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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Twenty-five years ago, a jury acquitted four white police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, sparking looting and violence that would turn into one of the deadliest race riots in American history....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- President Donald Trump said in a television interview to be aired Sunday that he believes China's president has been putting pressure on North Korea as it pursues its missile and nuclear weapons programs....
SEATTLE (AP) -- Thousands of people across the U.S. marched in rain, snow and sweltering heat Saturday to demand action on climate change - mass protests that coincided with President Donald Trump's 100th day in office and took aim at his agenda for rolling back environmental protections....
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2017 / 09:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Order of Malta elected Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre as their interim Grand Master as the latest move in the ongoing reform their leadership, which the bulk of his one-year mandate will focus on.Announced in an April 29 communique from the order, the election of Dalla Torre was the result of the Order of Malta’s daylong “Council Complete of State,” which fell shortly after the resignation of the Order’s former Grand Master, Matthew Festing, earlier this year.Dalla Torre will swear an official oath before Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, the Pope’s special delegate to the Order, and members of the “Council Complete of State” that elected him Sunday, April 30, at the church of Santa Maria in Aventino.Even though he's currently concluding a two-day trip to Egypt, Pope Francis was the first to be informed of Dalla Torre’s election through a letter. Notice was then given to other members ...
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2017 / 09:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Order of Malta elected Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre as their interim Grand Master as the latest move in the ongoing reform their leadership, which the bulk of his one-year mandate will focus on.
Announced in an April 29 communique from the order, the election of Dalla Torre was the result of the Order of Malta’s daylong “Council Complete of State,” which fell shortly after the resignation of the Order’s former Grand Master, Matthew Festing, earlier this year.
Dalla Torre will swear an official oath before Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, the Pope’s special delegate to the Order, and members of the “Council Complete of State” that elected him Sunday, April 30, at the church of Santa Maria in Aventino.
Even though he's currently concluding a two-day trip to Egypt, Pope Francis was the first to be informed of Dalla Torre’s election through a letter. Notice was then given to other members and entities of the Order, including the 106 States with whom they currently hold diplomatic relations.
According to the Order’s communique, Dalla Torre will serve as Grand Master for a mandate of one year, and will work closely with the Order’s Sovereign Council to advance their humanitarian work and to strengthen the spiritual life of the Order.
The new Grand Master was born in Rome in 1944 and is an expert in art and art history. He holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Rome, with a specialization in Christian Archaeology and Art History.
He later began teaching courses in Classic Greek at the Pontifical Urbanianum University in Rome, and was eventually named head of their library and their chief archivist for important collections.
Dalla Torre entered the Order of Malta in 1985 and made his solemn vows as a professed knight in 1993. From 1994-1999 he served as Grand Prior of Lombardy and Venice, and from 1999-2004 was a member of the Sovereign Council.
In 2004, he was elected Grand Commander, and after the death of the 78th Grand Master Fra' Andrew Bertie, he stood in as interim Lieutenant. He has served as Grand Prior of Rome since 2008.
His first official engagement as Grand Master will be the May 5-9 international pilgrimage of the Order of Malta to Lourdes, which each year gathers some 7,000 members and volunteers of the Order to assist sick and disabled pilgrims.
Dalla Torre’s election comes after Festing’s Jan. 24 resignation, which he submitted upon the request of Pope Francis after a short, but intense spat with the Vatican.
Festing’s resignation marked the end of a month-long power struggle between the Order of Malta and the Holy See, which began with the forced dismissal of Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager from both his position, and his membership in the Order, in early December.
The Holy See then intervened, establishing a committee to investigate the decision. The Order then pushed back, saying Boeselager’s dismissal was an “internal act of governance,” making the Holy See’s investigative group “legally irrelevant” given the Orders’ sovereignty.
After a brief back and forth, the Holy See eventually responded Jan. 17 reiterating its confidence in the group and their work. Shortly after that Festing was called in for a private meeting with the Pope and was asked to resign.
Three days later the Order’s Sovereign council voted to accept Festing’s resignation and Boeselager, whose brother Georg von Boeselager was appointed a member of the Board of Superintendents of the IOR Dec. 15, was also reinstated as Grand Chancellor.
In February, the Pope appointed Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of State, as his personal delegate to oversee the “spiritual and moral” reform of the Order, specifically their leadership, until a new Grand Master was appointed.
Shortly before Saturday’s vote, the Pope held a lengthy April 26 meeting with Becciu and the Order of Malta’s leaders, likely to discuss the election and their process of reform.
According to the Order of Malta, Dalla Torre’s primary focus during the coming year will be the reform of their Constitution, with special attention given to any “institutional shortages” the Order might have.
“The recent crisis has brought to light some weaknesses in the systems of control and in the balance of governance,” the communique read, adding that “the reform will take this into account.”
Special attention will also be paid to solidifying the spiritual life of the Order and to finding ways to increase the number of their professed members. Some consultations on how to do this have already been done, but suggestions from all of the Order’s members, professed or not, are welcome.
When Dalla Torre’s mandate is up next year, he will reconvene the “Council Complete of State” to either re-elect him, or to elect a new Grand Master.
Cairo, Egypt, Apr 29, 2017 / 12:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As Pope Francis returns from his April 28-29 trip to Cairo, Egyptians of all faiths were pleased by his visit and his message – one that filled them with hope for the future, they said.Muslim woman Samia Zien Elbeden, whose husband was killed just six months ago, told EWTN April 29 that after the tragic loss of her husband, the Pope’s visit “brings me peace and gives me hope.”“I am a woman whose husband has been taken away, I am alone. We had no children,” Elbeden said. “My husband was everything. He had a high position in the Egyptian army, one of only 12 at that level.”She said she “was happy with what the Pope said” the day before when he gave a speech at the prestigious al-Azhar University for the International Conference on Peace. He also spoke to Egyptian authorities later on the same day.Jesuit Fr. Morat, who lives in Cairo but is originally from Syria, al...
Cairo, Egypt, Apr 29, 2017 / 12:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As Pope Francis returns from his April 28-29 trip to Cairo, Egyptians of all faiths were pleased by his visit and his message – one that filled them with hope for the future, they said.
Muslim woman Samia Zien Elbeden, whose husband was killed just six months ago, told EWTN April 29 that after the tragic loss of her husband, the Pope’s visit “brings me peace and gives me hope.”
“I am a woman whose husband has been taken away, I am alone. We had no children,” Elbeden said. “My husband was everything. He had a high position in the Egyptian army, one of only 12 at that level.”
She said she “was happy with what the Pope said” the day before when he gave a speech at the prestigious al-Azhar University for the International Conference on Peace. He also spoke to Egyptian authorities later on the same day.
Jesuit Fr. Morat, who lives in Cairo but is originally from Syria, also said he was pleased by the Pope’s words the first day of his trip.
“It was a great message of peace, for our hearts first,” he noted. “The Egyptian people seem happy with it, too. We need hope, we believe in this hope, brought by Pope Francis.”
Fr. Morat also said he hopes the Pope’s visit “will bring peace to this country.”
“Pope Francis is a man of peace and his manner of talking and acting shows that he feels what’s happening in the Middle East will bring something new, a new spirit, I hope for this.”
A Muslim political consultant to the majority party in the Egyptian parliament, Marouan Younis, said that everyone is very happy to have Pope Francis in Cairo and hope that his presence will boost their own efforts to combat terrorism and promote peace in the country.
“We are sending a message of peace around the world, and now he is joining us in this message.”
We are trying build a new country and spread the message to the world that we are in a new era, he explained. “We are really fighting terrorism, a clear fight. We have many problems in our region but we think, we hope, and we pray that we succeed in building a new country.”
The country wants to build a relationship with anyone who wants to be their friend, he said.
“The Pope’s speeches have been fantastic, very clear. He’s been very friendly, just brings hope and love to everybody.”
“In Egypt, we’re really fighting ISIS hard,” he continued. “It’s very tough and we’re having many problems in this fight because it’s a battle fought with arms, ideas, religion. It’s a heavy fight, because ISIS knows that if Egypt falls, the whole region will fall.”
He highlighted that although a Muslim himself, he has dear friends who are Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox, and they are all happy with the Vatican and Pope Francis.
“The only ones unhappy are ISIS and the fanatics,” he said. Speaking about Cairo’s Air Defense Stadium where Pope Francis celebrate Mass Saturday morning, he said, “Here in the stadium there are Muslims, Protestants, everybody.”
“Yesterday in the prayer meeting we found the three big religious leaders were sitting on the same stage, just praying along with the Vatican, the Pope. I’m very happy with what’s going on.”
Amani, an Egyptian TV presenter, said she thinks it’s a “very critical time” for Egypt, “so it’s especially important that Pope Francis has come here.” She applauded seeing all Egyptians, including both Christians and Muslims, joining together for his visit.
Amani also said that “we have to specify what terrorism is,” saying that she believes it’s in all religions, not only in Islam.
“This is what the head of al-Azhar said yesterday,” she said, referring to the speech made by Grand Imam of the Mosque of al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayyib, who spoke alongside Pope Francis at the conference on peace.
It’s time, around the world, to draw the line on what is good and non-violent as part of a religion and what is not, she said.
“Now we’re going to divide again between good and bad.”
“[The problem] is these people and the money behind them who take bits out of the Koran, the same thing in other religions. Most people all over the world have gone far from their main religion and believe what other people say about them,” she continued.
“The main aspect of this visit is that we have now to decide, if we need and want this religion, to look into the past, and study the real religion, not what people say about it.”
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