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NEW YORK (AP) -- Three experimental Zika vaccines protected monkeys against infection from the virus, an encouraging sign as research moves into studies in people....
MIAMI (AP) -- Jessica Ardente waited 36 years to have her first baby. Her parents will visit in two weeks to watch their grandson's ultrasound. There are cribs and car seats to shop for, a nursery to decorate, and bottles, diapers and clothes to buy....
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- A $400 million pallet of cash delivered to the Iranian government at the same time a complicated nuclear deal was settled and four Americans were released was unrelated and not a ransom, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Melania Trump obtained a work visa before she modelled professionally in the United States in the mid-1990s, her former modeling agent told The Associated Press. That appeared to back up her statements as recently as Thursday that she adhered to U.S. immigration laws as she went from a Slovenian model years later to an American citizen....
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Back on the defensive, Donald Trump's campaign chief acknowledged conflict inside Trump Tower on Thursday as anxious Republicans struggled to shift voters' attention to Hillary Clinton's record on foreign policy....
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- The World Health Organization and its partners shipped more than 6 million yellow fever vaccines to Angola in February to quash an emerging epidemic, yet when they asked country officials the following month what happened to the vaccines, they discovered that about 1 million doses had mysteriously disappeared....
The Constant Lievens Academy of Health Sciences and Hospital (CLAHS) at Mandar, near Ranchi, the capital of the northern Indian state of Jharkhand, is destined to be a medical college and hospital in the heartland of a far-flung tribal region where healthcare for the vast number of its poor and marginalized is a luxury. The project of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), named after a pioneering Belgian Jesuit missionary in Ranchi, was inaugurated at a ceremony on Nov. 7, 2015, in the presence of CBCI officials, where Jharkhand State chief minister, Raghubar Das was the chief guest. The new venture is envisioned in the pattern of the CBCI’s prestigious St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore. To know more about the Constant Lievens Academy of Health Sciences and Hospital, we talked to Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi, the Chairman of the Executive Committee CBCI Society for Medical Education – North India.&...
The Constant Lievens Academy of Health Sciences and Hospital (CLAHS) at Mandar, near Ranchi, the capital of the northern Indian state of Jharkhand, is destined to be a medical college and hospital in the heartland of a far-flung tribal region where healthcare for the vast number of its poor and marginalized is a luxury. The project of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), named after a pioneering Belgian Jesuit missionary in Ranchi, was inaugurated at a ceremony on Nov. 7, 2015, in the presence of CBCI officials, where Jharkhand State chief minister, Raghubar Das was the chief guest. The new venture is envisioned in the pattern of the CBCI’s prestigious St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore. To know more about the Constant Lievens Academy of Health Sciences and Hospital, we talked to Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi, the Chairman of the Executive Committee CBCI Society for Medical Education – North India. He first explained how the whole idea of CBCI’s medical college and hospital in north India came about.
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis made a private pilgrimage on Thursday to the Italian town of Assisi and spoke about the importance of forgiveness, saying only the path of forgiveness can truly renew the Church and the world. He lamented that “too many people are caught up in resentment and harbour hatred because they are incapable of forgiving.” “These people,” he went on, “ruin their own lives and the lives of those around them.” The Pope’s words came during an address delivered inside the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi after earlier going to pray in silence inside the small Porziuncola chapel where the Italian saint founded the Franciscan order in the 13th century. The purpose of Pope Francis’ pilgrimage there was to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi” during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. Please find below a translation into English of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks insid...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis made a private pilgrimage on Thursday to the Italian town of Assisi and spoke about the importance of forgiveness, saying only the path of forgiveness can truly renew the Church and the world. He lamented that “too many people are caught up in resentment and harbour hatred because they are incapable of forgiving.” “These people,” he went on, “ruin their own lives and the lives of those around them.”
The Pope’s words came during an address delivered inside the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi after earlier going to pray in silence inside the small Porziuncola chapel where the Italian saint founded the Franciscan order in the 13th century. The purpose of Pope Francis’ pilgrimage there was to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi” during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Please find below a translation into English of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks inside Assisi's Basilica of St Mary of the Angels:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I would like, before all else, to recall the words that, according to an ancient tradition, Saint Francis spoke in this very place, in the presence of all the townsfolk and bishops: “I want to send you all to heaven!” What finer thing could the Poor Man of Assisi ask for, if not the gift of salvation, eternal life and unending joy, that Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection?
Besides, what is heaven if not the mystery of love that eternally unites us to God, to contemplate him forever? The Church has always professed this by expressing her belief in the communion of saints. We are never alone in living the faith; we do so in the company of all the saints and of our loved ones who practised the faith with joyful simplicity and bore witness to it by their lives. There is a bond, unseen but not for that reason any less real, which makes us, by baptism, “one body” moved by “one Spirit” (cf. Eph 4:4). When Saint Francis asked Pope Honorius III to grant an indulgence to all who visited the Porziuncula, he was perhaps thinking of Jesus’ words to the disciples: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (Jn 14:2-3).
Forgiveness – pardon – is surely our direct route to that place in heaven. Here at the Porziuncola everything speaks to us of pardon! What a great gift the Lord has given us in teaching us to forgive and in this way to touch the Father’s mercy! We have just heard the parable where Jesus teaches us to forgive (cf. Mt 18:21-35). Why should we forgive someone who has offended us? Because we were forgiven first, and of infinitely more. The parable says exactly this: just as God has forgiven us, so we too should forgive those who do us harm. So too does the prayer that Jesus taught us, the Our Father, in which we say: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mt 6:12). The debts are our sins in the sight of God, and our debtors are those whom we, for our part, must forgive.
Each of us might be that servant in the parable burdened with so great a debt that he could never repay it. When we kneel before the priest in the confessional, we do exactly what that servant did. We say, “Lord, have patience with me”. We are well aware of our many faults and the fact that we often fall back into the same sins. Yet God never tires of offering us his forgiveness each time we ask for it. His is a pardon that is full and complete, one that assures us that, even if we fall back into the same sins, he is merciful and never ceases to love us. Like the master in the parable, God feels compassion, a mixture of pity and love; that is how the Gospel describes God’s mercy towards us. Our Father is moved to compassion whenever we repent, and he sends us home with hearts calm and at peace. He tells us that all is remitted and forgiven. God’s forgiveness knows no limits; it is greater than anything we can imagine and it comes to all who know in their hearts that they have done wrong and desire to return to him. God looks at the heart that seeks forgiveness.
The problem, unfortunately, comes whenever we have to deal with a brother or sister who has even slightly offended us. The reaction described in the parable describes it perfectly: “He seized him by the throat and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’” (Mt 18:28). Here we encounter all the drama of our human relationships. When we are indebted to others, we expect mercy; but when others are indebted to us, we demand justice! This is a reaction unworthy of Christ’s disciples, nor is it the sign of a Christian style of life. Jesus teaches us to forgive and to do so limitlessly: “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven” (v. 22). What he offers us is the Father’s love, not our own claims to justice. To trust in the latter alone would not be the sign that we are Christ’s disciples, who have obtained mercy at the foot of the cross solely by virtue of the love of the Son of God. Let us not forget, then, the harsh saying at the end of the parable: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (v. 35).
Dear brothers and sisters, the pardon of which Saint Francis made himself a “channel” here at the Porziuncola continues to “bring forth heaven” even after eight centuries. In this Holy Year of Mercy, it becomes ever clearer that the path of forgiveness can truly renew the Church and the world. To offer today’s world the witness of mercy is a task from which none of us can feel exempted. The world needs forgiveness; too many people are caught up in resentment and harbour hatred, because they are incapable of forgiving. They ruin their own lives and the lives of those around them rather than finding the joy of serenity and peace. Let us ask Saint Francis to intercede for us, so that we may always be humble signs of forgiveness and channels of mercy.
Tension prevailed at Tarapet in the city on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday when the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) authorities faced resistance from the clergy and lay people for demolishing a portion of the Roman Catholic church St. Peter's Cathedral as part of the road-widening project. The church was built more than 100 years ago and is of undisputed cultural and artistic value.Hundreds of Catholics, supported by opposition parties, staged a protest at the church on Monday morning even as VMC staff returned to the site to complete the demolition process. They wondered why the VMC failed to serve a notice on church authorities before embarking on pulling down the structure.Sources said VMC officials and workers came with earth-movers and demolished a wall and a complex adjacent to the church. The Catholic fraternity opposed the move arguing that the alignment of the road should have been changed as the religious structure, which was built in 1882, has a h...
Tension prevailed at Tarapet in the city on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday when the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) authorities faced resistance from the clergy and lay people for demolishing a portion of the Roman Catholic church St. Peter's Cathedral as part of the road-widening project. The church was built more than 100 years ago and is of undisputed cultural and artistic value.
Hundreds of Catholics, supported by opposition parties, staged a protest at the church on Monday morning even as VMC staff returned to the site to complete the demolition process. They wondered why the VMC failed to serve a notice on church authorities before embarking on pulling down the structure.
Sources said VMC officials and workers came with earth-movers and demolished a wall and a complex adjacent to the church. The Catholic fraternity opposed the move arguing that the alignment of the road should have been changed as the religious structure, which was built in 1882, has a historical significance.
"Taking the shrine's history and prominence into consideration, VMC officials should leave the structure untouched. They carried out the demolition without informing the church authorities or serving a notice," said Samuel, a member of the church.
Locals, led by YSRCP corporators Shaik Asif and Bolla Vijay Kumar, demanded an explanation from the VMC for taking up the exercise without informing the church authorities.
The church management alleged that the officials have insulted Catholics by damaging some idols at the Cathedral during the demolition work. The police later took a few agitators into custody and released them later. A police picket has been arranged at the place.
(Times of India)
By Michael SwanTORONTO (CNS) -- Cardinal MarcOuellet, whose writings were once strongly identified with resistance to anychange to the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics,has given a ringing endorsement to "Amoris Laetitia," the apostolicexhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods on the family."In all honesty, I thinkthat controversies around 'Amoris Laetitia' are understandable," Cardinal Ouellet,head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, told about 2,000 Knights ofColumbus gathered in Toronto for their annual convention.But Cardinal Oullet said ratherthan demand clarifications, his audience should reread the 250-page documentwith its 400 footnotes."It is a document worthreading and re-reading slowly," he said. "Especially Chapter 4 onlove."As the 2015 Synod of Bishops onthe family approached, Cardinal Ouellet re-published and updated his 2007 book,"Mystery and Sacrament of Love: A Theology of Marriage and the Family forthe New Evangelization...
By Michael Swan
TORONTO (CNS) -- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, whose writings were once strongly identified with resistance to any change to the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to "Amoris Laetitia," the apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods on the family.
"In all honesty, I think that controversies around 'Amoris Laetitia' are understandable," Cardinal Ouellet, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, told about 2,000 Knights of Columbus gathered in Toronto for their annual convention.
But Cardinal Oullet said rather than demand clarifications, his audience should reread the 250-page document with its 400 footnotes.
"It is a document worth reading and re-reading slowly," he said. "Especially Chapter 4 on love."
As the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the family approached, Cardinal Ouellet re-published and updated his 2007 book, "Mystery and Sacrament of Love: A Theology of Marriage and the Family for the New Evangelization." The book was a frequent touchstone for those arguing against any change in church discipline, which regards divorced and remarried Catholics who did not receive an annulment as living in sin with their current spouses.
But in his Aug. 2 speech to the Knights of Columbus, Cardinal Ouellet emphasized that Pope Francis had not touched Catholic teaching regarding divorce and the indissolubility of marriage.
"What is proposed is a new pastoral approach," said the cardinal, in charge of vetting and appointing bishops around the world. "More patient and respectful, more dialogical."
"Amoris Laetitia" opened the way for remarried Catholics and their pastors to engage in "a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases, one which would recognize that, since 'the degree of responsibility is not equal in all cases,' the consequences or effects of a rule need not necessarily always be the same."
This idea of discernment before applying a blanket rule, and the possibility that different bishops in different parts of the world may come to different conclusions, has moved an anonymous group of 45 theologians to write a letter to the College of Cardinals demanding they "respond to the dangers to Catholic faith and morals" they perceive in "Amoris Laetitia."
Cardinal Ouellet's response was to raise the possibility that such a process of pastoral discernment might be good for everybody, not just the divorced and remarried.
"I am confident this process of discernment will bear fruit for all Christian families," he said.
In a speech full of praise for Pope Francis' humility and life of prayer, Cardinal Ouellet said he was grateful for "Amoris Laetitia." He also praised the pope's Jesuit practice of twice daily examinations of conscience and his outreach to the poor and marginal -- especially to prisoners.
"The Holy Father is aware of his own wounds, mistakes and sins," said Cardinal Ouellet. "He approaches those in need who are in jail not from on high, demanding respect, but asking for forgiveness."
Pope Francis' life of prayer brings him closer to the Holy Spirit, the cardinal said.
"Our own Pope Francis is also unpredictable, like the Holy Spirit," he added.
Cardinal Ouellet urged the Knights of Columbus to engage in dialogue that is "delicate and respectful, cognizant of our own mistakes." He also praised the Knights for their record of service and charity.
"This aspect of charity is emphasized by the Apostles and Pope Francis," he said. "Our Holy Father shows us that charity goes beyond being for people. We must also be with people, which also will transform us."
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Swan is associate editor of The Catholic Register, Toronto-based Canadian Catholic weekly.
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