Catholic News 2
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Brazil's political crisis deepened sharply on Thursday with corruption allegations that threatened to topple the president, undermine reforms aimed at pulling the economy from recession and leave Latin America's largest nation rudderless....
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) -- Half a dozen units of Islamic State group fighters holed up in western Mosul began their morning radio checks at just after 4 a.m. It was still dark and Iraqi forces deployed a few blocks away were listening in as they prepared an advance on the city's al-Rifai neighborhood....
NEW YORK (AP) -- A man who appeared to be intoxicated steered his car onto a sidewalk running through the heart of Times Square on Thursday and mowed down pedestrians for three blocks, killing a teenager and injuring 22 others, before he was tackled by bystanders, authorities said....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Roger Ailes is gone, but the world he created is not....
NEW YORK (AP) -- President Donald Trump's loyal backers say they don't know, don't believe or don't care about the explosive revelations that forced the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible collusion between Russia and the Republican campaign....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is "very close" to naming a new FBI director to replace the one he fired more than a week ago....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump denounced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign's ties with Russia Thursday, calling it an unprecedented "witch hunt" that "hurts our country terribly." Even as he erupted anew, fellow Republicans expressed hopes the move would restore some calm to a capital plunged into chaos....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday welcomed to the Vatican Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Ramesh Prasad Khanal, and 5 others. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican, all 6 ambassadors presented their credentials to the Pope at the start of their diplomatic mission with the Holy See. The other ambassadors are from Mauritania, Trinidad e Tobago, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Niger. The Nepalese Ambassador to Germany, residing in Berlin, is the accredited non-residential Ambassador to the Holy See. Pope Francis delivered a common address to the 6 ambassadorsThe Holy See and the Kingdom of Nepal established diplomatic relations on 10 September, 1983 and on 7 October 1983, the Holy See erected the Mission sui Iuris of Nepal, meaning ‘in its own right’ or an independent mission. Prior to that, Nepal’s Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Indian Diocese of Patna. Fr. Anthony Francis Sharma, the first native Jesu...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday welcomed to the Vatican Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Ramesh Prasad Khanal, and 5 others. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican, all 6 ambassadors presented their credentials to the Pope at the start of their diplomatic mission with the Holy See. The other ambassadors are from Mauritania, Trinidad e Tobago, Sudan, Kazakhstan and Niger. The Nepalese Ambassador to Germany, residing in Berlin, is the accredited non-residential Ambassador to the Holy See.
Pope Francis delivered a common address to the 6 ambassadors
The Holy See and the Kingdom of Nepal established diplomatic relations on 10 September, 1983 and on 7 October 1983, the Holy See erected the Mission sui Iuris of Nepal, meaning ‘in its own right’ or an independent mission. Prior to that, Nepal’s Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Indian Diocese of Patna. Fr. Anthony Francis Sharma, the first native Jesuit, was appointed the first Ecclesiastical Superior of Nepal and he was installed on 8th December 1984. The following year, Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan presented his credentials to the Nepalese King as the Holy See’s first Pro-nuncio to the kingdom. Currently, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro is the non-residential Apostolic Nuncio or Holy See’s ambassador to India and Nepal, residing at the Apostolic Nunciature in New Delhi.
The Holy See raised the Mission Sui Iuris to the rank of Prefecture Apostolic on 8 November, 1996, with Msgr. Sharma as the first Prefect Apostolic of Nepal. As the Church grew in the Himalayan nation, it was raised to the rank of Vicariate Apostolic with Msgr. Sharma becoming its first Vicar Apostolic. He was consecrated bishop at Kathmandu’s Assumption Cathedral on 5 May, 2007, thus becoming Nepal’s first bishop.
After Bishop Sharma retired on 25th April, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Fr. Paul Simick, a priest of the Indian Diocese of Darjeeling, the Vicar Apostolic of Nepal. Bishop Sharma passed away on 8 Dec 2015, at the age of 77. Pope Francis on 25 April, 2014. However, Nepal is a fully-fledged diocese as yet.
Once the world's only Hindu state, Nepal ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006. Over 81% of its some 26.5 million population is Hindu, followed by Buddhists (9%), while Christians are a tiny minority of 1.4%. According to estimates by the Catholic charity ‘Aid to the Church in Need” (ACN), Catholics number around 8,000 faithful. Protestant communities, notably the Evangelical and Pentecostal groups have a strong presence.
Khanal, Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See is a 55-year old diplomat. The father of two children has diplomas in journalism and Japanese language, and has also has done specialized studies in security. He is law graduate and has also a Master’s degree in political science.
Khanal has held the following posts:
* Under-secretary of the Department for Europe-America, and South, South-East and North Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1988-1994)
* Second and later First Secretary at the Nepali Embassy in China (1994-1998)
* Under-secretary of the Departmant of Protocol and of international organizations and the United Nations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-2001)
* First Secretary at Nepal’s Embassy in Saudi Arabia (2001-2004)
* Counsellor and later Minister Counsellor at the Nepal’s embassy in Bangladesh (2005-2009)
* Under Secretary of the Multilateral Economic Affairs Division and of Passports at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009-2010)
* Minister Counsellor at Nepal’s Embassy in Israel (2010-2013)
* Director General of the Department of Passports at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2014)
* Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2015-2016)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis granted a special audience on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, to people suffering from Huntington's Disease, along with their caregivers, researchers, and patient advocates. Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis' remarks on the occasion.*************************************Dear Brothers and Sisters,I welcome you with joy, and I greet each one of you present at this opportunity for meeting and reflection dedicated to Huntington’s Disease. I wholeheartedly thank all those who worked to make this day possible. I am grateful to Dr Cattaneo and to Mr Sabine for their introductory words. I would like to extend my greeting to all people who, in their body and in their life, carry signs of this disease, as well as those who suffer from other so-called rare diseases.I know that some of you have had to brave a very long and difficult journey in order to be here today. I thank you and I am happy you are here. I have listened to your account...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis granted a special audience on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, to people suffering from Huntington's Disease, along with their caregivers, researchers, and patient advocates. Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis' remarks on the occasion.
*************************************
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I welcome you with joy, and I greet each one of you present at this opportunity for meeting and reflection dedicated to Huntington’s Disease. I wholeheartedly thank all those who worked to make this day possible. I am grateful to Dr Cattaneo and to Mr Sabine for their introductory words. I would like to extend my greeting to all people who, in their body and in their life, carry signs of this disease, as well as those who suffer from other so-called rare diseases.
I know that some of you have had to brave a very long and difficult journey in order to be here today. I thank you and I am happy you are here. I have listened to your accounts and the difficulties you must face each day; I understand how much tenacity and dedication your families, doctors, health care workers and volunteers have as they support you in a journey that poses many uphill climbs, some of which are extremely difficult.
For far too long. the fears and difficulties that characterize the life of people affected by Huntington’s Disease have surrounded them with misunderstandings and barriers, veritably excluding them. In many cases the sick and their families have experienced the tragedy of shame, isolation and abandonment. Today, however, we are here because we want to say to ourselves and all the world: “HIDDEN NO MORE!”, “OCULTA NUNCA MAS!”, “MAI PIU’ NASCOSTA!”. It is not simply a slogan, so much as a commitment that we all must foster. The strength and conviction with which we pronounce these words derive precisely from what Jesus himself taught us. Throughout his ministry, he met many sick people; he took on their suffering; he tore down the walls of stigma and of marginalization that prevented so many of them from feeling respected and loved. For Jesus, disease is never an obstacle to encountering people, but rather, the contrary. He taught us that the human person is always precious, always endowed with a dignity that nothing and no one can erase, not even disease. Fragility is not an ill. And disease, which is an expression of fragility, cannot and must not make us forget that in the eyes of God our value is always priceless.
Disease can also be an opportunity for encounter, for sharing, for solidarity. The sick people who encountered Jesus were restored above all by this awareness. They felt they were listened to, respected, loved. May none of you ever feel you are alone; may none of you feel you are a burden; may no one feel the need to run away. You are precious in the eyes of God; you are precious in the eyes of the Church!
I now turn to the families. Those who experience Huntington’s Disease know that no one can really overcome loneliness and despair if they do not have people at their side who, with self-sacrifice and steadfastness, make themselves ‘travel companions’. You are all this: fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters who, on a daily basis, silently but effectively, accompany your family members on this difficult path. For you, too, at times, the path is an uphill climb. For this reason, I encourage you, too, not to feel you are alone; not to give in to the temptation of the sense of shame or guilt. The family is the privileged place of life and of dignity, and you can cooperate to build that network of solidarity and of help that the family alone can guarantee, and which the family is first called to live.
I speak to you, physicians, health care workers, volunteers of the associations that are involved with Huntington’s Disease and with those who suffer from it. Among you there are also workers from the Ospedale Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, who, both with assistance and with research, express the contribution of a work of the Holy See in this most important field. The service that you all provide is valuable, because it is surely your dedication and your initiative that give tangible shape to the hope and motivation of the families who trust in you. The disease poses many challenges related to diagnostics, therapy and assistance. May the Lord bless your work: may you be a point of reference for patients and their families who, in various circumstances, find themselves having to face the already difficult trials that the disease entails, in a social-health care context which often is not oriented to the dignity of the human person. In this way, however, difficulties multiply. Often adding to the disease are poverty, forced separations and a general sense of dismay and mistrust. For this reason, national and international associations and institutions are vital. You are like hands that God uses to sow hope. You are the voices that these people have so as to claim their rights!
Lastly, geneticists and scientists are present here, who, for some time, sparing no energy, have dedicated themselves to studying and researching a treatment for Huntington’s Disease. Clearly, there is a great deal of expectation surrounding your work: resting on your efforts are the hopes of finding the way to a definitive cure for the disease, but also of improving the living conditions of these brothers and sisters, and of accompaniment, especially in the delicate phases of diagnosis, at the onset of the first symptoms.
May the Lord bless your task! I encourage you to always pursue it with means that do not contribute to fuelling that “throw-away culture” that at times infiltrates even the world of scientific research. Some branches of research, in fact, utilize human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction. But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.
Brothers and sisters, as you see, you are a large and motivated community. May the life of each of you — both of those who are directly affected by Huntington’s Disease and those who work hard every day to support the sick in their pain and difficulty — be a living witness to the hope that Christ has given us. Even through suffering there passes a path of abundant good, which we can travel together.
I thank all of you! Please, do not forget to pray for me, as I will pray for you.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed hundreds of people who suffer from a rare degenerative neurological condition known as Huntington’s Disease on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, along with their families and caregivers, as well as research leaders and patient-advocates.Click below to hear our report Huntington’s Disease is a genetic disorder that affects between 5 and 10 people per 100 thousand on average, worldwide – though the prevalence of the disease varies greatly from place to place, with the prevalence in much of Asia at 1 per 1 million, while in the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela the prevalence is as high as 700 per 100 thousand people.The onset of the disease typically comes between 30 and 45 years-of-age, and often manifests through Parkinson’s-like symptoms, though end-stage Huntington’s usually involves full-blown dementia as well as severe physical disability.Huntington’s Disease has no cure.In his remarks to Huntington’s...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed hundreds of people who suffer from a rare degenerative neurological condition known as Huntington’s Disease on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, along with their families and caregivers, as well as research leaders and patient-advocates.
Click below to hear our report
Huntington’s Disease is a genetic disorder that affects between 5 and 10 people per 100 thousand on average, worldwide – though the prevalence of the disease varies greatly from place to place, with the prevalence in much of Asia at 1 per 1 million, while in the Lake Maracaibo region of Venezuela the prevalence is as high as 700 per 100 thousand people.
The onset of the disease typically comes between 30 and 45 years-of-age, and often manifests through Parkinson’s-like symptoms, though end-stage Huntington’s usually involves full-blown dementia as well as severe physical disability.
Huntington’s Disease has no cure.
In his remarks to Huntington’s sufferers, their family-members, caregivers, researchers, and advocates on Thursday in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis said, “For far too long, the fears and difficulties that characterize the life of people affected by Huntington’s Disease have surrounded them with misunderstandings and barriers, veritably excluding them.”
The Holy Father went on to say, “In many cases the sick and their families have experienced the tragedy of shame, isolation and abandonment. Today, however, we are here because we want to say to ourselves and all the world: ‘HIDDEN NO MORE!’”
Pope Francis promised the support of the Church to sufferers, saying, “May none of you ever feel you are alone; may none of you feel you are a burden; may no one feel the need to run away. You are precious in the eyes of God; you are precious in the eyes of the Church!”
The Holy Father encouraged researchers to continue their work, and called for concrete solidarity in this regard, in a manner consistent with the inherent and unalienable dignity of the human person.
“May the Lord bless your task,” Pope Francis prayed, adding, “I encourage you to always pursue it with means that do not contribute to fuelling that ‘throw-away culture’ that at times infiltrates even the world of scientific research. Some branches of research, in fact, utilize human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction. But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves, such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society, can justify the destruction of human embryos.”
Finally, the Holy Father expressed the hope that the lives of every person who suffers from Huntington’s, and of those who work every day to support the sick in their pain and difficulty, be a living witness to the hope that Christ has given to all humanity.
