Catholic News 2
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Muhammad Ali and his innermost circle started a document years ago that grew so thick they began calling it "The Book."...
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A prosecutor Monday announced no charges will be brought against the mother of the little boy who got into the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo, saying the 3-year-old "just scampered off" as children sometimes do....
JERUSALEM (AP) -- A team of experts began a historic renovation on Monday at the spot where Christians believe Jesus was buried, overcoming longstanding religious rivalries to carry out the first repairs at the site in more than 200 years....
BEIRUT (AP) -- A two-pronged advance to capture key urban strongholds of the Islamic State group and its self-styled capital of Raqqa has underlined a quiet convergence of strategy between the U.S. and Russia to defeat the extremists, with Syria's Kurds emerging as the common link....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans roundly scolded their own presidential candidate Monday, demanding Donald Trump apologize for - and just stop - talking about the ethnic background and impartiality of the American judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University....
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) -- Hillary Clinton stood on the cusp Monday of having enough delegates to claim the Democratic presidential nomination, having overwhelmed Bernie Sanders in a pair of weekend elections in the Caribbean....
Catholics in Sri Lanka celebrated World Environment Day on Sunday, by promoting the encyclical Laudato si as a way to combine their faith with environmental protection. Kithu Dana Pubuduwa, Sri Lanka's biggest Catholic renewal movement, organized an event at Sri Prasansa Ramaya in Ragama, Colombo Archdiocese June 3-5 to focus on each chapter of Laudato Si. The event consisted of separate exhibition stalls, mini conferences, video programs, organic cultivation techniques, short films and cultural shows. "We distributed the translation of the encyclical among groups to come up with ideas and it has taken readers through the process of seeing, judging and acting with regard to the ecological and environmental crisis we are facing today," said Delryn Wanigaratne, member of the organizing committee for the event.In a related development, Catholics in a central Vietnamese province turned out in force on Sunday, for a march to raise public awareness a...
Catholics in Sri Lanka celebrated World Environment Day on Sunday, by promoting the encyclical Laudato si as a way to combine their faith with environmental protection. Kithu Dana Pubuduwa, Sri Lanka's biggest Catholic renewal movement, organized an event at Sri Prasansa Ramaya in Ragama, Colombo Archdiocese June 3-5 to focus on each chapter of Laudato Si. The event consisted of separate exhibition stalls, mini conferences, video programs, organic cultivation techniques, short films and cultural shows.
"We distributed the translation of the encyclical among groups to come up with ideas and it has taken readers through the process of seeing, judging and acting with regard to the ecological and environmental crisis we are facing today," said Delryn Wanigaratne, member of the organizing committee for the event.
In a related development, Catholics in a central Vietnamese province turned out in force on Sunday, for a march to raise public awareness about the need to protect nature and to mark the June 5 World Environment Day. More than 1,000 Catholics from Phu Yen parish in Quynh Luu district of Nghe An province took part in the march. The June 5 World Environment Day, introduced by the United Nations Environment Programme, is observed every June 5 and aims to help the public take positive environmental action to protect nature and planet Earth. (Source: UCAN)
Ten refugee athletes from Africa and the Middle East were selected on Friday to compete under the Olympic flag at the Rio de Janeiro Games in what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said represents a ``symbol of hope'' for migrants and refugees around the world. The members of the first ever Olympic refugee team include athletes from South Sudan, Syria, Congo and Ethiopia who will compete in track and field, swimming and judo. ``We're convinced this refugee Olympic team can send a symbol of hope to all refugees in the world,'' IOC President Thomas Bach said at the close of a three-day IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne. ``It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society,'' Bach said.UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi welcomed the move saying, “We are very inspired by the Refugee Olympic Athletes team. Having had their sporting c...
Ten refugee athletes from Africa and the Middle East were selected on Friday to compete under the Olympic flag at the Rio de Janeiro Games in what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said represents a ``symbol of hope'' for migrants and refugees around the world. The members of the first ever Olympic refugee team include athletes from South Sudan, Syria, Congo and Ethiopia who will compete in track and field, swimming and judo.
``We're convinced this refugee Olympic team can send a symbol of hope to all refugees in the world,'' IOC President Thomas Bach said at the close of a three-day IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne. ``It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society,'' Bach said.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi welcomed the move saying, “We are very inspired by the Refugee Olympic Athletes team. Having had their sporting careers interrupted, these high-level refugee athletes will finally have the chance to pursue their dreams.” “Their participation in the Olympics is a tribute to the courage and perseverance of all refugees in overcoming adversity and building a better future for themselves and their families. UNHCR stands with them and with all refugees,” he added.
The team, selected from an initial pool of 43 candidates, will be overseen by Kenya's Tegla Loroupe, the former women's marathon world record-holder. Five coaches and five other team officials were also named by the IOC. Officially called the Refugee Olympic Team (ROT), the six men and four women will walk into the opening ceremony on Aug. 5 in Rio's Maracana stadium, just ahead of the huge team from Brazil, the host nation that marches last in the parade of athletes from more than 200 countries.
The team includes Syrian swimmers Yusra Mardini, now based in Germany, and Rami Anis, living in Belgium; South Sudanese runners Yiech Pur Biel (800 meters), James Nyang Chiengjiek (400), Anjelina Nada Lohalith (1,500), Rose Nathike Lokonyen (800) and Paulo Amotun Lokoro (1,500); Congolese judo athletes Yolande Bukasa Mabika (70-kilogram category) and Popole Misenga (90 kgs), both living and training in Brazil; and Ethiopian marathon runner Yonas Kinde, now based in Luxembourg.
The South Sudanese runners had been staying at the sprawling Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya when they were selected as potential Olympic athletes. They were then taken to a training camp near Nairobi run by Loroupe.
Mardini, the teenage Syrian swimmer, has generated heavy media attention. She and her sister, Sarah, were on a flimsy inflatable boat with other refugees making the perilous trip from Turkey to Greece when the dinghy started taking on water. While most of the refugees couldn't swim, the Mardini sisters jumped into the water and helped guide the boat to the Greek island of Lesbos. The sisters eventually made it to Germany, where they began training at a swimming pool in Berlin near their refugee center. (Source: AP/UN)
The Diocese of Rajshahi last week inaugurated Radio Jyoti (Light), Bangladesh’s first Catholic radio, an online station that is also accessible on smartphones. "The goal is to preach God’s message and spread Jesus Christ’s teachings through our radio programmes,” Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi told AsiaNews at the inauguration on June 3. "Through the radio, we want to inform people living in Bangladesh and abroad,” he said. “We want to teach the Church’s values??, hymns and plays, moral and ethical principles.” “We want to enhance protection of children, women and the environment. We cherish Bengali culture," Bishop Gervas said.The studio of Radio Jyoti is located at the Emmaus Catholic Church in Bogra, a district in the diocese. The goal is to raise awareness about Christ and the Church. Some 25 local Catholic youths, mostly from ethnic minorities, have been trained to produce and host radio progr...
The Diocese of Rajshahi last week inaugurated Radio Jyoti (Light), Bangladesh’s first Catholic radio, an online station that is also accessible on smartphones. "The goal is to preach God’s message and spread Jesus Christ’s teachings through our radio programmes,” Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi told AsiaNews at the inauguration on June 3. "Through the radio, we want to inform people living in Bangladesh and abroad,” he said. “We want to teach the Church’s values??, hymns and plays, moral and ethical principles.” “We want to enhance protection of children, women and the environment. We cherish Bengali culture," Bishop Gervas said.
The studio of Radio Jyoti is located at the Emmaus Catholic Church in Bogra, a district in the diocese. The goal is to raise awareness about Christ and the Church. Some 25 local Catholic youths, mostly from ethnic minorities, have been trained to produce and host radio programmes. For the present, the radio is broadcasting for an hour a day, but is planning for more hours. “We want to produce longer programmes so that listeners at home and abroad can hear the country’s Christian news, world Church news, as well as national news,” Bishop Rozario said. (Source: AsiaNews)
By Carol GlatzVATICANCITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will set up a panel of legal experts to help him indeciding whether to remove a religious superior or bishop from office forfailing to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.Vaticanoffices will continue to investigate claims of negligence on the part ofbishops, ordinaries or religious superiors under their jurisdiction. But thepope -- who makes the final decision about a bishop's removal from office --will now be assisted by a papally appointed "college of jurists,"according to procedures that take effect Sept. 5.Inan apostolic letter given "motu proprio" (on his own initiative),dated June 4, the pope reaffirmed that bishops of a diocese or eparchy andthose responsible for other kinds of particular churches can be"legitimately removed" for negligence. Inorder for it to be grounds for removal, such negligence -- either throughomission or commission -- will have had to cause "serious harm toothers," including individuals or...
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will set up a panel of legal experts to help him in deciding whether to remove a religious superior or bishop from office for failing to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.
Vatican offices will continue to investigate claims of negligence on the part of bishops, ordinaries or religious superiors under their jurisdiction. But the pope -- who makes the final decision about a bishop's removal from office -- will now be assisted by a papally appointed "college of jurists," according to procedures that take effect Sept. 5.
In an apostolic letter given "motu proprio" (on his own initiative), dated June 4, the pope reaffirmed that bishops of a diocese or eparchy and those responsible for other kinds of particular churches can be "legitimately removed" for negligence.
In order for it to be grounds for removal, such negligence -- either through omission or commission -- will have had to cause "serious harm to others," including individuals or a community, the letter said, and "the harm can be physical, moral, spiritual" or to property.
The letter clarified that it normally takes a "very serious" lack of due diligence for a bishop to be removed, however, when it comes to a failing to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse, a "serious" lack of due diligence "is sufficient" grounds for removal.
The new procedures are "clearly an important and positive step forward by Pope Francis," said U.S. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
The measures are meant to establish "a clear and transparent means for ensuring greater accountability in how we, as leaders of the church, handle cases of the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults," he said in a written statement, released June 4. "We are grateful that our Holy Father has received the recommendations from our commission members and that they have contributed to this new and significant initiative."
While all members of the church have a duty to safeguard and protect children and others from abuse, bishops of dioceses and eparchies, apostolic administrators and vicars, and those who lead a territorial prelature or abbacy must be especially diligent "in protecting the weakest of those entrusted to them," the pope's letter said. It said the heads of religious orders also come under the same standards of due diligence.
With the new procedures, wherever there is a serious indication of negligence, the Vatican congregation charged with overseeing a particular jurisdiction "can begin an investigation." The offices include the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
If a bishop's removal is deemed appropriate, the congregation will produce, "in the briefest time possible, the decree for removal," the new norms said.
The congregation will then "fraternally exhort the bishop to present his resignation within 15 days. If the bishop does not give his response in the time called for, the congregation will be able to issue the decree for removal," it said.
In every case, the congregation's decision must be approved of by the pope, who -- before making that final decision -- will be assisted by a "college of jurists" he has appointed, it said.
The "college" would be a sort of review board, that is, a body of advisers and not a tribunal, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told Catholic News Service June 6.
He said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would not be involved in these investigations since the accusations do not deal with the crime of abuse, but with "negligence of governance."
The proposal last year by the Council of Cardinals to have the doctrinal office investigate and judge claims of "abuse of office" by bishops who allegedly failed to protect minors had only been a suggestion, Father Lombardi said, and "it never existed" as an established procedure.
The new procedures spelled out in the "motu proprio" came after a year of study by numerous experts, he said, and are meant to address the need for greater accountability by bishops and superiors of religious orders.
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