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NEW YORK (AP) -- The photo is haunting. Among a number of figures gathered on a dock, the fuzzy image seems to be that of a woman, her back to the camera, gazing at what may be her crippled aircraft loaded on a barge, and perhaps wondering what her future might hold....
CHICAGO (AP) -- The suspect in the kidnapping of a University of Illinois scholar from China marched in a vigil for the victim a day before his arrest last week and also talked about how she resisted and described what made an ideal victim, federal prosecutors said Wednesday....
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) -- "Don't stop!" the Iraqi special forces lieutenant yelled as a wave of fleeing civilians trudged past his position in Mosul's Old City in the scorching heat. "Don't pretend you're tired! Keep going!" Nearby, dozens of women and children, their hands raised, dropped their bags for security forces to search. Keeping the crowd at a distance, the soldiers yelled at the women to roll up their sleeves and empty everything they were...
PARIS (AP) -- Europe has made a dangerous turn on the Mediterranean Sea as it looks to Libya for help in slowing the number of migrants attempting to reach the continent in flimsy boats, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday. The organization called the European Union's strategy of training the Libyan coast guard to rescue migrants "reckless."...
NEW YORK (AP) -- A killer who strode up to a mobile police command post and put a bullet in an officer's head Wednesday had ranted in a Facebook video last September about law officers killing and abusing people and warned them to leave him alone or "we gonna do something."...
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Stepping up pressure on China, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley warned Beijing on Wednesday that it risks its massive trade with the United States if its business dealings with North Korea violate U.N. sanctions....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a video message to the Congress of the Scholas Occurentes which concludes on Wednesday in Jerusalem. The Congress focused on the theme “Between the University and the School, building peace through the culture of encounter.”Christopher Wells reports on the Pope’s message: In his message, Pope Francis encouraged the participants, young and old, who had come from Israel, the Palestinian territories, and from other countries from across the globe. “I want to celebrate these days lived out there in Jerusalem,” he said, “because you yourselves, beginning from your differences, have achieved unity.”The Holy Father praised them for seeing one another without prejudice; an attitude, he said, that is essential “because it produces an encounter.” This encounter, he said, gives our lives meaning and purpose. And it is precisely because our lives have meaning that we feel the need to celebra...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a video message to the Congress of the Scholas Occurentes which concludes on Wednesday in Jerusalem. The Congress focused on the theme “Between the University and the School, building peace through the culture of encounter.”
Christopher Wells reports on the Pope’s message:
In his message, Pope Francis encouraged the participants, young and old, who had come from Israel, the Palestinian territories, and from other countries from across the globe. “I want to celebrate these days lived out there in Jerusalem,” he said, “because you yourselves, beginning from your differences, have achieved unity.”
The Holy Father praised them for seeing one another without prejudice; an attitude, he said, that is essential “because it produces an encounter.” This encounter, he said, gives our lives meaning and purpose.
And it is precisely because our lives have meaning that we feel the need to celebrate. Even more, this meaning leads us to a feeling, a sentiment, of gratitude. And it is this sentiment, the Pope said, that the Scholas has perceived to be of the essence of education, which opens us to the unknown, which frees us from prejudices that keep us from dreaming and seeking new paths. It is for this reason, he continued, “that we adults cannot take from our children and young people the capacity to dream, or to play—which is, in a certain sense, a waking dream.”
Pope Francis said the Congress in Jerusalem teaches us that we have a duty to hear young people, and to give them a context of hope so that their dreams might grow and be shared. Shared dreams can produce a “utopia” to strive after; and the utopia of the Scholas is to create a culture of encounter that allows people to arrive, not at uniformity, but at harmony.
The Pope concluded his address by thanking the adults for not closing themselves up in themselves; and for putting their learning at the service of listening. And he thanked the young people for committing themselves “to dreaming, to seeking meaning, to creating, to being grateful, to celebrating, to offering their minds, their hands, and their hearts in order to transform the culture of encounter into reality.”
Vatican City, Jul 5, 2017 / 07:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday the Vatican announced Pope Francis' appointment of Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama Pasqualetto, a native of Colombia, as the next bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh.Currently an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Bishop Zarama, 58, will replace Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who was transferred to the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia in October of last year and installed on Dec. 6, 2016.In a statement on the appointment of Bishop Zarama, announced July 5, Bishop Burbidge said he gives thanks to God for the appointment."I am proud to call him a brother bishop and good friend. Bishop Zarama is a holy, faithful and joyful bishop known and respected for his pastoral skills, administrative abilities, zeal and kindness.”"I have assured Bishop Zarama that he will be truly blessed with the support of such good priests, consecrated religious, deacons, seminarians, colleagues and lay faithful in the Dioce...
Vatican City, Jul 5, 2017 / 07:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday the Vatican announced Pope Francis' appointment of Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama Pasqualetto, a native of Colombia, as the next bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh.
Currently an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Bishop Zarama, 58, will replace Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who was transferred to the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia in October of last year and installed on Dec. 6, 2016.
In a statement on the appointment of Bishop Zarama, announced July 5, Bishop Burbidge said he gives thanks to God for the appointment.
"I am proud to call him a brother bishop and good friend. Bishop Zarama is a holy, faithful and joyful bishop known and respected for his pastoral skills, administrative abilities, zeal and kindness.”
"I have assured Bishop Zarama that he will be truly blessed with the support of such good priests, consecrated religious, deacons, seminarians, colleagues and lay faithful in the Diocese of Raleigh.”
“I promised Bishop Zarama that he and the Diocese of Raleigh will remain in my daily prayers at this joyful and historic moment and always,” he concluded.
The Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton D. Gregory, said in a statement July 5 that the Pope's appointment is also an honor for Atlanta.
“How fortunate that the local Church is to receive such a devoted and generous servant minister,” he said. “The Holy Father has chosen well even though his decision takes a deeply beloved brother and friend from our midst.”
Bishop Zarama was born in Pasto, Colombia on Nov. 28, 1958. He graduated from the Marian University in Pasto with a degree in philosophy and theology. He also attended the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, receiving a degree in Canon Law in 1991.
He was a philosophy and theology professor at the Carmelite School, the Learning School and the Colombia Military School for 11 years.
In 1993, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Atlanta and was the first Hispanic priest to be named pastor at the parishes of St. Mark in Clarksville and St. Helena Mission in Clayton. He became a United States citizen in 2004.
In April 2006 Bishop Zarama was named Vicar General of the Archdiocese. He received the title of monsignor from Pope Benedict XVI on March 7, 2007.
He has served as the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese's Metropolitan Tribunal since 2008, and is also a member of the Archdiocesan Personnel Review Board.
On July 27, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI named him Titular Bishop of Bararus and Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta. He was ordained a bishop on Sept. 29, 2009.
His Mass of Installation at Raleigh will be on August 29th.
Bishop Gregory said that he joins “Bishop-Elect Shlesinger and all of the clergy, religious, and faithful of The Archdiocese of Atlanta in assuring Bishop Zarama of our prayers and warmest best wishes as he begins this new service to Christ’s Church.”
“While we will have time to celebrate his appointment to the Diocese of Raleigh before he takes leave for his August 29th installation, we promise him our affectionate best wishes and congratulations on this happy moment for him and for all of God’s People in the Diocese of Raleigh.”
IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob RollerBy Carol ZimmermannORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- From July 1-4 the main floor of the HyattRegency Hotel in Orlando was transformed into a huge parish hall with placesfor worship, prayer, discussion, and even coffee and doughnuts during the "Convocationof Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America."At the convocation3,500 church leaders -- men and women religious, bishops and laypeople -- gathered to set a new course for the U.S. Catholic Church.Followinga retreat format, each day started and ended with group prayer. Masswas celebrated each day in the hotel ballroom, and there were plenty ofscheduled times for the sacrament of reconciliation and private prayer in alarge room turned into an adoration chapel.Many ofthe keynote sessions took the form of pep talks encouraging delegates to sharetheir faith boldly with the world at large and within their own families andparishes. The numerous breakout sessions provided the working aspect of thegathering: closel...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller
By Carol Zimmermann
ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- From July 1-4 the main floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Orlando was transformed into a huge parish hall with places for worship, prayer, discussion, and even coffee and doughnuts during the "Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America."
At the convocation 3,500 church leaders -- men and women religious, bishops and laypeople -- gathered to set a new course for the U.S. Catholic Church.
Following a retreat format, each day started and ended with group prayer. Mass was celebrated each day in the hotel ballroom, and there were plenty of scheduled times for the sacrament of reconciliation and private prayer in a large room turned into an adoration chapel.
Many of the keynote sessions took the form of pep talks encouraging delegates to share their faith boldly with the world at large and within their own families and parishes. The numerous breakout sessions provided the working aspect of the gathering: closely examining what the church is doing and where it can do more.
More than 155 bishops attended the gathering, sitting with their delegations for meals and breakout sessions. Cardinals and bishops who spoke at keynote sessions or in Mass homilies encouraged participants that this was their time, their moment, stressing the urgency to bring God's message of love to a divided world.
At the final Mass, described as a "Mass of Sending," Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said the church is called to achieve great things in the face of the impossible -- to unite people together by going to the peripheries of society and sharing the good news of Jesus through action rooted in faith.
"Sisters and brothers, we are in a very, very significant time in our church in this country," said Cardinal DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and he urged the delegates to receive God's grace for the work ahead.
None of the homilists or keynote speakers sugarcoated the challenges for the modern church and more than once speakers pointed out that Catholics are leaving the church in greater numbers, particularly young adults, than those joining the church.
But as Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron of Los Angeles pointed out: "The saints always loved a good fight and we should like a good fight too."
The bishop, who addressed the crowd through a video hookup July 4, told them it was an "exciting time to be an evangelist" but that they also should pick up their game to evangelize effectively.
Throughout the convocation Pope Francis was pointed out as a model for modern Catholics to follow in inviting others, especially those on the peripheries, to Christ. Speakers also were quick to quote his 2013 apostolic exhortation, "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel"), which lays out a vision of the church dedicated to evangelization -- or missionary discipleship -- in a positive way, with a focus on society's poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged, unborn and forgotten.
Two homilies during the convocation specifically quoted the pope's admonition in "Evangelii Gaudium" that Catholics shouldn't be "sourpusses" but should reflect joy.
Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl acknowledged that Catholics are not always comfortable with the idea of evangelizing, but said they need to be willing to step out of themselves and talk with people about their faith as part of an encounter the pope speaks about.
Part of this simply involves listening to people, caring for them and leading them to Jesus, said speaker Sister Miriam James Heidland, a sister of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.
Delegates were repeatedly encouraged to reach out to the peripheries especially to immigrants and the poor but also to all members of the church's diverse family -- people of all races, women and young people.
Hosffman Ospino, associate professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, said it is time for the church to start building a "language of communion" rather than dividing the church community into different groups and individually responding to those needs.
"It's the church serving the church," he said. "We all are the church."
That message inspired Sister Kathleen Burton, a Sister of St. Joseph who is co-director of the Office of Faith Formation, Family Life and Lay Ministry Formation in the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, who said: "The walls need to come down."
"There's a renewed sense of evangelization and re-evangelization," the delegate told Catholic News Service. "We're being challenged that we don't wait for people to come to us, but we've got to go out to them."
For many delegates, seeing the church's diversity -- Latinos, African-Americans and Africans, Native Americans, and Asians from across the continent at the convocation -- was an inspiring sight, helping them better understand the idea of the church as family.
Vanessa Griffin Campbell, director of the Office of Ministry to African American Catholics in the Diocese of Cleveland, said the key to embracing diversity and going to the peripheries will be teamwork among laypeople, clergy and diocesan staff.
The church should "not just open the doors on Sunday," she said, "but make sure our doors are open Sunday to Sunday."
At the end of the closing Mass, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who attended all four days of the convocation, congratulated attendees for the invigorating discussion.
He called it a "kairos," or opportune moment, in the life of the U.S. church and said he would tell Pope Francis: "the Spirit is alive in the church in the United States."
"I will tell him of the commitment of many missionary disciples and their love for the church," he added.
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Contributing to this report was Dennis Sadowski in Orlando.
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LONDON (AP) -- Britain's foreign secretary has backed U.K. court decisions preventing the parents of a terminally ill child from taking him abroad for experimental treatment, despite an offer of help from a Vatican hospital....
