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WILKINSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Two gunmen working as a team fatally shot five people and critically wounded two others at a backyard cookout, with one attacker using a high-velocity rifle to shoot all the victims in the head as they were driven in his direction, a prosecutor said Thursday....
IDOMENI, Greece (AP) -- Desperate migrants and refugees piled up Thursday in fetid fields of mud at a closed border crossing as officials warned that a well-trodden route to Europe used by hundreds of thousands in the past year was no longer available....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Years of Republican hardline politics and divisive rhetoric have spawned Donald Trump and the "crackup" of the GOP, President Barack Obama said Thursday, scoffing at the notion that his actions or policies were to blame for the charged political climate....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is urging Christians to support families in need so that children are raised in “healthy and peaceful environments.” In a short video message in Spanish issued Thursday, the Pope offers a prayer intention for the month of March. He reflects on the theme: “the family is one of the most precious assets of humanity. But, is it not perhaps the most vulnerable?”"When a family is exposed to economic, health, or other difficulties, the children grow up in an environment of sadness."Meditating on this issue, Pope Francis says, “I want to share with you and with Jesus my prayer intention for the month: That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.”
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is urging Christians to support families in need so that children are raised in “healthy and peaceful environments.”
In a short video message in Spanish issued Thursday, the Pope offers a prayer intention for the month of March. He reflects on the theme: “the family is one of the most precious assets of humanity. But, is it not perhaps the most vulnerable?”
"When a family is exposed to economic, health, or other difficulties, the children grow up in an environment of sadness."
Meditating on this issue, Pope Francis says, “I want to share with you and with Jesus my prayer intention for the month: That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.”
Hundreds of Catholic and Muslim women in Ungaran, Indonesia, have committed themselves to work together to promote peace.The group formed the Sisterhood of Interfaith Women following their March 9 meetings held at Christ the King Church and Jami' Istiqomah Mosque, which sits adjacent to the church. About 400 women, including about 130 nuns, participated in the event."We, women from different religious backgrounds, realize that a true sisterhood is the desire of each person. Thus, we commit to move and to continue moving so as to become promoters of peace according to our own faiths, religions and beliefs," they said in a statement.The meeting was facilitated by the Semarang Archdiocese's commission for ecumenical and interreligious affairs."As faithful from different religious background, we commit to keep learning, understanding and materializing our own religious teachings as good as we can and to live in harmony within our families and communities as well...
Hundreds of Catholic and Muslim women in Ungaran, Indonesia, have committed themselves to work together to promote peace.
The group formed the Sisterhood of Interfaith Women following their March 9 meetings held at Christ the King Church and Jami' Istiqomah Mosque, which sits adjacent to the church. About 400 women, including about 130 nuns, participated in the event.
"We, women from different religious backgrounds, realize that a true sisterhood is the desire of each person. Thus, we commit to move and to continue moving so as to become promoters of peace according to our own faiths, religions and beliefs," they said in a statement.
The meeting was facilitated by the Semarang Archdiocese's commission for ecumenical and interreligious affairs.
"As faithful from different religious background, we commit to keep learning, understanding and materializing our own religious teachings as good as we can and to live in harmony within our families and communities as well as the society and the nation," they said.
Divine Providence Sister Yulia Marselina Silalahi, who coordinated the meeting, said Catholic nuns and Muslim women are natural allies.
"We are actually the same. We both wear veils; we both have the desire of building a true sisterhood. That's why we hold such a dialogue. There's no way that we can respect our differences if we don't sit together in dialogue," she told ucanews.com.
She noted that their Central Java region has a reputation for tolerance. Still the group hopes they can serve as a model in tolerance and acceptance for local residents. "Preserving tolerance isn't easy though. That's why this meeting is important," she said.
Misbahatul Hidayati from the Institute for Development, Democracy and Media, noted that many Muslims viewed Catholic nuns "as a group of exclusive women."
"There was no forum or situation which could unite us," she told ucanews.com.
She suggested that the next meeting should embrace women from other religious backgrounds. "Such a wall emerges because we dont know each other. As a result, social conflicts can happen," she said.
(Source: UCANews)
Dalit Christians and Muslims in India are demanding that the government ensure them quotas in jobs and educational institutions, a right enjoyed by their Hindu counterparts."The government's thinking that granting rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims will lead to conversion is not right because people do not convert for money," said Father Z. Devasagayaraj, secretary of the Indian Catholic bishops' commission for Dalit and indigenous people.The Catholic priest was one of the main organizers of the protest by some 2,000 Dalit Christians and Muslims from all over the country in New Delhi on March 10.The protestors were objecting to a federal minister recently saying that granting special rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims "would encourage conversions and weaken the Hindu religion."Father Devasagayaraj said their demand for quotas is on the basis of social discrimination and not on the basis of religion that Dalits have been facing in the country for...
Dalit Christians and Muslims in India are demanding that the government ensure them quotas in jobs and educational institutions, a right enjoyed by their Hindu counterparts.
"The government's thinking that granting rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims will lead to conversion is not right because people do not convert for money," said Father Z. Devasagayaraj, secretary of the Indian Catholic bishops' commission for Dalit and indigenous people.
The Catholic priest was one of the main organizers of the protest by some 2,000 Dalit Christians and Muslims from all over the country in New Delhi on March 10.
The protestors were objecting to a federal minister recently saying that granting special rights to Dalit Christians and Muslims "would encourage conversions and weaken the Hindu religion."
Father Devasagayaraj said their demand for quotas is on the basis of social discrimination and not on the basis of religion that Dalits have been facing in the country for generations.
"Dalits have been facing stigma in this country be it Hindus, Muslims or Christians," he said.
Dalits, often the target of oppression and persecution, belong to the former untouchable castes within the Hindu caste system. At least half of India's 25 million Christians are of Dalit origin.
Indian law allows for job and educational quotas to Hindu Dalits as a means for affirmative action but denies them to Christians and Muslims on the grounds that their religions do not recognize the caste system.
Arun Lokhande, a Dalit Catholic, who came from the western Indian state of Maharashtra to take part in the protest, told ucanews.com that Dalits from all religions face poverty, lack education and good jobs, not just Hindus.
Shaik Sattar Saheb, a Dalit Muslim wanted the government to "remove the blot of being Christians and Muslims in the country by giving us our rights."
Around 100 organizations, including the National Council of Dalit Christians, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, National Council of Churches in India, took part in the protest.
(Source: UCANews)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has named Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, as his special representative to celebrations 1 May 2016 marking the conclusion of the Octave of Our Lady of Consolation in Luxembourg. The traditional pilgrimage has been taking place since 1666 to honor Our Lady, the patron saint of Luxembourg. The event lasts from the third to the fifth Sunday after Easter and represents the main religious ceremony of the country.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has named Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, as his special representative to celebrations 1 May 2016 marking the conclusion of the Octave of Our Lady of Consolation in Luxembourg. The traditional pilgrimage has been taking place since 1666 to honor Our Lady, the patron saint of Luxembourg. The event lasts from the third to the fifth Sunday after Easter and represents the main religious ceremony of the country.
An interreligious workshop in the eastern Indian state of Bihar focused on ways religions can work together to create a healthy and peaceful planet.The Jesuit Conference of Asia-Pacific Region organized the three-day workshop on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, which concluded March 7 in Bodh Gaya, the town linked with Buddha's enlightenment."Gone are the days of individual salvation. One can no longer today attain salvation without the community and the entire creation, that is why we need to mend our ways and heal the wounded planet," Jesuit Father Jose Kalapura said at the workshop.Quoting Pope Francis, the Indian church scholar contended that those who have destroyed the common home must rebuild it.The workshop, held under the Interreligious Wisdom Sharing Program and organized by the Indian Buddhist Jesuit scholar Lawrence Eucharist, dwelt on the theme — ecology and religion.Jesuits from Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan and more than 100 Buddhist monks and...
An interreligious workshop in the eastern Indian state of Bihar focused on ways religions can work together to create a healthy and peaceful planet.
The Jesuit Conference of Asia-Pacific Region organized the three-day workshop on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, which concluded March 7 in Bodh Gaya, the town linked with Buddha's enlightenment.
"Gone are the days of individual salvation. One can no longer today attain salvation without the community and the entire creation, that is why we need to mend our ways and heal the wounded planet," Jesuit Father Jose Kalapura said at the workshop.
Quoting Pope Francis, the Indian church scholar contended that those who have destroyed the common home must rebuild it.
The workshop, held under the Interreligious Wisdom Sharing Program and organized by the Indian Buddhist Jesuit scholar Lawrence Eucharist, dwelt on the theme — ecology and religion.
Jesuits from Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan and more than 100 Buddhist monks and nuns from the monasteries in Bodh Gaya took part in the event.
Jesuit Father Cyril Veliath, coordinator of the Dialogue Commission of Asia-Pacific Jesuit Conference, said that the Catholic Church teaches that every religion includes elements of truth and "that is why we should reach out to other religions and dialogue so that humanity improves."
Noel Seth, prominent Jesuit scholar on religions, stressed on the need for a multireligious identity.
"One needs to go beyond one's own religion and learn to treat all with respect, which is the only way to reach our destination," he said.
Buddhist monk Kabir Saxena argued that "we have still not discovered nature and the creation."
"We have become self-forgetful, imitative and artificial. The call is to become original and thus restore the true creation," he said.
Father Lawrence Eucharist said that, "in an age of religious violence and exploitation of nature, the enlightened believers should come together to appeal to the world about the essence of religions, which is love, compassion and peace and also jointly care for mother earth."
Father Bernard Senecal, a French-Canadian Jesuit who teaches a course on Buddhism at the Sogang Jesuit University in Seoul, South Korea, considers himself lucky to visit Bodh Gaya because of its importance to the Buddhist religion. "What touched me most was the deep personal sharing by some monks as to how Buddhism has changed their lives," he said.
Father Ingun Joseph, a Korean Jesuit working in Cambodia, shares the same feeling. "This was the sixth such workshop held in various parts of the world, but the first in India. Dialogue of this kind is very enriching and ennobling," Father Joseph said.
(Source: UCANews)
By Richard SzczepanowskiWASHINGTON(CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Washington has criticized a Georgetown Universitystudent group's invitation to the president of Planned Parenthood to speak oncampus.Ina statement, the archdiocese said the issue is not about free speech because"lacking in this choice by the student group is any reflection of whatshould be an environment of morality, ethics and human decency that one expectson a campus that asserts its Jesuit and Catholic history and identity."GeorgetownUniversity officials defended the students' invitation, saying in a statementthat the issue is a matter of "sustaining a forum for the free exchange ofideas ... even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial orobjectionable to some."CecileRichards, president of Planned Parenthood of America and the Planned ParenthoodAction Fund, is scheduled to speak at Georgetown in April. She was invited tospeak by the school's student-run Lecture Fund. Planned Parenthood is thenation's largest ab...
By Richard Szczepanowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Washington has criticized a Georgetown University student group's invitation to the president of Planned Parenthood to speak on campus.
In a statement, the archdiocese said the issue is not about free speech because "lacking in this choice by the student group is any reflection of what should be an environment of morality, ethics and human decency that one expects on a campus that asserts its Jesuit and Catholic history and identity."
Georgetown University officials defended the students' invitation, saying in a statement that the issue is a matter of "sustaining a forum for the free exchange of ideas ... even when those ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable to some."
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, is scheduled to speak at Georgetown in April. She was invited to speak by the school's student-run Lecture Fund. Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider.
In its statement, the archdiocese said: "One would prefer to see some recognition by this student group of the lives and ministry, focus and values of people like Blessed Oscar Romero, Blessed Teresa (of Kolkata) and Pope Francis in place of that group's seemingly constant preoccupation with sexual activity, contraception and abortion."
It added: "The Archdiocese of Washington is always open and ready to dialogue with the students, faculty and administration of the university on issues of such significance."
"The apparent unawareness of those pushing the violence of abortion and the denigration of human dignity that there are other human values and issues being challenged in the world lends credence to the perception of the 'ivory tower' life of some on campus," the archdiocese said.
Georgetown noted that Richards is not being paid to speak. "Student groups may invite any outside speakers and guests to campus. An appearance of any speaker or guest on campus is not an endorsement by the university," it said.
The Lecture Fund, according to its website, is "a nonpartisan student-run organization that exists to enrich the academic experience of the Georgetown community. The Lecture Fund strives to bring speakers to Georgetown's campus to enlighten, educate and, occasionally, entertain."
The university said it recognizes "that the perspectives of some speakers (invited by the Lecture Fund) run counter to the Catholic and Jesuit values that animate our university."
"We work very hard to ensure that these values maintain a privileged place in our community while at the same time providing a forum that does not limit speech either in the content of the view being expressed or the speaker expressing the view," the university said.
The Washington Archdiocese suggested that "those so interested in learning more about the killing of unborn babies and respect for the dignity of all human life" look at a recent issue of America magazine "that speaks at length about the extent of violence and persecution the people of faith around the world suffer."
"It would be beneficial," said, "for these Georgetown University students to learn more about these serious problems in the world."
The Lecture Fund, according to its website, "consists of only undergraduate students. We extend invitations to any and all speakers, they accept or deny the invitation, and we plan accordingly."
On its website, the group said Richards' talk "is not open to the public and only those with a Georgetown University ID will be allowed to attend. The event will consist of remarks, followed by a question and answer period."
The Archdiocese of Washington statement said, "The contribution to a better world today can take inspiration from the Gospel and its proponents such as Pope Francis and from the Jubilee Year of Mercy rather than from the organized efforts to facilitate the violent destruction of unborn children,"
It added: "The Jesuit community on campus clearly has its work cut out for it and a long way to go as it tries to instill at Georgetown some of the values of Pope Francis."
News of Richards' planned speaking engagement was first reported by the Cardinal Newman Society on its website.
Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick Reilly noted on the group's website that "disguised as an academic event, this (Richards' talks) is nothing more than a platform for abortion advocacy at a Catholic university and under the nose of the Catholic bishops."
Founded in 1993, the society states its mission is "to promote and defend faithful Catholic education ... (through) supporting education that is faithful to the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church; producing and disseminating research and publications on developments and best practices in Catholic education; and keeping Catholic leaders and families informed."
"Besides a clear bias in the choice of speakers, there's no sense of moral truth, which is the central point of a Catholic university," Reilly said on the website. "Either you accept Catholic moral teaching as true or you do not."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that abortion is morally wrong because "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person."
In his 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life") St. John Paul II said: "Abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being."
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Szczepanowski is a staff writer at the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.
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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.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The number of people going toconfession in St. Peter's Basilica increased noticeably in the first months ofYear of Mercy, but not among English-speakers, who apparently are staying awayfrom Europe out of fear of terrorism, said the rector of the basilica's team ofconfessors.Conventual Franciscan Father Rocco Rizzo, the rector, toldthe Vatican newspaper that from the opening of the Holy Year Dec. 8 and throughFebruary, he heard about 2,000 confessions in St. Peter's. But, he said, "we are noticing that the majority ofpenitents are Italian. I think that is due to the alarm over terroristattacks" following the series of attacks in Paris in November. "Thisis why the English-language priests have fewer confessions this year."In an interview published in the March 10 edition ofL'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Father Rizzo said that in additionto the 14 Conventual Franciscans assigned full time to the confessiona...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The number of people going to confession in St. Peter's Basilica increased noticeably in the first months of Year of Mercy, but not among English-speakers, who apparently are staying away from Europe out of fear of terrorism, said the rector of the basilica's team of confessors.
Conventual Franciscan Father Rocco Rizzo, the rector, told the Vatican newspaper that from the opening of the Holy Year Dec. 8 and through February, he heard about 2,000 confessions in St. Peter's.
But, he said, "we are noticing that the majority of penitents are Italian. I think that is due to the alarm over terrorist attacks" following the series of attacks in Paris in November. "This is why the English-language priests have fewer confessions this year."
In an interview published in the March 10 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Father Rizzo said that in addition to the 14 Conventual Franciscans assigned full time to the confessionals in St. Peter's Basilica, another 30 of their confreres are supplementing their work during the Holy Year.
The Conventual Franciscans hear confessions every day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the winter; they stay until 7 p.m. in the spring and summer. In addition to Italian, Spanish, English, French, German, Portuguese and Polish, confessors can offer the sacrament in a variety of languages, including Maltese, Chinese and Croatian.
Father Rizzo said he usually hears 20-30 confessions a day in Italian or Spanish, but the number of penitents increases on Saturdays and Sundays, and he will offer the sacrament to at least 50 people each day on the weekend.
Another phenomenon that is increasing, he said, is people coming to the confessionals who are not Catholic. "They want to confess to see what it is about," he said. While confessors can listen to and counsel non-Catholics, it is not considered a sacramental confession in most cases.
Even Catholics visiting St. Peter's Basilica as tourists or even pilgrims may not be very familiar with the sacrament, Father Rizzo said. Many young people will say they have not been to confession since they made their first Communion, and it is not usual for someone to come and say it has been 30 years since they last confessed.
"I have had people come who listened to the words of the pope and then remembered that 30 or 40 years ago they committed a serious sin and they now feel the need to reconcile with the Lord," he said. "In particular, women have come to me who have had an abortion, and they carry with them this open wound that never heals. Even if they already have confessed the sin, they want to re-confess it."
For the Year of Mercy, Father Rizzo and the other priests who hear confessions at St. Peter's and the major basilicas of Rome have been given special faculties to extend absolution even in cases like abortion that normally require consultation with the local bishop or even with the Vatican.
Another Year of Mercy change, he said, is in the penance given to those coming to confession. Increasingly the priests in the basilica will ask someone to show their repentance not by reciting a set number of prayers, but through a work of mercy, "like visiting someone who is sick, doing the shopping for an older person, paying a bill for someone who is lacking money" or helping someone get to church.
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Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.
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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.
