Catholic News 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- There's a frog in a lot of throats across the country as news has circulated that Kermit the Frog is getting a new voice....
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- There's an upswing in monkey business in and around a state park in Florida, where bands of non-native rhesus macaques live along a river that's popular with kayakers and tourists....
DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sealed a deal Tuesday to intensify Qatar's counterterrorism efforts, tackling a central issue in the spat pitting the besieged Gulf nation against four other American allies lined up against it....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans find themselves in a no-win situation as they struggle to pass health care legislation in the Senate: Success could alienate a majority of the population, but failure could anger the crucial group of GOP base voters the party relies on to build election victories....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on the ongoing investigations into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russia (all times local):...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump Jr. eagerly accepted help from what was described to him as a Russian government effort to aid his father's campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton, according to emails he released publicly on Tuesday....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, as his Special Envoy for the bicentennial celebrations of the founding of the Diocese of Cuneo in Italy.Celebrations will be held on 16 July in the Cathedral, St. Mary of the Woods.Cardinal Bertello is to be accompanied by Msgr. Giovanni Battista Riberi, Vicar General of the diocese, and Msgr. Don Roberto Mondino, Secretary of the Presbiteral Council.Pope Francis sent the following letter to Cardinal Bertello for the occasion.Venerabili Fratri NostroIOSEPHO S.R.E. Cardinali BERTELLOPraesidi Praefecturae Civitatis VaticanaeCuneensis dioecesis, quam Decessor Noster Pius VII rec. mem., pastorales necessitates attente considerans, die XVII mensis Iulii anno MDCCCXVII bulla "Beati Petri Apostolorum Principis" condidit, laetanter ducentesimam celebrat anniversariam suae fundationis memoriam. Dilecti quidem fideles Cuneenses, actuoso Pa...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, as his Special Envoy for the bicentennial celebrations of the founding of the Diocese of Cuneo in Italy.
Celebrations will be held on 16 July in the Cathedral, St. Mary of the Woods.
Cardinal Bertello is to be accompanied by Msgr. Giovanni Battista Riberi, Vicar General of the diocese, and Msgr. Don Roberto Mondino, Secretary of the Presbiteral Council.
Pope Francis sent the following letter to Cardinal Bertello for the occasion.
Venerabili Fratri Nostro
IOSEPHO S.R.E. Cardinali BERTELLO
Praesidi Praefecturae Civitatis Vaticanae
Cuneensis dioecesis, quam Decessor Noster Pius VII rec. mem., pastorales necessitates attente considerans, die XVII mensis Iulii anno MDCCCXVII bulla "Beati Petri Apostolorum Principis" condidit, laetanter ducentesimam celebrat anniversariam suae fundationis memoriam. Dilecti quidem fideles Cuneenses, actuoso Pastore et sacerdotibus moderantibus, hunc eventum recolentes, Domini vocem diligenter exaudire cupiunt atque spiritale iter studiose sequi. Quaedam etenim adimplentur pastoralia incepta, quae Venerabilis Frater Petrus Delbosco, Episcopus Cuneensis et Fossanensis, suis proposuit fidelibus, ut in huius gregis historia Domini misericordiam et largitatem clare admirari possent atque incitamentum experiri ad renovatam vitam sub Christi lumine assidue sequendam.
Novimus insuper die XVI proximi mensis Iulii, in memoria videlicet Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo, sollemnem Eucharistiam celebratum iri, veluti anniversariae memoriae praecipuum eventum. Hanc ob rem memoratus sacer Praesul humanissime Nos rogavit ut aliquem eminentem Virum mitteremus, qui Nostras vices Cunei gereret Nostramque erga istum gregem dilpctionem manifestaret. Ad Te autem, Venerabilis Frater Noster, qui, Italiae insignis Filius, pergrave munus exerces Praesidis Praefecturae Civitatis Vaticanae, mentem Nostrarn vertimus Teque hisce Litteris MISSUM EXTRAORDINARIUM NOSTRUM nominamus ad dictam celebrationem, quae memorato die XVI proximi mensis Iulii prope cathedrale templum Cuneense, Sanctae Mariae a Silva dicatum, perficietur.
Sollemni ergo praesidebis Eucharistiae atque Episcopum Cuneensem et Fossanensem aliosque sacros Praesules, sacerdotes, religiosos viros mulieresque, publicas auctoritates atque universos christifideles Nostro salutabis nomine. Omnes adstantes sermone tuo ad diligentiorem usque Christi vitae imitationem hortaberis. Optamus denique ut cuncti, venustam historiam dioecesis Cuneensis recolentes, novis viribus novaque caritatis diligentia peculiarem dilectionem erga Christi Ecclesiam et Evangelium demonstrent atque spirituali assiduitate in cotidiana vita emineant.
Nos autem Te, Venerabilis Frater Noster, in tua missione implenda precibus comitabimur. Denique Benedictionem Nostram Apostolicam libentes Tibi impertimur, signum Nostrae erga Te benevolentiae et caelestium donorum pignus, quam omnibus celebrationis participibus rite transmittes.
Ex Aedibus Vaticanis, die XVI mensis lunii, anno MMXVII, Pontificatus Nostri quinto.
The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have called for "intra-faith dialogue" to fight "violent extremism" as government forces continue to battle Islamist terrorists in the southern city of Marawi. In a statement at the end of their plenary assembly in Manila, July 8-10, members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement appealing for a "return to normalcy and peace ... as soon as possible." They appealed for dialogue with Muslims so that the various faiths in the country “may not be exploited and abused for the sake of terrorism or violent extremism." The church leaders urged parents, schools, churches, and mosques to "ensure that none may be lured by the recruitment efforts of terrorists."Terrorists belonging to the Maute group that alleges links to the so-called Islamic State (IS) attacked Marawi on May 23, burned the Catholic cathedral and a Protes...
The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have called for "intra-faith dialogue" to fight "violent extremism" as government forces continue to battle Islamist terrorists in the southern city of Marawi. In a statement at the end of their plenary assembly in Manila, July 8-10, members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement appealing for a "return to normalcy and peace ... as soon as possible." They appealed for dialogue with Muslims so that the various faiths in the country “may not be exploited and abused for the sake of terrorism or violent extremism." The church leaders urged parents, schools, churches, and mosques to "ensure that none may be lured by the recruitment efforts of terrorists."
Terrorists belonging to the Maute group that alleges links to the so-called Islamic State (IS) attacked Marawi on May 23, burned the Catholic cathedral and a Protestant school, and took Bishop Dela Pena’s vicar, Fr. Teresito Suganob and several church workers as hostages. Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte went on the offensive against the terrorists declaring martial law in the southern third of the Philippines in order to wrest back Marawi. The conflict has dragged on for 7 weeks as terrorist gunmen continue to occupy parts of the city.
Government sources say more than 400 people have been killed in the Marawi conflict, including 351 militants, 85 members of the security forces, and 39 civilians. About 260,000 residents have been displaced.
"Let us teach the young and the old that our faiths are meant for peace. No religion teaches the killing of innocent people, simply because they belong to another religion," the Philippine bishops said in the July 10 statement.
The bishops also pondered whether the continued state of martial law will ensure the return of peace."
"We believe that the war in Marawi is not religious," said the Catholic bishops, adding that they have heard of "truly stunning stories of how Muslims have protected and helped Christians."
The CBCP statement was signed by current CBCP president, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan who is stepping down in December at the end of 2 terms. The CBCP plenary assembly elected Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao as the new CBCP president.
Please find below the full text of the CBCP statement at the end of the plenary assembly:
“Turn from Evil and Do Good,
Seek Peace and Pursue It” (Ps. 34:14)
TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL:
Greetings of peace in the Almighty and Most Merciful God.
We, the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, wish to enjoin your assistance and collaboration. We all cry from our hearts: War in Marawi, never again! War in Marawi, no more! We therefore call for the return to normalcy and peace in Marawi and its environs as soon as possible. We wonder whether the continued state of Martial Law, much more its extension, will bring this about.
We believe that the war in Marawi is not religious. We have heard and read truly stunning stories of how Muslims have protected and helped Christians to escape from almost certain death. Even now Christians are assisting thousands of Muslims who have fled from Marawi for safety. These are indisputable signs that there is no religious war.
Condemnation of Terrorism and Violent Extremism
For this reason as Catholic religious leaders we condemn in the strongest terms possible, as did Islamic religious scholars in Mindanao, the violent extremist Maute group in Marawi. Its leaders and members have pledged allegiance to ISIS. They have contradicted the fundamental tenets of Islam by abducting and hostaging, maiming and killing the innocent.
Dialogue for Peace, the Common Word
Join us then, beloved people of good will, in conducting intra-faith dialogue among our respective co-religionists so that our various faiths may not be exploited and abused for the sake of terrorism or violent extremism. Let parents, schools, churches and mosques ensure that none may be lured by the recruitment efforts of terrorists. Let us teach the young and the old that our faiths are meant for peace. No religion teaches the killing of innocent people, simply because they belong to another religion.
Join us and let us continue the inter-religious dialogue called for by hundreds of Islamic leaders throughout the world. In 2007 they called for peace between Muslims and Christians when they wrote their famous open letter on “the Common Word” to Christian religious leaders. How true their words were! The Muslim leaders wrote:
The basis for peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God and love of neighbor.
This is the commandment of God in Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.
Our Lord Jesus, who is also revered as prophet in the Qur’an, cited this scriptural text and elaborated on it in Mark 12:28-31.
One of the scribes … asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
He further commanded us: “Love one another as I love you” (John 15:12).
Praxis of Love and Gratitude
Loving our neighbor needs action. Let us together invest our resources to helping the thousands of people who have fled from the horrors of Marawi. Let us pray for the safety of trapped civilians and of those abducted and hostaged by the terrorists. Let us be vigilant and alert, helping our security forces thwart the threats of terrorism in other areas of Mindanao. Let us help the government rebuild the city of Marawi so that its citizens may return and restore their broken lives.
With profound gratitude we acknowledge the priceless generosity of kind donors from different faiths, both local and foreign, who promptly responded to meet the needs of the people of Marawi who have fled to safer areas. We appeal for more help especially for those home-based displaced people who are not yet adequately served.
Maryam, the mother of Jesus, is praised and honored in the Qur’an and by many Christians. Catholics believe that 100 years ago she appeared to three children in the village of Fatima, which is the very name of the daughter of the prophet Muhammad. To the prayers of Maryam, we commend our efforts for peace and harmony between peoples of different faiths.
“Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to one another and live in sincere peace, harmony and mutual good will” (see the Common Word letter).
May the God of peace be with you!
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,
+ Socrates B. Villegas, D.D.
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
July 10, 2017
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will beatify two martyred Colombian clerics when he travels to visit their South American nation in September.The director of the Holy See Press office, Greg Burke, said that Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro Ramirez Ramos will be beatified on September 8th during an open-air Mass in the city of Villavicencio presided over by the Pope. Linda Bordoni reports: It was thanks to Bishop Jaramillo’s work of evangelization and promotion of the local Church in a vast territory where contraband and drug trafficking were rampant that development was made possible. Jaramillo was taken hostage in 1989 by armed bandits some 800 kilometers east of Bogota, and found dead the following day, shot with four bullets to the head.Francis also recognized the martyrdom of Father Pedro Ramirez who was killed at the start of the Colombian civil war in 1948 when guerrilla factions set upon him as he sought refuge in his parish church....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will beatify two martyred Colombian clerics when he travels to visit their South American nation in September.
The director of the Holy See Press office, Greg Burke, said that Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro Ramirez Ramos will be beatified on September 8th during an open-air Mass in the city of Villavicencio presided over by the Pope.
Linda Bordoni reports:
It was thanks to Bishop Jaramillo’s work of evangelization and promotion of the local Church in a vast territory where contraband and drug trafficking were rampant that development was made possible. Jaramillo was taken hostage in 1989 by armed bandits some 800 kilometers east of Bogota, and found dead the following day, shot with four bullets to the head.
Francis also recognized the martyrdom of Father Pedro Ramirez who was killed at the start of the Colombian civil war in 1948 when guerrilla factions set upon him as he sought refuge in his parish church. He refused to flee and abandon the people so the insurgents destroyed the door of the building, seized him and accused him of hiding weapons in the adjacent convent. They killed him on April 10 and impeded the faithful from giving a Christian burial to his mortal remains for some ten days. To this day, Father Pedro is known in Colombia as “the martyr of Armero.”
Pope Francis is scheduled to make his first apostolic visit to Colombia from 6 to 11 September, visiting the cities of Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín and Cartagena.
The journey is a pastoral one but is widely expected to further cement the peace accords signed by the government and the FARC rebel group aimed at putting an end to five decaded of civil conflict. The country’s second largest guerrilla group – the ELN – is also currently holding peace negotiations in neighboring Ecuador.
(Vatican Radio) Across East Africa, millions of families face starvation because of drought, lack of food, and civil war. The UN has described this as the largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years. The Disasters Emergency Committee, of which the Catholic Development Charity CAFOD is a member, has launched an appeal to provide urgent supplies to the 16 million people facing severe hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The CAFOD East Africa Crisis Appeal also aims to target more than 800,000 children under five who are severely malnourished.Nana Anto-Awuakye, head of world news at CAFOD UK, told Linda Bordoni of her recent visit to Northern Kenya to monitor the work done by CAFOD’s Church partners in response to the devastating drought that is affecting around 2.7 million people there. Listen to the full interview: Nana Anto-Awuakye says that the figure itself may seem quite meaningless to many, however when one is in the field ...
(Vatican Radio) Across East Africa, millions of families face starvation because of drought, lack of food, and civil war. The UN has described this as the largest humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years.
The Disasters Emergency Committee, of which the Catholic Development Charity CAFOD is a member, has launched an appeal to provide urgent supplies to the 16 million people facing severe hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The CAFOD East Africa Crisis Appeal also aims to target more than 800,000 children under five who are severely malnourished.
Nana Anto-Awuakye, head of world news at CAFOD UK, told Linda Bordoni of her recent visit to Northern Kenya to monitor the work done by CAFOD’s Church partners in response to the devastating drought that is affecting around 2.7 million people there.
Listen to the full interview:
Nana Anto-Awuakye says that the figure itself may seem quite meaningless to many, however when one is in the field and meeting community members that tell the story of their survival it is really dramatic.
“In Isiolo we saw how our Church partners – Caritas Isiolo – are responding to that need by distributing food vouchers; we met the women that told me that they had literally given their children a cup of water for the day – no food – and we spoke to a headmaster who told of a little girl who fainted in class because she hadn’t eaten for two days” she said.
The people of the area, she said, are faced every day with the terrible question of how they are going to feed their children and keep them alive.
Anto-Awuakye says that in particular the women were expressing their gratitude and saying: “Caritas didn’t forget us; we are not near the road, we are not near the town, we are far away, but Caritas didn’t forget us…”
She said the impact of the food voucher scheme was visible and explained it works because the vulnerable members of the community are identified by their own community and then they receive a food voucher which means they can access food within the local community and most important, it all stays with the community and they can “simply feed their families”.
During her visit to the region, Anto-Awuakye says she saw on her twitter feed Pope Francis’ commitment to give money to support the East Africa crisis and in particular the situation in South Sudan and Somalia.
I saw two distinct faces of solidarity: “I saw the solidarity of CAFOD supporters across England and Wales who donated for the East Africa Crisis Appeal raising, to date, almost 4 million pounds; and on the other side I saw the solidarity of the community itself and its committment to take care of each other and also of the Church partners doing all they can to get vital aid to people in need” .
Anto-Awuakye also speaks of the importance of raising awareness ‘back home’ and says the team travelled with a celebrity ambassador – Emma Rigby – a young actress.
“Having her with us in the field, to see for herself the work of our Caritas aid workers on the ground was really impactful because she could see for herself how CAFOD – through CAFOD supporters giving to the appeal were making it possible – she could also see the difference that was being made and in her position as a well-known actress she could get the message out by being interviewed by local and national media.
She points out that this is ever more urgent as the story, that was very prevalent in February and March, has dropped off the media agenda: “but whether we are 3 or 6 months on from when that news of the crisis was broken, it is still very much ongoing and so is the need for continuing support.
Anto-Awuakye said there is much we too can do to support the people of the stricken region, starting with prayers: “continue to pray for them as the effects of the drought continue to hit”.
“The community there – she said - gets together to pray and you can see from their faces and from the look in their eyes, that their hope and their faith are very much alive”.
