Catholic News 2
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Actor Leonardo DiCaprio brushed up his Italian to greet Pope Francis at the Vatican Thursday, discussed their shared concern over the environment and gave the pontiff a check for his charitable works....
GENEVA (AP) -- The peace process the U.N. hopes to begin in Geneva is the first attempt to bring together Syria's rival groups since 2014, but few harbor any hope that the talks will achieve a quick breakthrough in the 5-year-old civil war....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday the security situation in the war-torn country is deteriorating and assured senators he will do a thorough review of American troop levels needed to stabilize the nation....
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Dazzled by an unprecedented wave of migration, Sweden on Thursday put into words an uncomfortable reality for Europe: If the continent isn't going to welcome more than 1 million people a year, it will have to deport large numbers of them to countries plagued by social unrest and abject poverty....
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The teenager who used an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was booked into a juvenile detention center in Texas following his deportation from Mexico on Thursday, more than a month after he and his mother fled the U.S. as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation....
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Donald Trump won't be onstage when Republican presidential candidates make their final appeals to Iowa voters in Thursday night's debate, and that gives the rest of the field a rare opportunity to frame the election in their own terms, at least for one night....
BURNS, Ore. (AP) -- The armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge dwindled Thursday to just four holdouts demanding assurances they will not be arrested by the FBI if they surrender....
 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-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 remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.
"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU
He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.
The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.The actor gave the Pope a book of art from the Dutch Renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch, and at the end of the encounter, DiCaprio kissed the Pope’s ring, and, in Italian, thanked the Holy Father for meeting with him.DiCaprio addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this month, calling on business leaders to do more to fight global warming, and announcing The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is donating $15 million to environmental projects.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.
The actor gave the Pope a book of art from the Dutch Renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch, and at the end of the encounter, DiCaprio kissed the Pope’s ring, and, in Italian, thanked the Holy Father for meeting with him.
DiCaprio addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this month, calling on business leaders to do more to fight global warming, and announcing The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is donating $15 million to environmental projects.
(Vatican Radio) The 51st International Eucharistic Congress is underway in Cebu in the Philippines.It's an event that takes place every four years and sees Catholic clergy and lay people from around the world gathered together to reflect upon and to celebrate the great mystery of the Eucharist.The theme of this year's Congress - which wraps up on January 31 - is “Christ in you, our hope of glory.”Vatican Radio's Seàn-Patrick Lovett is in Cebu following the Congress and sent us this report on key events that took place on day 5.Listen: What do a sex abuse victim, a tsunami survivor and a juggler in a circus act have in common?Nothing. Of course. Except for sharing their faith testimony here at the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu. They are among the many surprises this event has reserved for the lucky delegates coming from 74 countries, curious to discover how victims, survivors, and performers (among my...
(Vatican Radio) The 51st International Eucharistic Congress is underway in Cebu in the Philippines.
It's an event that takes place every four years and sees Catholic clergy and lay people from around the world gathered together to reflect upon and to celebrate the great mystery of the Eucharist.
The theme of this year's Congress - which wraps up on January 31 - is “Christ in you, our hope of glory.”
Vatican Radio's Seàn-Patrick Lovett is in Cebu following the Congress and sent us this report on key events that took place on day 5.
Listen:
What do a sex abuse victim, a tsunami survivor and a juggler in a circus act have in common?
Nothing. Of course. Except for sharing their faith testimony here at the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu.
They are among the many surprises this event has reserved for the lucky delegates coming from 74 countries, curious to discover how victims, survivors, and performers (among myriad others) reconcile their faith with their life experiences. And the responses range from the superbly erudite to the simply entertaining.
At the heart of all this learning and yearning lies the Eucharist. Naturally. But what makes this encounter unique is the way the organizers have succeeded in making their theme meaningful and pertinent to a 21st century audience by applying it to 21st century concerns. Like Culture, for instance. Not in an abstract or academic sense, but Culture understood as an opportunity to understand oneself and others better – in order to become more accepting, discerning, credible and responsible – and to start talking…and listening…more authentically.
At least that’s the way Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle interprets culture. His was the keynote speech at the Congress on Thursday morning. His theme: “The Eucharist and the Dialogue with Cultures”. His approach was to define different kinds of contemporary cultures and to illustrate them lavishly in terms of his own experience. Take the Digital Culture, for example. He spoke of his own difficulties in promoting an appreciation of the Real Presence of Christ (in the Eucharist, in the Word, in the Community at prayer) with a virtual world where hardly anything is as it seems, where Friendship is reduced to clicking on an icon, and where appearance counts more than substance. Or Community versus Individualistic Culture (what he calls the “self-help” and “selfie” culture) which risks destroying the very individual it pretends to exalt – and which finds its expression in the “throwaway culture” so often referred to by Pope Francis.
The solution, according to Cardinal Tagle, is to promote a new kind of “cultural intelligence”. IQ’s and EQ’s are no longer enough, he says. We need to develop a “CQ” (“cultural quotient”) so that we grow in our own awareness and become more sensitive towards others, meeting them in a new kind of dialogue that is both “authentic” and “credible”. In his view, the Eucharist is central to this process because it represents a “culture of convocation” – a “coming together with others around a meal hosted by the Lord”. And that meal, he concludes, is not served on a plate where we consume it in solitude…but at a table where it share it together.
Now I’m curious to hear what tomorrow’s speakers bring to the table. Aren’t you?
Here in Cebu, following the International Eucharistic Congress, I’m Seàn-Patrick Lovett.
