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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Friday that suggestions from people like Donald Trump that nuclear weapons would help South Korea and Japan show a lack of understanding of the world....
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- World leaders declared progress Friday in safeguarding nuclear materials sought by terrorists and wayward nations, even as President Barack Obama acknowledged the task was far from finished....
Birmingham, Ala., Apr 1, 2016 / 09:40 am (CNA).- UPDATE - April 1, 2016, 2:50 pm EDT: Full Video of the Memorial Mass will be added soon.Archbishop Charles J. Chaput presides over the Solemn Funeral Mass of Christian Burial for EWTN Foundress, Mother Angelica, live from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Al.
Birmingham, Ala., Apr 1, 2016 / 09:40 am (CNA).- UPDATE - April 1, 2016, 2:50 pm EDT: Full Video of the Memorial Mass will be added soon.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput presides over the Solemn Funeral Mass of Christian Burial for EWTN Foundress, Mother Angelica, live from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Al.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Rolex Dela Pena, EPABy Simone OrendainMANILA,Philippines (CNS) -- A Philippine archbishop is urging Catholics to heedthe Ten Commandments before they head to the polls in May to vote for officesranging from president to local village councilors. ArchbishopSocrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, who is also president of the Philippinebishops' conference, said in a pastoral letter to the faithful in hisarchdiocese if they need help "assessing the worthiness" of candidates, theyshould "use the age old standard set by our Judeo-Christian tradition -- theTen Commandments."ArchbishopVillegas listed all 10, with descriptions of how they apply to pickingcandidates. He particularly hit on some long-running issues: corruption and thepersistence of political dynasties."Howdoes the candidate show filial piety to elders? How does the candidate safeguardfamily life, the protection of children and the elderly and frail familymembers?" he asked, saying that a candidate who failed at...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Rolex Dela Pena, EPA
By Simone Orendain
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- A Philippine archbishop is urging Catholics to heed the Ten Commandments before they head to the polls in May to vote for offices ranging from president to local village councilors.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, who is also president of the Philippine bishops' conference, said in a pastoral letter to the faithful in his archdiocese if they need help "assessing the worthiness" of candidates, they should "use the age old standard set by our Judeo-Christian tradition -- the Ten Commandments."
Archbishop Villegas listed all 10, with descriptions of how they apply to picking candidates. He particularly hit on some long-running issues: corruption and the persistence of political dynasties.
"How does the candidate show filial piety to elders? How does the candidate safeguard family life, the protection of children and the elderly and frail family members?" he asked, saying that a candidate who failed at the commandment on honoring one's parents could "harm the basic unit of society -- the family."
Under this commandment, the archbishop also warned against voting for candidates whose families had held the same positions before them, since this would "perpetrate the family's hold on public office."
Philippine lawmakers have repeatedly failed to pass anti-political dynasty measures because a significant majority of them have relatives in politics or are offspring of public officials, while others come from generations of politicians.
Archbishop Villegas highlighted certain pitfalls in calling attention to the commandment against stealing. He implored the faithful to look into a candidates' records in dealing with banks and insurance firms, big business contracts and whether they faced corruption investigations.
Also under the commandment regarding stealing, the archbishop reminded Catholics that neglecting the "environment is robbing future generations of a clean and beautiful land."
Archbishop Villegas told the faithful to "see the different forms of lying," especially during the campaign period.
In the letter, the archbishop said, "Be careful in choosing leaders. I say it again -- be careful" that Catholic voters do not simply choose who has good polling numbers
"Be free from the tyranny and pressure of trends and herds. Do it right. Choose what is right according to the Ten Commandments," said Archbishop Villegas.
One
presidential candidate who has consistently polled in the top three of national
surveys is currently facing corruption inquiries. But this same candidate
opposed a controversial reproductive health law, which includes a provision for
government-funded contraception for the poor -- something the church also strongly
opposed. Another top-three candidate, a mayor of a major Philippine city, has
boasted of cleaning up crime by killing criminals.
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
By HANCEVILLE,Ala. (CNS) -- With Mother Angelica having been essentially bedridden for 15years following a series of strokes in 2001, staff at the Eternal Word Television Network andmembers of her order, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, had plenty oftime to plan and prepare for her funeral."Weat EWTN had many plans for when this day would come," said Father JosephWolfe of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word in his homily at theApril 1 funeral Mass. "But God was full of surprises when it came toMother Angelica."Onesurprise: Because Mother Angelica, 92, died March 27, Easter Sunday, somerevisions had to be made as church law prohibits reading from the Office of theDead during the Easter octave.Thefirst reading for the funeral Mass, celebrated at the Shrine of the Most BlessedSacrament in Hanceville, also had to be changed. Selected to take its place wasa passage from the Book of Revelation, where St. John said he "saw a newheaven and a new earth."MotherAngelica "pre...
By
HANCEVILLE, Ala. (CNS) -- With Mother Angelica having been essentially bedridden for 15 years following a series of strokes in 2001, staff at the Eternal Word Television Network and members of her order, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, had plenty of time to plan and prepare for her funeral.
"We at EWTN had many plans for when this day would come," said Father Joseph Wolfe of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word in his homily at the April 1 funeral Mass. "But God was full of surprises when it came to Mother Angelica."
One surprise: Because Mother Angelica, 92, died March 27, Easter Sunday, some revisions had to be made as church law prohibits reading from the Office of the Dead during the Easter octave.
The first reading for the funeral Mass, celebrated at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, also had to be changed. Selected to take its place was a passage from the Book of Revelation, where St. John said he "saw a new heaven and a new earth."
Mother Angelica "prepared as a bride for her husband, adorned for her husband," Father Wolfe said. "You cannot understand Mother Angelica without reference for the one that she loved with a passion: Jesus, the eternal word, who became man and dwelt among us."
Father Wolfe also told of the time that a teenage Rita Rizzo suffered from a stomach ailment that lasted nearly four years. He said that she had recalled of those events, "When the Lord came in and healed me, through the Little Flower (St. Therese of Lisieux), I had a whole different attitude. I knew there was a God. I knew that God loved me and was interested in me. I didn't know that before. ... All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus." In a letter, Mother Angelica had said, "Before I was cured I was a lukewarm Catholic. ... When I think of all that he has done for me and how little I have done for him, I could cry."
Some would argue that in her life, Mother Angelica did much: founding EWTN, branching out into radio, shortwave and print, and establishing a monastery in Alabama, which is thinly populated with Catholics.
Father Wolfe also told of Mother Angelica's solemn profession as a religious: "The bishop, I think, was late, he rushed through the ceremony, he put the ring on her finger just about halfway. But there was something deeper going on inside of her." He added, "We're trying to make up for that lack of ceremony today" during the two-hour invitation-only Mass that had other mourners on the piazza outside the church. The funeral was shown live on EWTN.
"Hers was a practical spirituality for the man in the pew," Father Wolfe said. I believe that deep down we all want holiness because it is the only thing that is really satisfies us. The saints are those who reached their potential."
The priest also read a recollection from the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration's mother vicar, Sister Mary Michael. "Being a spiritual daughter of Mother Angelica has been a unique privileged experience. Mother had a wealth of spiritual knowledge," she said.
However, Sister Mary Michael added, "she had to use 'yelling theology.'" "Most of us have experienced that, her yelling theology," Father Wolfe said before returning to Sister Mary Michael's words: "She used it on me once and later explained to me that she had to do it to get me to listen."
"Problems and challenges did not discourage Mother," Father Wolfe said. "No pity parties allowed. If one door closes, go through another, following the leading of Our Lord, and be one with it. What seemed to be setbacks often turned out to be an opening for something bigger and better."
He added, "Mother was not afraid to do what seemed ridiculous. Her only fear was not to do God's work."
The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, vice chairman of the EWTN board and its longest-serving current member. Other bishops present included Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican nuncio to the United States; Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham and his predecessor, retired Bishop David E. Foley; and Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix.
After the funeral, a private committal service took place at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration's motherhouse. Mother Angelica was to be interred in a crypt at the monastery.
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers shrugged off signs of weak growth and extended their long stretch of steady hiring in March, adding 215,000 jobs....
KOLKATA, India (AP) -- Indian police on Friday arrested three officials and detained seven more from a company constructing an overpass that collapsed onto a crowded Kolkata neighborhood, killing at least 24 people and injuring more than 80....
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- When Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer pulled a woman over last year on Interstate 64 for expired license plates, his gut told him something wasn't right....
