Catholic News 2

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea channeled about 70 percent of the money it received for workers at the now-shuttered Kaesong industrial park into its weapons programs and to buy luxury goods for the impoverished nation's tiny elite, South Korea said Sunday....

MUNICH (AP) -- A top Syrian opposition figure criticized Russia on Sunday for continuing with its bombing in Syria, insisting that people in the country need to see action rather than words....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia kept your attention, whether you liked him or not....

 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others.""Even as Americans rema...

WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...

(Vatican Radio)  The emblem of the ‘Federico Gomez’ Children’s Hospital in Mexico City, where Pope Francis spends Sunday afternoon, relates to Aztec culture. The Aztecs took great care of their children, it seems.Likewise all these centuries later the 2700 strong staff of the hospital take great care of the little patients there. Children with cancer, genetic malformation or neurological disorders.Doctor José Alberto Garcia Aranda is Director of the structure and has worked there for 45 years. He’s a charismatic figure who as you’ll hear in a moment, believes everybody in the hospital counts.Veronica Scarisbrick, who is in Mexico City with Pope Francis, spoke to him ahead of the visit and he expressed his joy explaining how two little children will ring a bell in the presence of the Pope, among whom seven year old Luz Elena, to signal their recovery.Listen to the full interview: The pope will be greeted at the hospital by twenty-five child...

(Vatican Radio)  The emblem of the ‘Federico Gomez’ Children’s Hospital in Mexico City, where Pope Francis spends Sunday afternoon, relates to Aztec culture. The Aztecs took great care of their children, it seems.

Likewise all these centuries later the 2700 strong staff of the hospital take great care of the little patients there. Children with cancer, genetic malformation or neurological disorders.

Doctor José Alberto Garcia Aranda is Director of the structure and has worked there for 45 years. He’s a charismatic figure who as you’ll hear in a moment, believes everybody in the hospital counts.

Veronica Scarisbrick, who is in Mexico City with Pope Francis, spoke to him ahead of the visit and he expressed his joy explaining how two little children will ring a bell in the presence of the Pope, among whom seven year old Luz Elena, to signal their recovery.

Listen to the full interview:

The pope will be greeted at the hospital by twenty-five children and the nation’s ‘Primera Dama’, Angélica Rivera. It will represent a moment of joy in what for the children and their families is a harsh reality.

One of the problems Doctor Garcia adds, is where to lodge the families who accompany their little loved ones. They are very poor so are obliged to sleep in the streets outside the hospital.

Mexico City lies at over 2.000 feet above sea level so the temperature drops dramatically at night.  And then the hospital borders with a dangerous neighbourhood which doesn’t help. Curiously, its name is ‘Buenos Aires’.

Full Article

TORONTO (AP) -- Zach LaVine called it the best dunk contest ever, a showdown with Aaron Gordon that rivaled what Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins did....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar contenders "Spotlight" and "The Big Short" won the top awards for screenwriting from the Writers Guild of America at a ceremony Saturday that was held in Los Angeles and New York....

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan civil activist Hadi Sadiqi had long been using social media to share news, commentary and his own musings on politics when he got into a heated exchange with another member of his Facebook forum....

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) -- The guest list at Sunnylands reads like a roster of the rich and famous, from years past to today: Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Queen Elizabeth II, to name a few....