Catholic News 2
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Prosecutors said Friday they have charged seven current and former San Francisco Bay Area officers in a sexual misconduct scandal involving a teenager....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hours after North Korea tested new nuclear technology, Donald Trump's campaign chief refused Friday to outline the Republican presidential nominee's approach to rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as both White House contenders increasingly focus on national security....
NEAR THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D. (AP) -- The Standing Rock Sioux tribe's attempt to halt construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline near its North Dakota reservation failed in federal court Friday, but three federal agencies asked the pipeline company to "voluntarily pause" work on a segment that tribal officials say holds sacred sites and artifacts....
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Swiss Guard held their Jubilee on Thursday evening, celebrating in St. Peter’s Basilica after marching down the Path set up for Pilgrims down the Via della Conciliazione which leads to the St. Peter’s Square.The Jubilee celebration was presided over by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who spoke to the Guards about their “secret weapons”: The Eucharist, the rosary, and the Holy Door.Cardinal Parolin said these are “the weapons of God, available and affordable to everyone; seemingly weak, but stronger than all human guile and able to overcome every obstacle.”The prelate commended the Swiss Guard, as well at the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State, for their service in ensuring the peace and order of the Vatican, “especially in times such as this, where the utmost vigilance is necessary.”Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy in St. Peter's Basi...
(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Swiss Guard held their Jubilee on Thursday evening, celebrating in St. Peter’s Basilica after marching down the Path set up for Pilgrims down the Via della Conciliazione which leads to the St. Peter’s Square.
The Jubilee celebration was presided over by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who spoke to the Guards about their “secret weapons”: The Eucharist, the rosary, and the Holy Door.
Cardinal Parolin said these are “the weapons of God, available and affordable to everyone; seemingly weak, but stronger than all human guile and able to overcome every obstacle.”
The prelate commended the Swiss Guard, as well at the Gendarmerie Corps of Vatican City State, for their service in ensuring the peace and order of the Vatican, “especially in times such as this, where the utmost vigilance is necessary.”
Members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy in St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday evening.
Vatican Weekend for September 10, 2016 offers a report on Pope Francis’ General Audience for Wednesday September 7, 2016 and a feature segment on 911: fifteen years on from the terror attacks of September 11th 2001: we hear the voices of popes, ambassadors and clergy who recall that terrible day. The programme concludes with "Mother Teresa, the Church’s latest Saint": Vatican Radio’s Director of the English Service shares his special memories of the Saint from Calcutta.Listen to this programme presented and produced by Tracey McClure:
Vatican Weekend for September 10, 2016 offers a report on Pope Francis’ General Audience for Wednesday September 7, 2016 and a feature segment on 911: fifteen years on from the terror attacks of September 11th 2001: we hear the voices of popes, ambassadors and clergy who recall that terrible day. The programme concludes with "Mother Teresa, the Church’s latest Saint": Vatican Radio’s Director of the English Service shares his special memories of the Saint from Calcutta.
Listen to this programme presented and produced by Tracey McClure:
Vatican Weekend for September 11, 2016 features "There’s More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye" with Jill Bevilacqua who offers a selection of literary and historical reflections on the week’s Gospel reading in the latest in her series. Also on the programme: "Joan Knows:" EWTN’s Rome Bureau Chief, Joan Lewis looks back on the Pope’s activities and the past week’s events in the Vatican.Listen to this programme presented and produced by Tracey McClure:
Vatican Weekend for September 11, 2016 features "There’s More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye" with Jill Bevilacqua who offers a selection of literary and historical reflections on the week’s Gospel reading in the latest in her series. Also on the programme: "Joan Knows:" EWTN’s Rome Bureau Chief, Joan Lewis looks back on the Pope’s activities and the past week’s events in the Vatican.
Listen to this programme presented and produced by Tracey McClure:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father focused on the nature of the work of Evangelization: it is an art and a discipline – never a vaunt and never a task to be done by rote – and the work of evangelization is never, never, “a walk in the park”.Click below to hear our report Drawing on the Readings of the Day for Friday, the liturgical memorial of the great priest and missionary to African slaves in the New World, St. Peter Claver, SJ, the Holy Father explained that the essence of evangelization is witness to Christ with one’s whole life.Evangelizing is neither a vaunt, nor a rote taskSadly, however, there are some Christians today, who live their lives of service as though they were mere functionaries – priests and lay people who boast of what they do:“This is the boast: I am proud of myself. This re...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father focused on the nature of the work of Evangelization: it is an art and a discipline – never a vaunt and never a task to be done by rote – and the work of evangelization is never, never, “a walk in the park”.
Click below to hear our report
Drawing on the Readings of the Day for Friday, the liturgical memorial of the great priest and missionary to African slaves in the New World, St. Peter Claver, SJ, the Holy Father explained that the essence of evangelization is witness to Christ with one’s whole life.
Evangelizing is neither a vaunt, nor a rote task
Sadly, however, there are some Christians today, who live their lives of service as though they were mere functionaries – priests and lay people who boast of what they do:
“This is the boast: I am proud of myself. This reduces the Gospel to a function or even a source of pride: I go to preach the gospel and I’ve brought many people into the Church. To proselytize: that too is a source of pride. To evangelize is not to proselytize. That is, neither coast along, nor reduce the Gospel to rote work, nor to proselytize: none of these is really to evangelize. This is what Paul says here [in the 1st Letter to the Corinthians (9:16-19, 22b-27)]: ‘For me it is not a boast. For me it is a necessity’, adding, ‘one that is laid on me.’ A Christian has an obligation, the force of which is such as to make it like a heartfelt necessity to carry the name of Jesus.”
And what, then, ought to be the “style” by which we evangelize? “That,” responded Francis with the words of St. Paul, “of becoming all things to all people.” He went on to say, “Go and share in the lives of others: accompany them on their journey of faith, that they might grow in faith along their way.”
To evangelize is to give witness, without too many words
We must put ourselves in the other’s condition: not to get in others’ way, but to be on the way with them. Pope Francis recalled an episode during lunch with young people at World Youth Day in Krakow, when a boy asked him what he should say to a close friend who was an atheist:
“It’s a good question. We all know people far from the Church: what should we tell them? I said: ‘Look, the last thing you need to do is say something! begin to do, and he will see what you are doing and ask you about it; and when he asks you, then tell him.’ To evangelize is to give this testimony: I live the way I do, because I believe in Jesus Christ; I awaken in you a curiosity, so you ask me, ‘But why are you doing these things?’ The answer: ‘Because I believe in Jesus Christ and preach Jesus Christ and not just with the Word – you must proclaim the Word – but with your life.”
This is to evangelize, he said, “and this is done free of charge,” because, “we have freely received the Gospel.” Grace, salvation, can be neither bought nor sold: it is free. “We have to give it for free.”
To proclaim Christ is to live the faith, giving free the love of God
Pope Francis then recalled the figure of St. Peter Claver: a missionary, he noted, who, “who went off to preach the Gospel.” Perhaps, wondered Pope Francis, “he thought his future would be devoted to preaching. The Lord, however, asked him to be close to those, who had been ‘discarded’ at that time: the slaves, the black people who arrived there from Africa, to be sold”:
“This man did not stroll along saying he evangelized: he did not reduce evangelism to a rote task, and even to a proselytizing; he proclaimed Jesus Christ with his actions, speaking to the slaves, living with them, living like them – and there are many like him in the Church – many people who annihilate themselves to proclaim Jesus Christ – and all of us, brothers and sisters, have an obligation to evangelize – and that does not mean a knock on the neighbor’s door to say: ‘Christ is risen!’ – it is living the faith, talking about it with meekness, with love, with no desire to win an argument (It. convincere), but [to give it away] for free: giving away freely that, which God has given to me – that is what it means to evangelize.”
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday told bishops that division, gossip and money are weapons in the hands of the devil.Speaking to a group of recently appointed bishops of mission countries at the end of a formation course organized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pope said each bishop is called to give testimony of God’s love, care and mercy with their own lives and example.Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: Pointing out that bishops of mission countries come from places that are “different and distant”, each of you – Pope Francis said – has “the great privilege and responsibility of being on the front lines of evangelization”.Inviting them never to forget that one of their foremost duties is to respond immediately to the requests and needs of their priests, the Pope warned them against the evils that can wreak damage and destroy their mission to evangelize.He reminded them that a missionary bishop’...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday told bishops that division, gossip and money are weapons in the hands of the devil.
Speaking to a group of recently appointed bishops of mission countries at the end of a formation course organized by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Pope said each bishop is called to give testimony of God’s love, care and mercy with their own lives and example.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
Pointing out that bishops of mission countries come from places that are “different and distant”, each of you – Pope Francis said – has “the great privilege and responsibility of being on the front lines of evangelization”.
Inviting them never to forget that one of their foremost duties is to respond immediately to the requests and needs of their priests, the Pope warned them against the evils that can wreak damage and destroy their mission to evangelize.
He reminded them that a missionary bishop’s first duty as a pastor is to reach out to the lost sheep and to bring the joy of the gospel to those who perhaps do not know Jesus or have rejected him.
He spoke of the vocation of the episcopal ministry saying that each bishop is called give testimony of Jesus’s care and love for all men and women also through their own personal example.
And he warned of the dangers that can foil this vocation mentioning specifically the factors that – he said - become weapons in the hands of the devil bent on destroying the Church.
“The devil – he said – has two weapons: the main one is division; the other is money”.
And saying that the devil slips in through one’s pockets and wreaks havoc through ‘the tongue’, Pope Francis described the tendency to gossip as “a terroristic” one.
“He who gossips is a terrorist who throws a bomb” – because gossip, he said, destroys.
Urging those present to fight against divisions which can destroy the local Church and the universal Church, he said there are many difficult challenges to overcome, but thanks to the grace of God, thanks to prayer and thanks to penitence, it is possible.
Pope Francis concluded his address to the new missionary bishops urging them to take good care of the people of God who have been entrusted to them, to take good care of their priests, and of their seminarians. “This – he said – is your job”.
(Vatican Radio) As the United States marks the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, recalls his own reactions and emotions on that fateful day and discusses whether enough has been done to engage a public debate about the causes of the attacks and how to address them. He was interviewed by Tracey McClure.Listen to the interview with the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett: Ambassador Hackett was working as the head of Catholic Relief Services in the U.S. city of Baltimore when news broke of the first plane crashing into New York's Twin Towers and as he put it, “things kept getting worse throughout the day” with each new attack. Recalling his own emotions, he spoke of how “shocking” it all was, that “sense of helplessness” and just “the enormity of it.” On the practical level, Hackett said his first reaction was to check on the safety of all ...
(Vatican Radio) As the United States marks the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, recalls his own reactions and emotions on that fateful day and discusses whether enough has been done to engage a public debate about the causes of the attacks and how to address them. He was interviewed by Tracey McClure.
Listen to the interview with the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett:
Ambassador Hackett was working as the head of Catholic Relief Services in the U.S. city of Baltimore when news broke of the first plane crashing into New York's Twin Towers and as he put it, “things kept getting worse throughout the day” with each new attack. Recalling his own emotions, he spoke of how “shocking” it all was, that “sense of helplessness” and just “the enormity of it.” On the practical level, Hackett said his first reaction was to check on the safety of all the staff working for Catholic Relief Services throughout the world.
Asked to comment on the view that the 9/11 attacks brought out the best of the American people, the U.S. envoy said that “was the positive element” coming out of this tragedy. He paid tribute to the “heroic acts” of the many fire fighters and police officers who rushed to respond to the attack on the Twin Towers, scores of whom died when the towers collapsed, and the “many acts of selflessness” carried out by people trying to help and respond to the terrible event.
Turning to whether enough has been done to engage a public debate about the causes of 9/11 and how to address them, Hackett said this was only “partially” the case. Whilst there is now a greater awareness and sensitivity about terrorism, he said “probably not enough has been done” on this front, saying Americans could have used this chance to “think more deeply about what is going on and what we can do.”
In the same way, Hackett said during this year's U.S. Presidential campaign he believed that the “debate has not been rich enough about not just terrorism but who we are as Americans.” We need, he continued “to make efforts to foster dialogue, understanding tolerance,”….. “We should be doing more of it. We should be reaching out, looking for opportunities to engage with people of other faiths and different nationalities.”
Hackett concluded by saying that he believed that this aspect “will be thrown upon the next President of the United States’ agenda: How can the USA engage in a more positive way with different peoples of the world.”
(Vatican Radio) As Iraqi government forces step up military efforts to take back towns in the north and west of the country held by so-called Islamic State fighters, doctors in the city of Erbil struggle to provide vital support to displaced families fleeing from the conflict.The Humanitarian “Nineveh Relief” Organization is an independent, non-governmental organisation founded in November 2015 to provide medical services to all displaced people in the Kurdistan region, regardless of their religion and ethnicity.Wissam Elias is one of the doctors working for the organisation which Pope Francis has also supported in a personal way by helping provide transport for medical supplies to Iraq.Listen to Philippa HItchen’s interview with Dr Elias….. HNRO runs two primary health care units providing different services, such as pediatric care, dental and ophthalmic services, medical tests and medicines for the internally displaced people. While other NGOs in t...
(Vatican Radio) As Iraqi government forces step up military efforts to take back towns in the north and west of the country held by so-called Islamic State fighters, doctors in the city of Erbil struggle to provide vital support to displaced families fleeing from the conflict.
The Humanitarian “Nineveh Relief” Organization is an independent, non-governmental organisation founded in November 2015 to provide medical services to all displaced people in the Kurdistan region, regardless of their religion and ethnicity.
Wissam Elias is one of the doctors working for the organisation which Pope Francis has also supported in a personal way by helping provide transport for medical supplies to Iraq.
Listen to Philippa HItchen’s interview with Dr Elias…..
HNRO runs two primary health care units providing different services, such as pediatric care, dental and ophthalmic services, medical tests and medicines for the internally displaced people. While other NGOs in the region provide food and others essential supplies such as shelter and blankets, only HNRO and one other Church organisation provides health care those who have lost everything.
Dr Elias says that most of those fleeing from IS are Christians from Mosul and the surrounding region but over the last few months the organisation has been receiving people from other cities in Iraq, including Tikrit and Ramadi.
He says many of them are facing health complications connected to trauma and psychological stress as a result of losing everything and not being able to find work or sufficient resources. Many of them have been there for two years now and are trying to find ways of leaving the country.
Dr Elias notes that since the start of their work, Pope Francis has been supporting the organsiation following a phone call that he made to their president Fr Benham Benoka. “He said he will never let us down”, Dr Elias says and explains how the Pope has recently signed the necessary papers to pay for deliveries of medical supplies in containers coming from an American NGO. “He kept his promise to us, so we feel blessed by this”, Dr Elias says.
