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ORANGE, Calif. (AP) -- A Southern California university has awarded an honorary degree to the mother of a quadriplegic student after she attended every class with him and took his notes while he pursued his Master of Business Administration....
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- The roars of lions, snorts of rhinos and trumpets of elephants still blend with the cacophony of honking buses and screeching cars passing nearby in one of the most heavily congested areas of Argentina's capital....
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Bill Cosby's lawyers accused Pennsylvania prosecutors of trying to systematically keep blacks off the jury Tuesday after prosecutors used their strikes to send two black women home....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney, defending an administration that promises more economic growth than many think it can deliver, said Tuesday it's the Obama administration that went overboard in its forecasts for growth. His indictment glosses over significant differences in the economy now and then....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump fulfilled a major campaign promise Tuesday, proposing a $4.1 trillion budget plan that would upend Washington in a big way. But he drew rebukes, even from some Republican allies, for the plan's jarring, politically unrealistic cuts to the social safety net for the poor and a broad swath of other domestic programs....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former CIA Director John Brennan told Congress Tuesday he personally warned Russia last summer against interfering in the U.S. presidential election and was so concerned about Russian contacts with people involved in Donald Trump's campaign that he convened top counterintelligence officials to focus on it....
MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- Rihanna Hardy had been excited about seeing Ariana Grande ever since she got her concert ticket as a Christmas gift. So when the day came, the 11-year-old left school a couple of hours early to make sure to get to Manchester Arena on time....
MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- As officials hunted for accomplices of a suicide bomber and Britain's prime minister warned another attack could be "imminent," thousands of people poured into the streets of Manchester in a defiant vigil Tuesday for victims of a blast at a pop concert - the latest apparent target of Islamic extremists seeking to rattle life in the West....
Vatican City, May 23, 2017 / 11:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Women who are consecrated to God live “the prophecy of joy,” and this authentic joy is their most credible witness, Pope Francis told leaders of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master on Monday.“The world today is in need of this: that joy that arises from the encounter with Christ in a life of personal and community prayer, in daily listening to the Word, in the encounter with brothers and sisters, in a happy fraternal life in the community, including fragility, and in the embrace of the flesh of Christ in the poor. Prophets of a joy that is born of feeling loved and therefore forgiven,” he said May 22.“Joy is a beautiful reality in the life of many consecrated persons, but it is also a great challenge for all of us,” he said, adding “authentic joy, not self-referential or complacent, is the most credible witness of a full life.”The Pope addressed an audience of sisters gather...
Vatican City, May 23, 2017 / 11:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Women who are consecrated to God live “the prophecy of joy,” and this authentic joy is their most credible witness, Pope Francis told leaders of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master on Monday.
“The world today is in need of this: that joy that arises from the encounter with Christ in a life of personal and community prayer, in daily listening to the Word, in the encounter with brothers and sisters, in a happy fraternal life in the community, including fragility, and in the embrace of the flesh of Christ in the poor. Prophets of a joy that is born of feeling loved and therefore forgiven,” he said May 22.
“Joy is a beautiful reality in the life of many consecrated persons, but it is also a great challenge for all of us,” he said, adding “authentic joy, not self-referential or complacent, is the most credible witness of a full life.”
The Pope addressed an audience of sisters gathered in Rome in recent weeks for the 9th General Chapter of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master. The general chapter has elected its new superior general and other leaders.
He emphasized his point about joy, saying “this joy that fills your hearts and manifests itself on your faces will lead you to go out to the peripheries, participating in the joy of the Church, that is evangelization.”
“But to do this there must be a true joy, not counterfeit joy. Do not falsify joy. Evangelization, when you are convinced that Jesus is the Good News, is joy and gladness for all. This joy drives away the cancer of resignation, fruit of the lethargy that withers the soul,” he added.
He voiced hope that the sisters’ lives shall bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the master of diversity and unity. He encouraged them “to tirelessly weave unity in legitimate differences, taking account also of the fact that you are present in different countries and cultures.”
Pope Francis advocated a cultivation of care and reciprocal acceptance; practicing fraternal correction and respect for weaker sisters, and “banishing from the community all divisions, envy, gossip; saying this with frankness and charity.”
The Sister Disciples of the Divine Master were founded in Italy 1924 by Blessed Fr. Giacomo Alberione and Mother Scholastica.
The Pope noted the sisters’ mission of “bringing to the men and women of our time the Gospel,” particularly through liturgical service and caring for priests.
He encouraged them to cultivate dialogue and communion with other charisms and “to combat any form of self-centeredness.”
“It is ugly when a consecrated man or woman is self-centered, always looking at him or herself in the mirror. It is ugly,” he said.
He also encouraged them to show the fruits of communion with “the men and women of our time.”
“Our God is the God of history and our faith is a faith that works in history. In the questions and expectations of the men and women of today, we find important indications for our discipleship of Christ,” the Pope said.
He encouraged the general chapter to listen to the sisters of the congregation and to contemporary men and women.
“Never tire of exercising continually the art of listening and sharing,” he said. “In this time of great challenges, which demand of consecrated people creative fidelity, impassioned research, listening and sharing are more important than ever before, if we want our life to be fully meaningful for ourselves and for the people we meet.”
Pope Francis said this practice requires “a climate of discernment, to recognize what belongs to the Spirit and what is contrary to Him.”
“Before us there opens up a world of possibilities,” he said. “The culture in which we are immersed presents all of them as valid, all of them as good, but if we do not want to fall victim to the culture of ‘zapping’ and, at times, a culture of death, we must increase our habit of discernment.”
He encouraged the sisters to ask two questions at both the personal and community level: “Lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want us to do?”
The Pope warned against the dangers of a spirit of resignation, suggesting that the devil might tempt them by citing their small numbers or their few vocations and otherwise do what he can to make them have long faces.
“I encourage you also to be prophets of hope, with eyes turned to the future, where the Spirit pushes you, to continue to do great things with you,” he said. “The hope that does not disappoint is not based on numbers or works, but on Him, for Whom nothing is impossible”
“With this trust and this strength I repeat to you: do not join the prophets of misfortune, who do great damage to the Church and to consecrated life; do not give in to the temptation of torpor – like the Apostles in Gethsemane – and desperation,” he said.
“Awaken the world, illuminate the future! Always with a smile, with joy, with hope,” the Pope concluded. “May Mary our Mother protect you with her gaze, and the Lord bless you, show you His Face, and grant you peace and mercy.”
IMAGE: CNS photo/Andres Martinez Casares, ReutersBy WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Tens of thousands of Haitians enrolled under the Temporary Protected Status program can stay in the United States until at least January.Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly renewed the designation May 22. The decision affects more than 58,000 Haitians in the U.S.The designation, also known as TPS, was implemented by the U.S. government for Haiti days after a powerful earthquake in January 2010 leveled much of the country surrounding the capital of Port-au-Prince. It allowed Haitian nationals to stay in the U.S. because of adverse conditions in their homeland.Kelly's order extends Temporary Protected Status until Jan. 22, 2018, six months beyond the original expiration date of July 22. Previous extensions had been granted for 18 months.Kelly did not adopt the recommendation of the acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that called for ending the designation for Haitians altogether ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Andres Martinez Casares, Reuters
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Tens of thousands of Haitians enrolled under the Temporary Protected Status program can stay in the United States until at least January.
Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly renewed the designation May 22. The decision affects more than 58,000 Haitians in the U.S.
The designation, also known as TPS, was implemented by the U.S. government for Haiti days after a powerful earthquake in January 2010 leveled much of the country surrounding the capital of Port-au-Prince. It allowed Haitian nationals to stay in the U.S. because of adverse conditions in their homeland.
Kelly's order extends Temporary Protected Status until Jan. 22, 2018, six months beyond the original expiration date of July 22. Previous extensions had been granted for 18 months.
Kelly did not adopt the recommendation of the acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that called for ending the designation for Haitians altogether in July. In an April 10 memo to Kelly, James W. McCament said "conditions in Haiti no longer support its designation for TPS," but suggested delaying the effective date of the termination for six months to allow "for a period of orderly transition" for Haitian nationals.
The homeland security secretary stopped short of saying the designation automatically would be renewed again in January. In a statement Kelly urged that Haitian nationals begin to assemble travel documents and "make other necessary arrangements for their future departure" from the U.S.
"Haiti has made progress across several fronts since the devastating earthquake in 2010, and I'm proud of the role the United States has played during this time in helping our Haitian friends," Kelly said.
Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration, said he was grateful Kelly and the Trump administration gave the six-month extension, but added, "It still leaves many Haitian families in the United States in an insecure and vulnerable position, particularly with respect to ensuring legal work authorization (during that extended period)."
"Extending TPS serves an important humanitarian role by providing for the safety, well-being, and stability of Haitians living in the United States," he said in a statement. "We encourage our government to work proactively with the Haitian government to provide life-saving aid and recovery assistance. Haiti will continue to struggle to receive back those who are temporarily protected, even those who may be returned in the near future."
He said the Catholic Church through its various service networks "will continue to assist Haitian families in the U.S., aid the rebuilding process in Haiti and look for opportunities to collaborate with the church in Haiti and the Haitian and U.S. governments."
Kelly's statement said the "Haitian economy continues to recover and grow, and 96 percent of people displaced by the earthquake and living in internally displaced person camps have left those camps." He also cited Haitian government plans to rebuild the presidential residence on the grounds of the National Palace destroyed in the earthquake and the withdrawal of the United Nations stabilization forces as signs of progress.
In addition, Kelly said he had heard from the Haitian government regarding its desire to welcome Haitian TPS recipients.
Advocates have disagreed with McCament's assessment and have said Haiti is experiencing the same dire social challenges and deep poverty that existed when the TPS designation first was made. Haiti's recovery, advocates also argued, suffered a setback when Hurricane Matthew inundated farms and communities in the country's southwest peninsula in October.
One of organizations advocating for Haitians, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said in a statement that the extension concerns those with Temporary Protected Status because they will be required to return to their still unstable homeland.
"The extension of TPS for another six months is nothing more than a brief respite," Jeanne Atkinson, CLINIC executive director, said in a statement.
"Kelly's statement making this announcement suggests he doesn't truly understand the purpose of TPS and its basis in what the conditions are in an affected country," Atkinson said. "His remarks ignore that it would be inhumane to precipitously force tens of thousands of people back to a country that still suffers from dramatic levels of homelessness, an ongoing cholera epidemic and other systemic deficits, such as a lack of clean water. An adequate national recovery to support their return is far more than six months down the road."
The designation of Temporary Protected Status can be made for any country because of a natural disaster, continuing armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions under the Immigration Act of 1990.
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