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CLEVELAND (AP) -- The last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series, Dewey led Truman in the polls. The Chicago Cubs' last title was 13 days after the first Ford Model T car was completed....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In one of the most dramatic personal transformations in American political history, Tom Hayden went from being a famed 1960s and 1970s student radical to a mainstream elected official and elder statesman of the country's left. He died Sunday at age 76 following a lengthy illness....
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Members of Congress from both parties and national veterans leaders on Monday called for federal action to absolve the debts of nearly 10,000 soldiers who have been ordered by the Pentagon to repay in enlistment bonuses a decade after they signed up to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan....
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Ana Car didn't remember the sudden impact, only that she woke up among dead and injured passengers in a dark bus filled with screams of terror and agony....
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Joining forces in the presidential campaign's final stretch, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren pounded Donald Trump on Monday for disrespecting women and denigrating U.S. troops assisting Iraqis in their push to retake the city of Mosul....
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) -- A defiant Donald Trump blamed his campaign struggles on "phony polls" from the "disgusting" media on Monday, fighting to energize his most loyal supporters as his path to the presidency shrinks....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Barack Obama's health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That's sure to stoke another "Obamacare" controversy days before a presidential election....
Rome, Italy, Oct 24, 2016 / 10:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bringing all people the lasting joy of the Church should be the focus of their service, Pope Francis told representatives of the Jesuits on Monday, as he urged them to shun pursuit of worldly leadership and position.“The service of good courage and discernment makes us men of the Church – not clerical men, but churchmen, men ‘for others,’ without our own thing that isolates but placing everything we have in communion and service,” he said Oct. 24 to the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus at the order's general curia in Rome.“We walk neither alone nor comfortably; we walk with ‘a heart that does not rest, which does not close in on itself, but which beats to the rhythm of a journey that takes place along with all the faithful people of God,’” he said, quoting a homily he gave in January 2014.“Let us walk, making ourselves all for all.”After prayi...
Rome, Italy, Oct 24, 2016 / 10:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bringing all people the lasting joy of the Church should be the focus of their service, Pope Francis told representatives of the Jesuits on Monday, as he urged them to shun pursuit of worldly leadership and position.
“The service of good courage and discernment makes us men of the Church – not clerical men, but churchmen, men ‘for others,’ without our own thing that isolates but placing everything we have in communion and service,” he said Oct. 24 to the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus at the order's general curia in Rome.
“We walk neither alone nor comfortably; we walk with ‘a heart that does not rest, which does not close in on itself, but which beats to the rhythm of a journey that takes place along with all the faithful people of God,’” he said, quoting a homily he gave in January 2014.
“Let us walk, making ourselves all for all.”
After praying Morning Prayer together, the Pope – who himself joined the Jesuits in 1960 – spoke to the delegates at the general congregation about the future of the order.
Reflecting on the existence of obstacles to “fervor in the mission” by the “enemy of human nature”, Francis offered three points for combatting this, having to do “with joy, with the Cross and with the Church, our Mother.”
Afterwards, Pope Francis met privately with the new Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr. Arturo Sosa.
Fr. Sosa, 67, was elected Oct. 14, marking the first time a Latin American has led the Society; moreover, he takes the helm under the Church’s first Jesuit and Latin American Pope.
“When, in the service of God, we go climbing better and better,” the Pope told the Jesuits, they must “ask insistently for consolation” in order to bring consolation to others, because the Gospel cannot be proclaimed in sadness.
“This ‘service of joy and spiritual consolation’ is rooted in prayer,” he said. It consists in encouraging everyone to “seek earnestly the consolation of God.”
“Practice and teach this prayer, for to ask and beg for consolation is the main service of joy,” Francis noted. “Joy is constitutive of the gospel message … good news cannot be given with a sad face.”
Secondly, he said they need to allow themselves to be “moved by the Lord on the cross.”
“The Jubilee of Mercy is a propitious time to reflect on the mercy of the services,” he said. “I say this in the plural because mercy is not an abstract word, but a way of life, which puts the word in concrete gestures which touch the flesh of others and are institutionalized in works of mercy.”
“The Lord, who looks at us with mercy and chooses us, sends us” to bring the same mercy “to the poor, the sinners, the rejected and the crucified of the world today who suffer injustice and violence.”
“Only if we experience this healing power to the heart of our own wounds, as individuals and as a community, will we lose the fear to leave.” Then we will be able to “walk patiently with our people,” he said, “learning from them the best way to help and serve.”
The Pope also emphasized the rule of “thinking with the Curch”, which he said is the grace to discern, not just to think “or arrange for the good.”
“You have to perform it with the good Spirit,” he said. “This is what roots us in the Church, in which the Spirit acts and distributes the diversity of its charisms for the common good.”
Focusing on being “ecclesial” rather than “clerical,” means that the Society “has and will always have the face, the accent, and the way of being of all peoples, of every culture, fitting in all, specifically the heart of every people, to make the Church there with every one of them, inculturating the Gospel and evangelizing every culture.”
Francis encouraged the members in their work, reminding them that the works of mercy were the “daily bread” of St. Ignatius and his first companions.
“The Jesuit priest is a servant of the joy of the Gospel,” he said, “both when he works ‘by hand’ in conversation and giving retreats to one person,” and when working “in a structured way by organizing works of training, of mercy, of reflection.”
IMAGE: CNS/Nancy WiechecBy Nancy WiechecNOGALES,Ariz. (CNS) -- The apostolic nuncio to the United States celebrated Mass at theU.S.-Mexico border Oct. 23 offering prayers to break down the barriers thatseparate people.ArchbishopChristophe Pierre faced the immense steel border fence in Nogales as he and thebishop of Tucson and the bishop of Mexico's Diocese of Nogales, Sonora,concelebrated the liturgy with people gathered on both sides of the border.Thenuncio began the prayer of the faithful with a plea for unity. "Jesus,we come before you today as your disciples, sometimes filled with fear anddoubt, even suspicion," he said. "We pray to dismantle the barriers within ourhearts and minds that separate us, who are all members of your body."Followinghis words, young people led the congregation in prayers for "needed immigrationreform," for humane treatment of migrants who don't have documents, and for "securityand justice for all." They prayed especially for migrant children, "who arevu...
IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec
By Nancy Wiechec
NOGALES, Ariz. (CNS) -- The apostolic nuncio to the United States celebrated Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border Oct. 23 offering prayers to break down the barriers that separate people.
Archbishop Christophe Pierre faced the immense steel border fence in Nogales as he and the bishop of Tucson and the bishop of Mexico's Diocese of Nogales, Sonora, concelebrated the liturgy with people gathered on both sides of the border.
The nuncio began the prayer of the faithful with a plea for unity.
"Jesus, we come before you today as your disciples, sometimes filled with fear and doubt, even suspicion," he said. "We pray to dismantle the barriers within our hearts and minds that separate us, who are all members of your body."
Following his words, young people led the congregation in prayers for "needed immigration reform," for humane treatment of migrants who don't have documents, and for "security and justice for all." They prayed especially for migrant children, "who are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse," and for all who have died in border violence, including border patrol agents, immigrants and innocent victims.
The Mass was the third such one this year along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The liturgies were organized by Dioceses Without Borders, an effort of the dioceses of Nogales, Tucson and Phoenix to work collaboratively on issues that affect the church and people in the border region.
During his homily and afterward in an interview with Catholic News Service, Archbishop Pierre echoed the sentiments of Pope Francis in regard to borders and the care of migrants and refugees, who the archbishop said all too often are looked upon as unwanted and as criminals.
"Borders exist all over the world, and borders are not bad, but borders should not be just a barrier -- should not be a wall -- but should be a bridge between people," the nuncio said.
"Anything that goes in the direction of understanding, helping each other, discovering the beauty of the other is what is necessary to covert hearts and transform the world," he said. "It's time to break the obstacles that exist between people."
To cheers from both sides of the border, Archbishop Pierre ended his homily with, "Viva Cristo Rey! Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe! Viva la iglesia santa!" ("Long live Christ the King! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe! Long live the holy church!")
Archbishop Pierre is no stranger to the people of Mexico. He served as nuncio in Mexico for nine years before being appointed as the pope's representative in the U.S. But he said this Mass was his first visit to Nogales, Ariz.
In what seemed to be a spontaneous moment during the service, five young people ducked under a barrier near the border fence to hold hands and pray the Our Father with those on the other side in Mexico.
They stayed at the border fence until the sign of peace, offering their hands to those on the other side.
Carlos Zapien, music director for the Diocese of Tucson, said the special Mass was a statement that "faith can unite people."
Zapien's original score "Misa de la Misericordia" ("Mass of Mercy") was used in the cross-border liturgy with choirs on both sides participating.
"Faith and music have no borders," he said.
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson said he was grateful for to Archbishop Pierre's participation in the service.
"He represents Pope Francis, whose heart is along the borders of our world, caring for immigrants and refugees," he told CNS.
"The nuncio's presence is a reminder of our Holy Father's great love for those who are suffering, for those who are in need. So this was a very special celebration here in 'ambos Nogales' ('both Nogaleses') as we pray together across walls united in our prayer for one another."
Among the hundreds of people that gathered for the border Mass were those that serve the Kino Border Initiative, a bi-national migrant advocacy and service organization.
Bishop Kicanas expressed his pride in the group and in a group of young people, the Kino Teens, who work with the border initiative.
"Their enthusiasm, their spirit is a true blessing," he said. "They believe in the Lord. They believe in the church, and to have these young people participating in our Mass here in 'ambos Nogales' was a true blessing."
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Follow Wiechec on Twitter: @nancywiechec.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senior staff members on Hillary Clinton's nascent campaign were conscious about diversity in the top ranks two months before the Democratic presidential candidate formally announced her bid, according to hacked emails from the personal account of a top campaign official....
