their well-being safeguarded, so that they never end up in some form of slavery, conscripted into armed groups or mistreated."
He asked the international community to "keep watch" and help guarantee "the right to schooling and education for every boy and girl so that they grow with serenity and look to the future with confidence."
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A man who gunned down a Southwest Airlines employee outside of Oklahoma City's airport likely killed the victim in retaliation for circumstances that led to the attacker leaving his job with the airline last year, police said Wednesday....
