South Sudan’s Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of the Catholic Diocese of Yei has urged the government to speed-up investigation into the shooting of Sr. Veronika Terézia Racková. The Slovakian was a religious sister and medical doctor who died on 20 May at the Nairobi Hospital in Kenya, where she had been flown for emergency treatment.Bishop Lodu Tombe told South Sudan’s Radio Easter Tuesday that, “the judiciary should not delay the results of investigations” noting that culprits “must be brought to justice.” He further urged the faithful “to have hope, courage and unite in faith to serve God and his people.”The Bishop was speaking in Lutaya Parish, Yei, on the occasion of a Memorial Mass to mark one month since the demise and burial of Sr. RackováThe late Sr. Veronika Terézia Racková is buried at the diocesan cemetery of St Joseph’s parish Lutaya, South Sudan, about 170 Kilometres south-west of th...
South Sudan’s Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of the Catholic Diocese of Yei has urged the government to speed-up investigation into the shooting of Sr. Veronika Terézia Racková. The Slovakian was a religious sister and medical doctor who died on 20 May at the Nairobi Hospital in Kenya, where she had been flown for emergency treatment.
Bishop Lodu Tombe told South Sudan’s Radio Easter Tuesday that, “the judiciary should not delay the results of investigations” noting that culprits “must be brought to justice.” He further urged the faithful “to have hope, courage and unite in faith to serve God and his people.”
The Bishop was speaking in Lutaya Parish, Yei, on the occasion of a Memorial Mass to mark one month since the demise and burial of Sr. Racková
The late Sr. Veronika Terézia Racková is buried at the diocesan cemetery of St Joseph’s parish Lutaya, South Sudan, about 170 Kilometres south-west of the capital Juba.
A member of the Missionary Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), Sr. Veronika, 58, was shot at and severely wounded late at night on 16 May 2016 by suspected SPLA soldiers who were on night patrol in Yei Municipality. The shooting happened while Sr. Veronika was driving the St. Bakhita ambulance. She had just delivered to Harvester Health Centre, a patient with a complicated case needing specialised treatment and care.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Wednesday with a large group of French pilgrims, including very poor and homeless people supported by the Sappel community. The group of 200 pilgrims from the Lyon region of France is marking the upcoming one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fr Joseph Wresinski who founded the ATD Fourth World international movement working for the eradication of chronic poverty across the globe.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: In his words to the group, the Pope stressed the important witness that this pilgrimage provides of walking together and supporting each other. He told his guests how welcome they were in the Vatican and reminded them that Jesus came to share in their condition of poverty and rejection by the people of his day.Quoting the words of Fr Wresinski, Pope Francis said ‘You are in the heart of the Church’ because Jesus always gave priority to the poor and suffering. You help us to encounter Jesus, he said, not thro...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Wednesday with a large group of French pilgrims, including very poor and homeless people supported by the Sappel community. The group of 200 pilgrims from the Lyon region of France is marking the upcoming one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Fr Joseph Wresinski who founded the ATD Fourth World international movement working for the eradication of chronic poverty across the globe.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report:
In his words to the group, the Pope stressed the important witness that this pilgrimage provides of walking together and supporting each other. He told his guests how welcome they were in the Vatican and reminded them that Jesus came to share in their condition of poverty and rejection by the people of his day.
Quoting the words of Fr Wresinski, Pope Francis said ‘You are in the heart of the Church’ because Jesus always gave priority to the poor and suffering. You help us to encounter Jesus, he said, not through words, but through the witness of your lives and by reminding us that we are all children of God the Father.
Keep hope alive
The Pope urged his listeners to always be courageous and to keep alive the joy of hope, because we believe, he said, in a God who repairs injustice, who comforts the suffering and who rewards those who maintain their faith in him.
Pray for those responsible for poverty
He also asked them to pray for a conversion of hearts of those responsible for poverty in the world: the rich, the hypocrites, those who ignore the cry of the hungry at their doors. Pray too for the priests and Levites, the Pope said, all those who see people in pain and need, but who lack compassion and who pass by on the other side of the road.
Finally the Pope thanked those accompanying the group and carrying on the work of Fr Wresinski, noting that it is through sharing life with the poor that we are transformed and converted.
Rediscover solidarity with the poor
Born in France to very poor immigrant parents, Joseph Wresinski founded the (ATD) Fourth World movement in 1957 to end the exclusion and injustice of poverty and to bring the voices of the excluded into the public square. During this year of Mercy, Pope Francis said, it is time to rediscover and to live out this dimension of solidarity, fraternity and mutual support.
Sacramento, Calif., Jul 6, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A California court ruled last week that ChristianMingle and it’s affiliate faith-based dating websites must allow LGBT singles to search and be matched with people of the same gender.The ruling comes at the end of a 2.5 year legal battle after two gay men noticed in 2013 that new members to the popular dating site, which boasts over 15 million users, could only search for dates of the opposite sex.The men filed a lawsuit on discrimination charges against Spark Networks, which owns ChristianMingle and a host of other faith-based dating websites, including CatholicMingle, JDate (Jewish Date), and LDSSingles.com, the “largest dating site by Mormons for Mormons.”“Spark has engaged in a systemic and intentional pattern and practice of arbitrary discrimination against gays and lesbians throughout California by denying them full and equal services, accommodations, advantages and privileges in connection wi...
Sacramento, Calif., Jul 6, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A California court ruled last week that ChristianMingle and it’s affiliate faith-based dating websites must allow LGBT singles to search and be matched with people of the same gender.
The ruling comes at the end of a 2.5 year legal battle after two gay men noticed in 2013 that new members to the popular dating site, which boasts over 15 million users, could only search for dates of the opposite sex.
The men filed a lawsuit on discrimination charges against Spark Networks, which owns ChristianMingle and a host of other faith-based dating websites, including CatholicMingle, JDate (Jewish Date), and LDSSingles.com, the “largest dating site by Mormons for Mormons.”
“Spark has engaged in a systemic and intentional pattern and practice of arbitrary discrimination against gays and lesbians throughout California by denying them full and equal services, accommodations, advantages and privileges in connection with many of its commercial dating services,” the lawsuit filed in 2013 said.
Last week, Judge Jane L. Johnson of the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County ruled that ChristianMingle’s policy of only allowing for opposite-sex searches violated a California anti-discrimination law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which states that “all business establishments of every kind whatsoever” must treat every person within the jurisdiction as equal regardless of sex, race, religion, marital status and sexual orientation, among other things.
Judge Johnson approved a settlement of the case, which mandates that Spark must change its policies and websites to better accommodate LGBT individuals. The ruling will affect all dating sites owned by Spark, and changes must be made within the next two years. The JDate site already featured search options for LGBT individuals to find matches.
Spark will also have to pay $9,000 each to Aaron Werner and Richard Wright, the two gay men who sued the company, as well as $450,000 in attorneys' fees, as part of the settlement.
After the settlement, ChristianMingle's homepage now asks users only for their gender. There are currently no options for selecting the desired gender of one's matches throughout the sign-up process, in filling out a profile, or in searching the site for matches once registered, CBC News reports. Further changes to the site's search options are expected as part of the settlement.
Vatican City, Jul 6, 2016 / 03:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the tragic death of Beau Solomon in Rome late last week, Pope Francis met with the young student’s parents, who traveled to the city once they heard that their son was missing.“This morning…around 9a.m. the Pope met with the parents of Beau Solomon, the young American student found dead in the Tiber during the past few days,” a July 6 communique from the Holy See Press Office read.Francis, it said, expressed his sentiments of “deep sympathy and compassion,” as well as his closeness in prayer for the youth, who “so tragically passed away.”Pope Francis’ encounter with the Solomon parents took place shortly before an audience with a group of 200 sick and disabled pilgrims from the French diocese of Lyon, headed by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin. It was just two days after the young student’s body had been found in the Tiber River.Beau, 19, was a sophomore visiting from ...
Vatican City, Jul 6, 2016 / 03:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the tragic death of Beau Solomon in Rome late last week, Pope Francis met with the young student’s parents, who traveled to the city once they heard that their son was missing.
“This morning…around 9a.m. the Pope met with the parents of Beau Solomon, the young American student found dead in the Tiber during the past few days,” a July 6 communique from the Holy See Press Office read.
Francis, it said, expressed his sentiments of “deep sympathy and compassion,” as well as his closeness in prayer for the youth, who “so tragically passed away.”
Pope Francis’ encounter with the Solomon parents took place shortly before an audience with a group of 200 sick and disabled pilgrims from the French diocese of Lyon, headed by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin. It was just two days after the young student’s body had been found in the Tiber River.
Beau, 19, was a sophomore visiting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a five week summer study abroad course at Rome’s John Cabot University. He arrived in the Italian capital Thursday, and was reported missing by his roommate when he failed to show up for an orientation meeting Friday morning.
According to reports, Solomon had been with a group of friends at a pub in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood Thursday night, and was last seen around 1a.m.
In a statement issued Sunday, John Cabot said that on Friday Solomon’s roommate became “worried when he did not see Beau at orientation that morning,” and contacted the school authorities, who then notified the Italian police.
Solomon’s body was found in the Tiber River Monday with a head wound. According to the Telegraph, the Beau’s parents had called their son’s credit card company when he went missing, and discovered it had been stolen with roughly 1,500 euros worth of charges. The youth’s cell phone had also been stolen.
On Tuesday Italian police arrested a homeless man, Massimo Galioto, 40, in relation to Beau’s death. According to Italian news agency ANSA, police said the man was detained “as a suspect of the crime, seriously suspected of aggravated homicide.”
John Cabot said Tuesday that it was “greatly saddened” by Beau’s death. In the statement, published on the university’s website, they committed to assisting his family and sought to reassure students about their safety in Rome.
“There have not been any indications of elevated threats to our students or the local community,” the statement said. “The university continues to work tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students.”
As a child Beau had survived a rare form of cancer and in 2005 was able to meet his favorite American football player, Brett Favre, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
In comments to NBC News before Beau’s body had been found, his older brother, Jake Solomon, said that “in our family, (Beau) is the one who does it all right. He's an incredible athlete. He is the one that keeps us all together.”
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian described by a judge as a "fallen hero," was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in a South African prison for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in a ruling viewed by some as too lenient....
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympian described by a judge as a "fallen hero," was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in a South African prison for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in a ruling viewed by some as too lenient....
LONDON (AP) -- The Iraq war was mounted on flawed intelligence, was executed with "wholly inadequate" planning, and ended "a long way from success," according to a damning report released Wednesday by the head of Britain's Iraq War inquiry....
LONDON (AP) -- The Iraq war was mounted on flawed intelligence, was executed with "wholly inadequate" planning, and ended "a long way from success," according to a damning report released Wednesday by the head of Britain's Iraq War inquiry....
(Vatican Radio) Bangladesh police have admitted they mistakenly shot dead the pizza chef of the Dhaka restaurant as they tried to free hostages in last Friday’s attack by Islamist militants. 20 people were killed by the militants claiming loyalty to the so-called Islamic State group. Authorities say they also misread online warnings of an impending assault.Bangladesh monitors of social media saw several Twitter messages on Friday saying there would be an attack but police thought any assault was more likely to target embassies and major hotels and restaurants.Police closed major hotels and eateries in and around hotel Westin, about 1 km from the Holey Artisan Bakery, the restaurant that was attacked.Bodies of Italian victims return to Rome Meanwhile, the bodies of the nine Italian victims were flown to Rome on Tuesday.Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who went to Rome's Ciampino airport for the plane's arrival, said he was committed to makin...
(Vatican Radio) Bangladesh police have admitted they mistakenly shot dead the pizza chef of the Dhaka restaurant as they tried to free hostages in last Friday’s attack by Islamist militants. 20 people were killed by the militants claiming loyalty to the so-called Islamic State group. Authorities say they also misread online warnings of an impending assault.
Bangladesh monitors of social media saw several Twitter messages on Friday saying there would be an attack but police thought any assault was more likely to target embassies and major hotels and restaurants.
Police closed major hotels and eateries in and around hotel Westin, about 1 km from the Holey Artisan Bakery, the restaurant that was attacked.
Bodies of Italian victims return to Rome
Meanwhile, the bodies of the nine Italian victims were flown to Rome on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who went to Rome's Ciampino airport for the plane's arrival, said he was committed to making sure the victims received state assistance in line with Italian law, which also provides for their families.
(Vatican Radio) Turkey has jailed 17 more suspects - mostly foreigners - over last week's suicide bombing at Istanbul's main airport. Islamic State militants from the ex-Soviet Union are blamed for the attack which killed 45 people and wounded hundreds.The arrests bring the total number of people jailed pending trial to 30.They include suspects from Russia’s north Caucasus region, Dagestan and from the former Soviet Republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. At a hearing in court Tuesday, those arrested denied they had links to the bombers.Moscow says that thousands of Russian citizens and citizens of other former Soviet states have joined Islamic State, travelling through Turkey to reach Syria. (Source: Reuters)
(Vatican Radio) Turkey has jailed 17 more suspects - mostly foreigners - over last week's suicide bombing at Istanbul's main airport. Islamic State militants from the ex-Soviet Union are blamed for the attack which killed 45 people and wounded hundreds.
The arrests bring the total number of people jailed pending trial to 30.
They include suspects from Russia’s north Caucasus region, Dagestan and from the former Soviet Republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. At a hearing in court Tuesday, those arrested denied they had links to the bombers.
Moscow says that thousands of Russian citizens and citizens of other former Soviet states have joined Islamic State, travelling through Turkey to reach Syria.
