Catholic News 2
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A suspected tornado near Birmingham, Alabama, flattened businesses and injured one person Thursday, while the mayor of a coastal Louisiana town urged residents to evacuate ahead of a rising tide - two lingering effects of a weakening Tropical Depression Cindy that was fueling harsh weather across the Southeast....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi defended her leadership on Thursday in the face of needling from President Donald Trump and grumbling from fellow House Democrats exasperated after a high-profile special election loss....
MUKALLA, Yemen (AP) -- They call it the "grill": The victim is tied to a spit like a roast and spun furiously within a circle of fire. It is just one of the terrors inflicted by interrogators on detainees in Yemen who are routinely beaten with wires and were kept in filthy shipping containers, blindfolded for months - all by one of America's closest counterterrorism allies....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday he "did not make" and doesn't have any recordings of his private conversations with ousted FBI Director James Comey, speaking up on Twitter after a month-long guessing game that began with him delivering an ominous warning and ended with his administration ensnared in more scandal....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the assessment of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that blame Russia for election meddling, questioning Thursday why the Obama administration didn't try to stop it....
The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia plan to closely cooperate to halt the flow of militants, weapons, funds and extremist propaganda across their borders as they expressed alarm over recent attacks in their region. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts gathered in Manila with top security officials Thursday to discuss a joint plan of action amid a disastrous siege of southern Marawi city by militants aligned with the Islamic State group that has left about 369 combatants and civilians dead.As the IS loses territory in Syria and Iraq, Southeast Asian governments worry that battle-hardened Asian fighters, including those from Indonesia and Malaysia, may return to exploit social restiveness, weak law enforcement, a surfeit of illegal arms and raging insurgencies to establish a foothold. Many worry that the month-long siege in Marawi could draw in the returning jihadis.``We expect that those who will be displaced...
The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia plan to closely cooperate to halt the flow of militants, weapons, funds and extremist propaganda across their borders as they expressed alarm over recent attacks in their region. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts gathered in Manila with top security officials Thursday to discuss a joint plan of action amid a disastrous siege of southern Marawi city by militants aligned with the Islamic State group that has left about 369 combatants and civilians dead.
As the IS loses territory in Syria and Iraq, Southeast Asian governments worry that battle-hardened Asian fighters, including those from Indonesia and Malaysia, may return to exploit social restiveness, weak law enforcement, a surfeit of illegal arms and raging insurgencies to establish a foothold. Many worry that the month-long siege in Marawi could draw in the returning jihadis.
``We expect that those who will be displaced there will go to Asia and because of the Marawi uprising, the Philippines is like a magnet,'' said Philippine military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano, who took part in the closed-door security conference.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi condemned the attack in Marawi and said her government was ready to help. ``Your challenges are Indonesia's challenges and your challenges are also the challenges of the region,'' she said in her opening speech, adding that the threat of terrorism is imminent and that ``no action is not an option.''
The three neighbours expressed concern over the recent incidents of terrorism and violent extremism in their countries'' and their desire to plot joint strategies to combat it.
On May 23, about 500 militants, including about 40 Indonesian, Malaysian and other foreigners, stormed the business district of Marawi, a lakeside center of the Islamic faith in the largely Roman Catholic country's south, taking a Roman Catholic priest and other hostages, occupying buildings and installing IS-style black flags.
Of the 276 militants who have been killed, at least three were Malaysians and one came from Indonesia, Ano said, adding that the arrest in Malaysia last week of an unspecified number of militants who were suspected to be bound for Marawi showcases the crossborder cooperation needed to secure the region. (Source: AP)
(Vatican Radio) A new album from a group of traditional Catholic priests has been sitting atop the Billboard charts for classical music for four weeks. “The Requiem,” by members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP), focuses on the traditional Gregorian chants sung at funerals in the Roman Rite.The Fraternity is a society of apostolic life dedicated to the formation and sanctification of priests in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and to the pastoral development of the priests in the service of the Church.It may seem strange an album of Latin chant music, sung by priests dedicated to the ancient form of the liturgy, should achieve such wide renown. To find out more about the popularity of “The Requiem,” Vatican Radio spoke with Father Zachary Akers, a young priest of the Fraternity.“I think people are drawn to beauty, whether it be in the Catholic Church, or even the secular world,” Fr Akers told us. “People are drawn to t...
(Vatican Radio) A new album from a group of traditional Catholic priests has been sitting atop the Billboard charts for classical music for four weeks. “The Requiem,” by members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP), focuses on the traditional Gregorian chants sung at funerals in the Roman Rite.
The Fraternity is a society of apostolic life dedicated to the formation and sanctification of priests in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and to the pastoral development of the priests in the service of the Church.
It may seem strange an album of Latin chant music, sung by priests dedicated to the ancient form of the liturgy, should achieve such wide renown. To find out more about the popularity of “The Requiem,” Vatican Radio spoke with Father Zachary Akers, a young priest of the Fraternity.
“I think people are drawn to beauty, whether it be in the Catholic Church, or even the secular world,” Fr Akers told us. “People are drawn to the transcendence of this ancient form of singing, which is the heritage of our Church, so I’m very happy to see that it’s been well received, not only in the Catholic world, but even in the secular classical music world as well.”
Father Akers also spoke about the attraction of Gregorian chant for young people. “I think young people like to be part of something that's older and bigger than themselves. You see in the college and university life that people want to be part of a fraternity or sorority that their father or grandfather was part of. And I think we see this in the liturgy as well, there’s a great hunger and desire to return to something that was held so sacred and important to our forefathers.”
He also noted the contrast with other popular forms of music. “What we’re doing,” Father Akers said, is “re-presenting this beautiful music, which is not just musical composition, but it's a prayer. And so I think it's a wonderful way to light a candle in the darkness of this world, by showing the beauty that the Church has to offer.”
Young people, he continued, “are thirsting for the truth -- and so it’s no surprise to me that we are in a culture where people are searching for more depth, and so they are drawn to give their life to God.”
“And so we pray that this album, maybe, might have some part in restoring the sense of the sacred, especially in liturgical music.”
Listen to the full interview of Father Zachary Akers, FSSP, with Devin Watkins:
The population of India, which currently ranks as the world’s 2nd most populous country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, is expected to surpass China's 1.4 billion by 2024; and Nigeria, which ranks 7th, is expected to replace the United States as the 3rd most populous country by 2050, according to a new report by the United Nations published on Wednesday. The current world population of nearly 7.6 billion will increase to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, said the report titled, “World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision.” Published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division, the study said the growth will be spurred by the relatively high levels of fertility in developing countries – despite an overall drop in the number of children people have around the globe. Roughly 83 million people are added to the world's population every year and the upward trend is expected to cont...
The population of India, which currently ranks as the world’s 2nd most populous country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, is expected to surpass China's 1.4 billion by 2024; and Nigeria, which ranks 7th, is expected to replace the United States as the 3rd most populous country by 2050, according to a new report by the United Nations published on Wednesday.
The current world population of nearly 7.6 billion will increase to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, said the report titled, “World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision.” Published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division, the study said the growth will be spurred by the relatively high levels of fertility in developing countries – despite an overall drop in the number of children people have around the globe. Roughly 83 million people are added to the world's population every year and the upward trend is expected to continue even with a continuing decline in fertility rates, which have fallen steadily since the 1960s.
African scenario
John Wilmoth, director of the Population Division, said that the report includes information on the populations of 233 countries or areas of the world. `The population in Africa is notable for its rapid rate of growth, and it is anticipated that over half of global population growth between now and 2050 will take place in that region,'' he said at a news conference at the UN in New York, June 21. “At the other extreme, it is expected that the population of Europe will, in fact, decline somewhat in the coming decades,'' he said
The U.N. agency forecasts that from now through 2050 half the world's population growth will be concentrated in just nine countries - India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, United States, Uganda and Indonesia. Those nations are listed in the order of their ``expected contribution to total growth,'' the report said. During the same period, it added, the populations of 26 African countries are expected to at least double.
Declining fertility rates
The report said fertility has been declining in nearly all regions in recent years. Between 2010 and 2015, Wilmoth said, ``the world's women had 2 1/2 births per woman over a lifetime - but this number varies widely around the world.'' “Europe has the lowest fertility level, estimated at 1.6 births per woman in the most recent period, while Africa has the highest fertility, with around 4.7 births per woman,'' he said. More and more countries now have fertility rates below the level of roughly 2.1 births per woman needed to replace the current generation, the report said. During the 2010-2015 period, fertility was below the replacement level in 83 countries comprising 46 percent of the world's population, it said. The 10 most populous countries with low fertility levels are China, United States, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Vietnam, Germany, Iran, Thailand and United Kingdom, the report said.
Ageing population
In addition to slowing population growth, low fertility levels lead to an older population, the report noted. It forecasts that the number of people aged 60 or above will more than double from the current 962 million to 2.1 billion in 2050 and more than triple to 3.1 billion in 2100. A quarter of Europe's population is already aged 60 or over, and that share is projected to reach 35 percent in 2050 then remain around that level for the rest of the century.
Migrants and refugees
The report also noted the impacts of the flows of migrants and refugees between countries, in particular noting the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis and the estimated outflow of 4.2 million people in 2010-2015. In terms of migration, “although international migration at or around current levels will be insufficient to compensate fully for the expected loss of population tied to low levels of fertility, especially in the European region, the movement of people between countries can help attenuate some of the adverse consequences of population ageing,” the authors of the report wrote.
(Vatican Radio) Led by the community of Saint Egidio and together with other faith-based organizations and groups who care for refugees and forced migrants, the city of Rome gathers in prayer on Thursday evening for a vigil to remember the tens of thousands of people who have died trying to reach Europe in hope of safety and a future. The UN Migration Agency reports that over 82,000 migrants, including refugees, have entered Europe by sea so far this year, with 85 per cent arriving in Italy and the remainder divided among Greece, Cyprus and Spain. Some 2,000 deaths have been monitored in 2017, but no one really knows how many men, women and children have drowned during the unregistered journeys captained by human traffickers. Most of the dead have no names. We do not know their personal stories, their hopes and certainly not their faces. Today’s vigil – entitled “To die of hope” – which takes place each year in the week we mark World Re...
(Vatican Radio) Led by the community of Saint Egidio and together with other faith-based organizations and groups who care for refugees and forced migrants, the city of Rome gathers in prayer on Thursday evening for a vigil to remember the tens of thousands of people who have died trying to reach Europe in hope of safety and a future.
The UN Migration Agency reports that over 82,000 migrants, including refugees, have entered Europe by sea so far this year, with 85 per cent arriving in Italy and the remainder divided among Greece, Cyprus and Spain.
Some 2,000 deaths have been monitored in 2017, but no one really knows how many men, women and children have drowned during the unregistered journeys captained by human traffickers.
Most of the dead have no names. We do not know their personal stories, their hopes and certainly not their faces. Today’s vigil – entitled “To die of hope” – which takes place each year in the week we mark World Refugee Day, pays tribute to each one of them.
Linda Bordoni spoke to St. Egidio's Cecilia Pani about the initiative.
Listen:
Cecilia explains that St. Egidio has been collecting news about the people who have died, mainly in the Mediterranean Sea because "we were struck about so many people dying, but no one knew their names or their stories".
The newspapers, she says, carry numbers and statistics conveying the idea that "some sort of invasion of Italy is taking place. That's why we started to collect names and stories. On this occasion we remember the people who disappeared".
These people are men, women, children - even babies - entire families have disappeared in the waters, coming from all over the world.
Cecilia says these are people who fled their countries, many of them wanting to ask for asylum, most of them fleeing dire economic situations, escaping not only because of political problems but because their land gave them no possibility to live.
Cecilia says the ones who manage to reach our countries are the strongest. "You need money, courage, strength and good health to undertake this trip".
These people, she points out, “allow us to open our mentality and open our eyes on the future of the world”.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Máxima, of the Netherlands in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday.A communiqué from the Holy See Press Office said their discussions were “cordial” and touched on issues of shared interest, including “the protection of the environment and the fight against poverty, as well as on the specific contribution of the Holy See and the Catholic Church in these fields.”They also paid “particular attention to the phenomenon of migration, underlining the importance of peaceful co-existence between different cultures, and joint commitment to promoting peace and global security, with special reference to various areas of conflict.”The King, the Queen, and the Pope also reflected together “on the prospects of the European project”, according to the communiqué.Afterwards, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima met with Cardina...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received King Willem-Alexander and his wife, Queen Máxima, of the Netherlands in a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday.
A communiqué from the Holy See Press Office said their discussions were “cordial” and touched on issues of shared interest, including “the protection of the environment and the fight against poverty, as well as on the specific contribution of the Holy See and the Catholic Church in these fields.”
They also paid “particular attention to the phenomenon of migration, underlining the importance of peaceful co-existence between different cultures, and joint commitment to promoting peace and global security, with special reference to various areas of conflict.”
The King, the Queen, and the Pope also reflected together “on the prospects of the European project”, according to the communiqué.
Afterwards, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and Arcbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
