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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Nearly two centuries after Missouri gained statehood as part of a compromise over slave ownership, no black candidate has ever won a statewide election there - a barrier Robin Smith is trying to overcome but seldom discusses publicly....
DETROIT (AP) -- Donald Trump swayed to songs of prayer, read scripture, and wore a traditional prayer shawl Saturday on a visit to a predominantly black church in Detroit, as he called for a "civil rights agenda of our time" and vowed to fix the "many wrongs" facing African-Americans....
A Call to Mercy is a book that has been published to coincide with Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy and in particular with the canonization of Mother Teresa. It is compiled and edited by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk MC, the postulator of Mother Teresa’s cause for sainthood.“A call to Mercy, hearts to love, hands to serve, is Mother Teresa living and speaking the fourteen works of mercy,” said Fr. Kolodiejchuk recently in an interview with Vatican Radio’s English Africa Service. Speaking from his base in Rome, Fr. Kolodiejchuk said the book features for the first time testimonies of eye witnesses of Mother Teresa. ‘A Call to Mercy’ is written and tailored after the fourteen works of mercy. It discusses topics such as the need for us to clothe the naked and shelter the homeless; the need to counsel the doubtful; to instruct the ignorant of faith and admonish sinners; the need to visit the sick and imprisoned; the importance of honourin...
A Call to Mercy is a book that has been published to coincide with Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy and in particular with the canonization of Mother Teresa. It is compiled and edited by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk MC, the postulator of Mother Teresa’s cause for sainthood.
“A call to Mercy, hearts to love, hands to serve, is Mother Teresa living and speaking the fourteen works of mercy,” said Fr. Kolodiejchuk recently in an interview with Vatican Radio’s English Africa Service. Speaking from his base in Rome, Fr. Kolodiejchuk said the book features for the first time testimonies of eye witnesses of Mother Teresa.
‘A Call to Mercy’ is written and tailored after the fourteen works of mercy. It discusses topics such as the need for us to clothe the naked and shelter the homeless; the need to counsel the doubtful; to instruct the ignorant of faith and admonish sinners; the need to visit the sick and imprisoned; the importance of honouring the dead; bearing each other’s wrongs with patience and the willingness to forgive. It also addresses the urgent need to feed the hungry, pray for the world and the importance of creating a world of love through service in the simple words of Mother Teresa herself. This excellent book containing the teachings of the saint whose ideas are valuable, relevant, and necessary for our time will be translated into many languages and also made available for an African readership said Fr. Kolodiejchuk. “Mother Teresa is not just a saint to admire but also to imitate,” he added, “as she would say, do small things with great love, ordinary things with extraordinary love.”
Moving examples of how Mother Teresa lived and indeed how a Catholic can live this Jubilee Year of Mercy are summarised in ‘A Call to Mercy.’ This is a book to read again and again. It is a legacy of what a small woman in physical stature did with the grace of God. Asked what an African can learn from Mother Teresa, Fr. Kolodiejchuk said, “the first thing is the vision of faith…” Mother Teresa lived her ordinary life by faith; we too must do the same, every day, not just on Sunday when we go to Mass but during the week he emphasised. Second, “Relating everything to Jesus, give whatever he gives, take whatever he takes with a smile, doing those simple ordinary things with love.” And third, instead of looking at ourselves or one another as problems we should like Mother Teresa change and begin to look at ourselves as gifts: “Not a problem, not a difficulty but a gift,” Fr. Kolodiejchuk said in the interview.
Fr. Kolodiejchuk expressed sentiments of gratitude to God for the joy that he and all the Missionaries of Charity across the globe are sharing with millions of people from all walks of life for Mother Teresa’s canonization.
(Fr. Brian Nonde CMM, Vatican Radio correspondent)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
The Holy Father Pope Francis has named the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as his special envoy at the consecration of Karonga’s Cathedral in Malawi. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on 5 November 2016.The Diocese of Karonga is situated in the Northern part of Malawi bordering Tanzania and Zambia. Karonga as a Diocese was created on 21 July 2010 and officially inaugurated on 20 November 2010. On the same day, Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka was ordained as the diocese’s first Bishop.Karonga Diocese is divided into two deaneries which are subdivided into six parishes. The diocese covers the geographical districts of Karonga and Chitipa including the northern part of Rumphi. It has an area of 12 000 Square Kilometres with a population of 467 000 of whom about 65 000 are Catholics. The area under the diocese is the remotest and poorest part of Malawi. It is territory that is mostly hilly and moun...
The Holy Father Pope Francis has named the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as his special envoy at the consecration of Karonga’s Cathedral in Malawi. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on 5 November 2016.
The Diocese of Karonga is situated in the Northern part of Malawi bordering Tanzania and Zambia.
Karonga as a Diocese was created on 21 July 2010 and officially inaugurated on 20 November 2010. On the same day, Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka was ordained as the diocese’s first Bishop.
Karonga Diocese is divided into two deaneries which are subdivided into six parishes. The diocese covers the geographical districts of Karonga and Chitipa including the northern part of Rumphi. It has an area of 12 000 Square Kilometres with a population of 467 000 of whom about 65 000 are Catholics.
The area under the diocese is the remotest and poorest part of Malawi. It is territory that is mostly hilly and mountainous making the movement of both goods and people difficult. The region has been prone to a series of disasters such as earth tremors, floods and droughts.
(Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va)
Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 / 07:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of his meeting with volunteers Saturday, Pope Francis decided to pop in for the inauguration of a new statue of Our Lady of Aparecida in the Vatican Gardens.The fact that the statue has been placed in the gardens is significant, since they have not received a new piece of art since 2010.“I'm glad that the image of Our Lady of Aparecida is in the Gardens,” Pope Francis said at the unveiling Sept. 3. “In 2013 I had promised to return next year: I do not know if it will be possible, but at least I will have her very close, here.”The statue, designed by a Brazilian artist, is a joint initiative of the Archdiocese of Aparecida and the Embassy of Brazil to the Holy See. Cast in bronze, it depicts a boat with three fishermen holding a full fishing net, and frames a replica statue of Our Lady of Aparecida.It is traditionally held that the original statue of Our Lady of Aparecida, which is hous...
Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 / 07:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of his meeting with volunteers Saturday, Pope Francis decided to pop in for the inauguration of a new statue of Our Lady of Aparecida in the Vatican Gardens.
The fact that the statue has been placed in the gardens is significant, since they have not received a new piece of art since 2010.
“I'm glad that the image of Our Lady of Aparecida is in the Gardens,” Pope Francis said at the unveiling Sept. 3. “In 2013 I had promised to return next year: I do not know if it will be possible, but at least I will have her very close, here.”
The statue, designed by a Brazilian artist, is a joint initiative of the Archdiocese of Aparecida and the Embassy of Brazil to the Holy See. Cast in bronze, it depicts a boat with three fishermen holding a full fishing net, and frames a replica statue of Our Lady of Aparecida.
It is traditionally held that the original statue of Our Lady of Aparecida, which is housed in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in São Paulo, Brazil, was found in 1717 by three fishermen who, after praying to Our Lady, miraculously caught many fish after a morning of no catch.
In his brief address, Pope Francis asked for prayers that Our Lady would “cherish throughout Brazil, the entire Brazilian people at this sad time,” referring to the various tragedies and poverties experienced throughout the world.
He asked that she would “guard the poorest, the discarded, the abandoned elderly, street children,” saving God's people with “social justice and the love of Jesus Christ, his Son.”
The Pope concluded his message by asking Our Lady to bless all Brazilian people, highlighting how the statue of Our Lady of Aparecida was originally found by the working poor, and today is found by everyone, “especially those who need work, education, those who are deprived of dignity.”
The Holy Father then led those present in singing the “song of Aparecida” and gave his blessing.
Pope Francis visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida during World Youth Day in Brazil July 24, 2013, saying he had come to the Shrine to “place at her feet the life of the people of Latin America.”
While still Cardinal Bergoglio, Pope Francis helped draft and edit the Concluding Document of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Aparecida May 13-31, 2007.
Commonly called the “Aparecida Document,” it contains the Latin American bishops' advice for pastoral and missionary work in the Church in Latin America in the 21st century, and is frequently cited as an example for the origin of Pope Francis' theology.
Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 / 09:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A year before a March 4 attack killed four sisters, the Missionaries of Charity opted not to leave, but to remain with their patients in the war-torn country of Yemen, the sole survivor said on Saturday.“In the midst of this dangerous situation, our dearest Sr. Prema, MC, general superior, called us from Calcutta and spoke to us individually. She gave us a choice to remain or leave the place,” Sr. Sally shared at an event in St. Peter's Square Sept. 3.“All of us had one answer: 'we choose to stay, to live or die with our poor.'”On March 4, 2016, the Missionaries of Charity's care home center in Aden, Yemen was attacked by two gunmen, who killed Sr. Anselm, Sr. Judith, Sr. Marguerite, and Sr. Reginette, along with 16 other victims, including volunteers from Ethiopia and Yemen. Sr. Sally, the convent's superior, was able to escape.None of the center's 60-80 residents were harmed. &nb...
Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 / 09:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A year before a March 4 attack killed four sisters, the Missionaries of Charity opted not to leave, but to remain with their patients in the war-torn country of Yemen, the sole survivor said on Saturday.
“In the midst of this dangerous situation, our dearest Sr. Prema, MC, general superior, called us from Calcutta and spoke to us individually. She gave us a choice to remain or leave the place,” Sr. Sally shared at an event in St. Peter's Square Sept. 3.
“All of us had one answer: 'we choose to stay, to live or die with our poor.'”
On March 4, 2016, the Missionaries of Charity's care home center in Aden, Yemen was attacked by two gunmen, who killed Sr. Anselm, Sr. Judith, Sr. Marguerite, and Sr. Reginette, along with 16 other victims, including volunteers from Ethiopia and Yemen. Sr. Sally, the convent's superior, was able to escape.
None of the center's 60-80 residents were harmed.
Sr. Sally said that even in March 2015, a year before the attack, the situation in Yemen was very dangerous with “shooting and bombing everywhere.”
“We had 64 residents, 14 helpers, 5 sisters, and we had no food. We found ourselves in an utterly helpless situation.”
On the evening of the 30th of March, and in the pitch dark because they had no electricity, the sisters heard a knock on their door. Filled with “fear and anxiety,” they answered it to find that someone had brought them fruits and vegetables. “God works with us in our daily living. We believed it and we experienced it,” Sr. Sally said.
Again, they ran out of food, as well as other basic necessities, such as gas and water. They chopped down nearby trees for firewood. And this time, again, a man showed up at their door with enough fresh bread for everyone. “For 10 days he never failed to bring the bread,” she said.
In the midst of this danger and these difficulties is when the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, Sr. Prema, gave the sisters the option to leave, but they all chose to remain in Yemen with the poor.
“It is the fruit of our daily prayer,” said the sister: “We implore you, absorb our minds, that we may die through love of you who were graciously pleased to die through love of us.”
Sr. Sally said that the sisters pray daily for the grace to resign themselves to the will of God. She told of another time when the sisters ran out of medicine for their patients. The sister superior knocked at the door of the tabernacle and “told Jesus, 'You are the master of this house, do something.'” That very afternoon a man brought the medicine they needed.
When they ran out of water, “again the Providence of God: a truck loaded with bottles of water arrived... We were filled to the brim with water and with gratitude to God,” she said.
Sister's testimony was given as part of a Jubilee for Workers of Mercy and Volunteers in anticipation of the canonization of Mother Teresa, their foundress, Sept. 4. At the end of Sr. Sally's speech, the Pope presented a catechesis on mercy to those present.
“With our hearts filled with greater love and enthusiasm, we begged God to continue using our nothingness to make the Church present in the world of today, through the mission entrusted to us by our Mother Teresa, even amid dangerous surroundings,” said Sr. Sally.
“With the help of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, we continue seeking the poorest of poor and bringing them God's own tender affection, through our humble words of love, little works of peace, given at the cost of our lives.”
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- An emergency polio vaccination campaign aimed at reaching 25 million children this year has begun in parts of Nigeria newly freed from Boko Haram Islamic extremists, with fears that many more cases of the crippling disease will likely be found....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- When Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was kicked out of power, she became the biggest casualty of a massive corruption probe that is roiling Latin America's largest country - even though she was never personally implicated in the scheme....
MOSCOW (AP) -- Uzbekistan's widely criticized authoritarian leader Islam Karimov was hailed as a statesman and democrat by his government as he was laid to rest Saturday in the ancient silk road city of Samarkand....
HANGZHOU, China (AP) -- Setting aside their cyber and maritime disputes, President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping on Saturday sealed their nations' participation in last year's Paris climate change agreement. They hailed their new era of climate cooperation as the best chance for saving the planet....
