Catholic News 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- His candidacy spiraling out of control, Donald Trump faced Hillary Clinton on the debate stage Sunday night in the most critical moment of his political career....
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- In a bitter debate filled with fire and insult, Hillary Clinton declared that Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women reveal "exactly who he is" and prove his unsuitability to be president. Firing back, he accused her of attacking women involved in Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs and promised she would "be in jail" if he were president....
Nashville, Tenn., Oct 9, 2016 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Five decades into their establishment as a college, Aquinas College in Nashville is breaking ground on campus for the first time in over forty years, making a landmark addition to their school: a new residence hall.“We are now able to house all full time students on campus, which allows us to draw from outside the Nashville metropolitan area,” the school’s president, Sister Mary Sarah, told CNA in an email interview.“At present we are drawing from 28 states in the US and hope to increase that number in the coming years,” she continued.Aquinas College was established in 1961 as a two-year Catholic, liberal arts college, later changing to a four-year college in 1994. Rooted in the Dominican discipline, Aquinas College has been owned and administered by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation since its beginning. Their mission is “to serve the Church by transforming lives for the Go...
Nashville, Tenn., Oct 9, 2016 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Five decades into their establishment as a college, Aquinas College in Nashville is breaking ground on campus for the first time in over forty years, making a landmark addition to their school: a new residence hall.
“We are now able to house all full time students on campus, which allows us to draw from outside the Nashville metropolitan area,” the school’s president, Sister Mary Sarah, told CNA in an email interview.
“At present we are drawing from 28 states in the US and hope to increase that number in the coming years,” she continued.
Aquinas College was established in 1961 as a two-year Catholic, liberal arts college, later changing to a four-year college in 1994. Rooted in the Dominican discipline, Aquinas College has been owned and administered by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation since its beginning. Their mission is “to serve the Church by transforming lives for the Gospel of Christ,” according to their website.
Although dorms are a staple for many colleges, Aquinas College’s residential life was non-existent before 2012, and it was essentially known as a commuter college. The Aquinas students usually rented nearby apartments, or lived at home if they were from the area.
In 2012, the adjacent St. Thomas West Hospital offered Aquinas College a building called Seton Lodge and the school began to use the lodge to house men on one floor, and women on another floor. However, as the school continued to grow, so did its need for additional student housing.
“Aquinas has been planning to build residence halls on campus for many years,” Sister Sarah noted, pointing to the construction of a brand new women’s dormitory called Siena Hall.
Just in time for the 2016-2017 academic year, Siena Hall was completed, and is set to be dedicated Nov. 7, the Feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers. The women have moved into the 93-bed residence, while the men are continuing to use Seton Lodge for their housing.
Siena Hall marks the first new construction on Aquinas campus in over forty years, and is the only dorm located on Aquinas property. The namesake of the building, St. Catherine of Siena, has a particular significance to the Dominican community, as St. Catherine herself was of the Dominican order.
Before 2012, Aquinas College had been successful without any on-campus dorms, but they are now able to cater to a wider audience, currently drawing students from 28 different states and abroad. The average student who attends Aquinas has traveled an average of over 500 miles.
“We currently enroll 344 students with plans to expand to a population of approximately 1,000 students,” Sister Sarah noted.
In addition to the new dorm, Aquinas College is marking their year with a number of other firsts. They have added their first dining hall, which offers catered lunches and dinners, and hired five additional faculty members and three new majors: mathematics, marketing, and psychology.
Although the college has an intimate feel, with the average class size of about 11 students, Aquinas also has plans to further expand in the future, outlined in their Vision 2020: Truth and Charity strategic plan. This project is grounded in the Four Pillars of Dominican Education: prayer, study, community, and service, “which serves as the roadmap for Aquinas’ future,” Sister Sarah stated.
“Since releasing the plan in 2014, many of the strategic goals have been implemented, including a study abroad program in Bracciano, Italy, five new majors, international mission trips, more vibrant student life, a House system, perpetual adoration chapel, expanded chapel space to accommodate the increased attendance at daily Mass and Siena Hall, a women’s residence hall.”
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):...
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- In a stunningly brazen move, Donald Trump met Sunday night with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances, just over an hour before the Republican presidential nominee was stepping on the debate stage with the former president's wife, Hillary Clinton....
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) -- An agrarian party won the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election Sunday, setting the stage for a possible change of government in the Baltic country....
(Vatican Radio) The destructive catastrophie which Hurricane Matthew has wrought has killed hundreds and the damage it`s left will take years to clear up.Listen to James Blears report Haiti, so grievously levelled by a 2010 earthquake, has been worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, which engulfed its Southern coastline in a deadly bear hug, sweeping away flimsy, makeshift homes and indeed more sturdy housing. The death toll estimate, so far is more than 900. Cholera is feared, as sewer pipes have been fractured in many areas and floodwater and freshwater are mingling. Previous outbreaks, prior to this disaster have killed more than 10,000 Haitiains.Moving on and fanning out, Hurricane Matthew has buffeted and swiped Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia. Torrential rain is causing severe flooding. North Carolina is bracing itself for up to a meter of sustained rainfall. Hurricane Matthew`s winds are decreasing, it`s diminished from ...
(Vatican Radio) The destructive catastrophie which Hurricane Matthew has wrought has killed hundreds and the damage it`s left will take years to clear up.
Listen to James Blears report
Haiti, so grievously levelled by a 2010 earthquake, has been worst affected by Hurricane Matthew, which engulfed its Southern coastline in a deadly bear hug, sweeping away flimsy, makeshift homes and indeed more sturdy housing. The death toll estimate, so far is more than 900. Cholera is feared, as sewer pipes have been fractured in many areas and floodwater and freshwater are mingling. Previous outbreaks, prior to this disaster have killed more than 10,000 Haitiains.
Moving on and fanning out, Hurricane Matthew has buffeted and swiped Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia. Torrential rain is causing severe flooding. North Carolina is bracing itself for up to a meter of sustained rainfall. Hurricane Matthew`s winds are decreasing, it`s diminished from a category 4 to a category 1 hurricane. But it`s caused death and widespread destruction in Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and now the United States.
Rome, Italy, Oct 9, 2016 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Albanian priest whose testimony moved Pope Francis to tears in 2014 is one of the 17 international bishops and priests the Pope will elevate to the College of Cardinals Nov. 19.Father Ernest Troshani Simoni, 86, is one of the last survivors of the terrible Communist persecution in Albania. He shared his testimony with Pope Francis in 2014 during the Pope’s daytrip to Tirana, Albania. Pope Francis was visibly moved by the testimony and gave Fr. Simoni a warm embrace.Fr. Simoni was a seminarian in December 1944, when an atheistic Communist regime came to power in Albania. The regime sought to eliminate the faith and clergy with “arrests, torture and killings of priests and lay people for seven straight years, shedding the blood of the faithful, some of who shouted, 'Long live Christ the King,' as they were shot.”In 1948, Communists shot and killed Fr. Simoni’s Franciscan superiors. He continued h...
Rome, Italy, Oct 9, 2016 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Albanian priest whose testimony moved Pope Francis to tears in 2014 is one of the 17 international bishops and priests the Pope will elevate to the College of Cardinals Nov. 19.
Father Ernest Troshani Simoni, 86, is one of the last survivors of the terrible Communist persecution in Albania. He shared his testimony with Pope Francis in 2014 during the Pope’s daytrip to Tirana, Albania. Pope Francis was visibly moved by the testimony and gave Fr. Simoni a warm embrace.
Fr. Simoni was a seminarian in December 1944, when an atheistic Communist regime came to power in Albania. The regime sought to eliminate the faith and clergy with “arrests, torture and killings of priests and lay people for seven straight years, shedding the blood of the faithful, some of who shouted, 'Long live Christ the King,' as they were shot.”
In 1948, Communists shot and killed Fr. Simoni’s Franciscan superiors. He continued his studies in secret and was later ordained a priest.
Four years later, Communist leaders gathered together priests who had survived and offered them freedom if they distanced themselves from the Pope and the Vatican. Fr. Simoni and his brother priests refused.
On Dec. 14, 1963, as he was concluding Christmas Eve Mass, four officials served him an arrest warrant and decree of execution. He was handcuffed and detained. During interrogation, they told him he would hanged as an enemy because he told the people, “We will all die for Christ if necessary.”
He suffered immense torturing, but said “the Lord wanted me to keep living.”
“Divine Providence willed that my death sentence not be carried out right away. They brought another prisoner into the room, a dear friend of mine, in order to spy on me. He began to speak out against the party,” Fr. Simoni recalled.
“I responded anyway that Christ had taught us to love our enemies and to forgive them and that we should strive to seek the good of the people. Those words reached the ears of the dictator who, a few days later, freed me from my death sentence,” he explained.
The priest was given 28 years of forced labor instead, during which time he celebrated Mass, heard confessions and distributed Communion in secret.
Fr. Simoni was released only when the Communist regime fell and freedom of religion was recognized.
“The Lord has helped me to serve so many peoples and to reconcile many, driving out hatred and the devil from the hearts of men,” he said.
“Your Holiness, with the certainty that I am expressing the intentions of those present, I pray through the intercession of the most holy Mother of Christ, that the Lord grant you life, health and strength in guiding the great flock that is the Church of Christ, Amen.”
After concluding his remarks, a visibly moved Pope Francis dried the tears in his own eyes and embraced the Albanian priest.
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- At first, the drone took some explaining. Anxious villagers buzzed with rumors of a new blood-sucking thing that would fly above their homes. Witchcraft, some said....
SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Thousands of Yemenis marched in the capital Sanaa on Sunday to protest a Saudi-led coalition airstrike a day earlier that hit a funeral hall packed with hundreds of mourners, killing over 140 people....
