Catholic News 2
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Jordan sealed its last entry point for Syrian refugees Tuesday after a cross-border suicide attack killed six members of the Jordanian security forces, wounded 14 and exposed the pro-Western kingdom's growing vulnerability to spillover from conflict next door....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six months after the Pentagon ordered all combat jobs open to women, seven female Marines are either serving in those posts or waiting to serve, and 167 are performing noncombat duties in front-line units, according to new data obtained by The Associated Press....
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Only a third of Fallujah has been "cleared" of Islamic State militants, the U.S.-led coalition said Tuesday, days after the Iraqi government declared victory in the city west of Baghdad, which was held by the extremists for more than two years....
LONDON (AP) -- From the prime minister to sports and pop icons David and Victoria Beckham, supporters of Britain staying in the European Union urged voters Tuesday to think about future generations when they cast ballots in a referendum that has divided the nation....
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando massacre at a popular gay nightclub underscores the challenges faced by the U.S. government in countering the narrative of radical extremism, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday....
LONDONDERRY, New Hampshire (AP) -- A $35,000 payment for "web advertising" in Donald Trump's most recent campaign finance filings is turning heads because of the firm's name: Draper Sterling....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Republican rival Donald Trump would send the U.S. economy back into recession, warning his "reckless" approach would hurt workers still trying to recover from the 2008 economic turbulence....
About 150 Catholic bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders are attending a five day workshop from June 20-24, in Beijing conducted by the Chinese central government.The Chinese central government has begun a five-day workshop run by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) at a training center in Beijing, which has forced a seminar to commemorate the birth centenary of the late Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian of Shanghai to be postponed.With five members picked from each province, about 150 Catholic bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders are attending the SARA workshop that runs from June 20-24, according to those attending the workshop. They are there to learn the "spirit" of the National Conference of Religious Work held in April.China observers believe the workshop is a further sign of the party inserting itself into church's affairs after the National Conference of Religious Work's and the SARA's response to an inspection by the party's anti-co...
About 150 Catholic bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders are attending a five day workshop from June 20-24, in Beijing conducted by the Chinese central government.
The Chinese central government has begun a five-day workshop run by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) at a training center in Beijing, which has forced a seminar to commemorate the birth centenary of the late Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian of Shanghai to be postponed.
With five members picked from each province, about 150 Catholic bishops, priests, nuns and lay leaders are attending the SARA workshop that runs from June 20-24, according to those attending the workshop. They are there to learn the "spirit" of the National Conference of Religious Work held in April.
China observers believe the workshop is a further sign of the party inserting itself into church's affairs after the National Conference of Religious Work's and the SARA's response to an inspection by the party's anti-corruption watchdog, which criticized the administrative body's loose control on national religious groups.
The State Administration for Religious Affairs in China exercises control over religious appointments, the selection of clergy, and the interpretation of religious doctrine. The SARA also works to ensure that the registered religious organizations support and carry out the policy priorities of the Communist Party of China. (UCAN)
(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, on Tuesday briefed journalists on Pope Francis’ 3-day visit to Armenia taking place from 24-26th of June. He said the papal visit underlines the Pope’s desire to show his closeness to the entire nation of Armenia, whose people who have suffered so much during their long history and who shares their desire for peace.Father Lombardi noted that the Pope’s visit to Armenia should be considered as the first part of a trip that will take him to three nations in the Caucus region in 2016. The second leg will take place from September 30th to October 2nd when the Pope will travel to Azerbaijan and Georgia.Armenia has a population of 3.3 million but the diaspora is far larger with up to 10 million people of Armenian descent living outside the country, mainly in Russia and the United States. Just over 9 percent of Armenia’s population is Catholic.Ecumenism is a key focus of t...
(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, on Tuesday briefed journalists on Pope Francis’ 3-day visit to Armenia taking place from 24-26th of June. He said the papal visit underlines the Pope’s desire to show his closeness to the entire nation of Armenia, whose people who have suffered so much during their long history and who shares their desire for peace.
Father Lombardi noted that the Pope’s visit to Armenia should be considered as the first part of a trip that will take him to three nations in the Caucus region in 2016. The second leg will take place from September 30th to October 2nd when the Pope will travel to Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Armenia has a population of 3.3 million but the diaspora is far larger with up to 10 million people of Armenian descent living outside the country, mainly in Russia and the United States. Just over 9 percent of Armenia’s population is Catholic.
Ecumenism is a key focus of the Pope’s journey to Armenia that follows a visit to the Vatican in April 2015 by Catholicos, Karekin II, the Patriarch of All Armenia, during which a Mass was celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica to commemorate the centenary of the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman troops in 1915.
During his trip to Armenia, the Pope will meet descendants of those killed during that massacre when he travels to a memorial complex in the city of Tsitzernakaberd situated in the south of the nation. The complex commemorates what is known by Armenians as the Medz Yeghern (Great Evil) when up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1923 by troops of the Ottoman Empire.
Father Lombardi also revealed that among the journalists travelling to Armenia for the papal visit is Evangelina Himitian, the daughter of an Armenian evangelical pastor in Argentina and a friend of the then Cardinal Bergoglio during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The journalist’s grandparents were witnesses and victims of the Ottoman persecution of Armenians and their lives were saved through the help of some Turkish peasants who offered them protection.
Other highlights of the Pope’s programme during his visit to Armenia include the Pope’s meeting with the civil and religious authorities including the Catholicos and other representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Pope will also visit, Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, where he will hold an open-air Mass before returning to the capital to attend an ecumenical meeting and prayer for peace.
On his final day, the Pope will visit the Khor Virap monastery near the Turkish border where he will release doves in the direction of Mount Arafat. The monastery is revered as the site where St. Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of Christianity in Armenia, was imprisoned.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges:
Juba, South Sudan, Jun 21, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Reconciliation and work for the common good, not assumptions of perpetual doom, are necessary to overcome the problems facing South Sudan, the country’s bishops have said.“We regret the amount of negativity and pessimism that we hear – from South Sudanese who are still steeped in the old ways of power and tribalism; from the international community; on the internet; in the media; on social media; within the diaspora. We say very clearly: No More Negativity!” the bishops wrote in a June 16 pastoral statement.They said constant negativity can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, citing St. Paul’s remarks against unwholesome words and his praise for edification.“Stop assuming that South Sudan and South Sudanese are doomed always to fail, and instead give support and encouragement. Stop disseminating hate speech and tribalism on the internet and social media, and instead spread constructive peacef...
Juba, South Sudan, Jun 21, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Reconciliation and work for the common good, not assumptions of perpetual doom, are necessary to overcome the problems facing South Sudan, the country’s bishops have said.
“We regret the amount of negativity and pessimism that we hear – from South Sudanese who are still steeped in the old ways of power and tribalism; from the international community; on the internet; in the media; on social media; within the diaspora. We say very clearly: No More Negativity!” the bishops wrote in a June 16 pastoral statement.
They said constant negativity can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, citing St. Paul’s remarks against unwholesome words and his praise for edification.
“Stop assuming that South Sudan and South Sudanese are doomed always to fail, and instead give support and encouragement. Stop disseminating hate speech and tribalism on the internet and social media, and instead spread constructive peaceful messages. Stop propagating rumors, gossip, misinformation and disinformation.”
They called on South Sudanese not to attack and accuse one another and urged them to compromise for peace and work for the common good.
“Stop preparing for war; move with the times into the new culture of peace and reconciliation,” they urged.
The bishops’ comments came in their June 16 pastoral letter “Do Not Be Afraid: Rise above Adversity,” released at the end of their three-day meeting in Juba, the nation's capital.
South Sudan became independent from its northern neighbor Sudan in 2011, six years after the end of a decades-long civil war. In December 2013, civil war broke out in the new country. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and an estimated 1.7 million.
A peace deal was reached in August 2015, but this was complicated in October when President Salvaa Kiir announced the formation of 28 states from the 10 that had existed before. Rebels objected that this favored members of Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group, the New York Times reports.
Opposition leader Riek Machar was sworn in as vice president in April as part of a transitional untity government leading up to elections in 30 months. Despite this, some fighting has continued in the country.
The bishops asked for understanding for South Sudan’s leaders, noting that they too suffer “the trauma of a lifetime of conflict.”
“They need healing. Let us treat them with love and mercy, not hatred and condemnation,” the bishops said. “The priority now is reforming and rebuilding our shattered nation.”
The Year of Mercy is a chance for South Sudan to “begin the long journey of peace and reconciliation,” they maintained.
“We are called upon to show mercy and forgiveness, even in the face of great evil and suffering, but we are also called upon to repent and do penance,” the bishops said.
They noted the South Sudanese Catholic participation in the April 2016 non-violence conference co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International. They repeated their statements that civil war in South Sudan has no moral justification.
The bishops voiced support for the transitional government and asked those with reservations about a conflict resolution agreement to overcome them.
“Reservations are not grounds for rejecting the agreement. Only when we have stopped killing ourselves can we sit down together to rebuild the nation,” they said.
They encouraged the transitional government’s efforts to secure a comprehensive ceasefire, to improve basic services and the economy, and to resolve the humanitarian crisis. The bishops also thanked the international community for assistance.
In their letter, the bishops especially remembered Sister Veronika Theresia Rackova, a Slovakian nun who died after being shot by soldiers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
“In the eyes of the people whom she served she is already a martyr. May she rest in peace,” they said, adding that she is only one of the thousands of victims killed in “this senseless conflict.”
They warned that the SPLA is different from the army that had defended the country in its efforts to secure independence from Sudan. They said the army had poor discipline, training, and leadership, and that it preys upon the population, rather than protecting them.
The bishops also expressed concern about robberies of churches and church personnel.
Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia was also a topic. The bishops cited its comments on problems that families face in countries like South Sudan: a lack of decent housing, a lack of work and possibilities for the young, the violence of war, terrorism, organized crime, youth homelessness and forced migration.
The Pope praised various African countries’ traditional values and strong marriages that bind families together, the bishops noted.
“May the strength of our South Sudanese families be a resource for peace and reconciliation in our nation,” the bishops concluded.
