Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When a Kansas strip-mall bank with possible mob ties folded in the mid-1980s, federal authorities investigated whether a shareholder, Iranian-born aviation magnate Farhad Azima, should face criminal charges....
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Video that shows a Minnesota police officer shooting seven rapid shots at Philando Castile during a traffic stop last July was made public Tuesday, just days after the officer was acquitted on all counts in the case....
PHOENIX (AP) -- The first day of summer was expected to bring some of the worst heat the Southwest U.S. has seen in years, forcing flights to be canceled, straining the power grid and making life miserable for workers toiling in temperatures that could reach 120 degrees in Phoenix....
ROSWELL, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia voters steadily streamed into suburban Atlanta polling places Tuesday to decide the most expensive House race in U.S. history and put weeks of television ads, phone calls and ringing doorbells behind them....
LONDON (AP) -- The cars still zip over London Bridge at their typical fast clip, drawing little obvious attention....
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Belgian media are reporting that explosion-like noises have been heard at a Brussels train station, prompting the evacuation of a main square....
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A public funeral service is planned Thursday at a high school attended by a 22-year-old college student who was held for nearly a year and a half in North Korea and died shortly after he was sent home to Ohio in a coma....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are getting ready for Senate votes on legislation scuttling former President Barack Obama's health care law, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday among growing indications that the climactic vote could occur next week....
(Vatican Radio) The Sri Lankan government is showing it is taking seriously the growing phenomenon of hate crimes against the country’s minority Muslim population. Police said on Sunday they have arrested 4 people, including a Buddhist monk and a police officer, accused of taking part in an attack on Muslim properties in May. The four belong to the hardline Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a hardline Buddhist organization. which Muslim groups blame for attacks on their businesses and mosques. BBS denies the allegation.Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody told reporters the four were caught in a CCTV footage while setting fire to a Muslim-owned book shop and a mosque in Panadura, a suburb of the capital Colombo on May 17. Describing the monk and the police officer as “prominent members of the Bodu Bala Sena” Jayakody said they were arrested with a sword, a hockey stick and equipment used to make petrol bombs. He said they are close associa...
(Vatican Radio) The Sri Lankan government is showing it is taking seriously the growing phenomenon of hate crimes against the country’s minority Muslim population. Police said on Sunday they have arrested 4 people, including a Buddhist monk and a police officer, accused of taking part in an attack on Muslim properties in May. The four belong to the hardline Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), a hardline Buddhist organization. which Muslim groups blame for attacks on their businesses and mosques. BBS denies the allegation.
Police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody told reporters the four were caught in a CCTV footage while setting fire to a Muslim-owned book shop and a mosque in Panadura, a suburb of the capital Colombo on May 17. Describing the monk and the police officer as “prominent members of the Bodu Bala Sena” Jayakody said they were arrested with a sword, a hockey stick and equipment used to make petrol bombs. He said they are close associates of extremist BBS leader, Buddhist monk Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera. An arrest warrant has been issued for the arrest of Gnanasara Thera, who is hiding in a safe location, after police linked him to dozens of hate crimes against Muslims establishments since April.
President Maithripala Sirisena's government has come under fire from opposition groups and diplomats for not doing enough to crack down on hardline Buddhist groups and protect Muslims. More than 20 attacks on Muslims, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques, have been recorded since April 17. Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have ordered police to uphold the law, but violence has continued.
Buddhists make up about 70 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million, compared with around 9 percent for Muslims. Some hardline Buddhist groups accuse Muslims of forcing people to convert to
Jayakody said police had arrested eleven people for hate speech offences this month, including a Muslim for a Facebook post against Buddhism and a Tamil accused of attacking a mosque.
Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers last week directed the law enforcement authorities and the Attorney General to take immediate action against instigators and perpetrators of violence and hate speech against religious and ethnic groups.
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Ivan Cornelius Dias, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay in India, died in Rome on Monday at the age of 81.On Tuesday, Pope Francis sent a telegram expressing his condolences to Francis Dias, the brother of the late Cardinal:To Mr Francis DiasDeeply saddened to learn of the death of your dear brother, I offer heartfelt condolences to you and the Dias family. I recall with gratitude the late Cardinal’s years of faithful service to the Apostolic See, especially his contribution to the spiritual and physical reconstruction of the suffering Church in Albania and the missionary zeal demonstrated in his work as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. I likewise unite my prayers to those of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Bombay, where the pastoral concern and broad apostolic vision that marked his service as Archbishop are fondly remembered.&nbs...
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Ivan Cornelius Dias, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay in India, died in Rome on Monday at the age of 81.
On Tuesday, Pope Francis sent a telegram expressing his condolences to Francis Dias, the brother of the late Cardinal:
To Mr Francis Dias
Deeply saddened to learn of the death of your dear brother, I offer heartfelt condolences to you and the Dias family. I recall with gratitude the late Cardinal’s years of faithful service to the Apostolic See, especially his contribution to the spiritual and physical reconstruction of the suffering Church in Albania and the missionary zeal demonstrated in his work as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. I likewise unite my prayers to those of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Bombay, where the pastoral concern and broad apostolic vision that marked his service as Archbishop are fondly remembered. In union of prayer with all who mourn his passing in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I commend the soul of this wise and gentle pastor to the merciful love of God our heavenly Father and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the Lord.
FRANCISCUS PP.
Cardinal Dias was born on 14 April 1936 in Mumbai, India. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Bombay on 8 December 1958 and held a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University.
He entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1964 and was posted to the Nordic countries, Indonesia, Madagascar, La Réunion, the Comorros, Mauritius and the Secretariat of State.
Cardinal Dias served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbanian University from 2006 until 2011.
With his death, the College of Cardinals numbers 220, of whom 116 are Cardinal-electors.
