Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Getting to the bottom of President Donald Trump's tax plan is difficult because it exists so far as bullet points on a single page, with no detail. Still, there are reasons to be wary about some of the claims coming out of the White House about it....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's plan to overhaul the nation's tax code could provide significant tax cuts for the working-class voters who elected him, but the unknowns could end up hurting many of these core supporters of the president....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The investigations into President Donald Trump's ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn intensified Thursday as the Pentagon's watchdog joined lawmakers in scrutinizing the legality of payments he accepted from foreign sources including a Russian state-sponsored television network....
CHICAGO (AP) -- A Kentucky doctor who was dragged off a United flight after he refused to give up his seat to employees of a partner airline reached a settlement Thursday with United for an undisclosed amount of money....
A movie based on the life St. Joseph Vaz had its Tamil version launch in Colombo April 25. St. Joseph Vaz a missionary from the Portuguese colony of Goa on the western coast of India was an Oratorian priest and described as ‘Asia’s greatest missionary’.The movie directed by Sanajaya Nirmal, a Catholic, aims at promoting and popularizing the Indian-born saint among Sri Lankan Christians."Such an inspirational film should not be limited to the Sinhala language but be available in Tamil as well. We should be able to share the powerful message of St. Joseph Vaz in both local languages," Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy said at the launch of the Tamil-language version of the film.The release of the new version of the film comes after a decision by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka to dedicate 2017 as the year of St. Joseph Vaz, the island nation's first saint, a missionary from the Portuguese colony of Goa on the western coas...
A movie based on the life St. Joseph Vaz had its Tamil version launch in Colombo April 25. St. Joseph Vaz a missionary from the Portuguese colony of Goa on the western coast of India was an Oratorian priest and described as ‘Asia’s greatest missionary’.
The movie directed by Sanajaya Nirmal, a Catholic, aims at promoting and popularizing the Indian-born saint among Sri Lankan Christians.
"Such an inspirational film should not be limited to the Sinhala language but be available in Tamil as well. We should be able to share the powerful message of St. Joseph Vaz in both local languages," Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy said at the launch of the Tamil-language version of the film.
The release of the new version of the film comes after a decision by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka to dedicate 2017 as the year of St. Joseph Vaz, the island nation's first saint, a missionary from the Portuguese colony of Goa on the western coast of India who is credited with having revived the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka.
Joseph Vaz was produced and dubbed by the Catholic Center for Social Communication, the media arm of the Sri Lankan bishops' conference. The Tamil-dubbed version will be screened in churches and Sunday schools in the Northern Province and other areas where Tamil Christians are numerous.
Sanjaya Nirmal, a well-known filmmaker, said that though this was a film about a Catholic saint and the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, there was large contribution from Buddhist artists and technicians. Many prominent roles in the film are played by Buddhists and several them did not ask for any pay while others charged much less than their usual payments, he added.
St. Vaz later won the friendship of the Buddhist king of Kandy from where he ran eight missions serving more than 60 mission stations. Born in 1651, St. Vaz was ordained as a priest in 1676. He died in 1711.
Popularly known as the Apostle of Sri Lanka, St. Vaz was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Sri Lanka in 1995 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, also in Sri Lanka. (UCAN)
Alarmed at exposure children to pornography, Indonesian Church officials and activists are stepping up efforts to protect them from the scourge. Father Hibertus Hartana, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops' family commission said online pornography could rob children of important values, such as respect for life and the dignity of others. "Rape is an example that can be traced back to pornography," said the Holy Family priest, referring to an incident in Bogor, West Java, when a teenager raped a 36-year-old woman. According to the priest, it is the task of families and schools to prevent children from accessing pornography. Parents should have an open dialog with them and educate them in faith and morality. Minister of Women and Protection of Indonesian Children, Yohana Yembise, said the high number of Indonesian children accessing online pornography has drawn the government's attention. "I am shocked that from 50,000 activit...
Alarmed at exposure children to pornography, Indonesian Church officials and activists are stepping up efforts to protect them from the scourge. Father Hibertus Hartana, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops' family commission said online pornography could rob children of important values, such as respect for life and the dignity of others. "Rape is an example that can be traced back to pornography," said the Holy Family priest, referring to an incident in Bogor, West Java, when a teenager raped a 36-year-old woman. According to the priest, it is the task of families and schools to prevent children from accessing pornography. Parents should have an open dialog with them and educate them in faith and morality.
Minister of Women and Protection of Indonesian Children, Yohana Yembise, said the high number of Indonesian children accessing online pornography has drawn the government's attention. "I am shocked that from 50,000 activities related to pornography in Indonesia every day, 25,000 involve children accessing it," she said in a statement.
Jakarta Police recently busted a vast pedophile network, containing as many as 7,000 members, in a closed Facebook group named Official Candy’s Group, which produced and distributed child pornography. Last year, the Communications and Information Ministry blocked 766,633 pornography sites.
According to Fr. Hartana, "The problem is that many children do not communicate with their parents.” “Parents should provide them with sex education so they don't just search on Google." He said the Indonesian bishops' conference is collaborating with the Ministry of Religious Affairs on how to provide guidance and sex education for children.
Maria Advianti, commissioner of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission, said they were also concerned. "Parents must know what children are doing when they are online," she said. Schools must ensure that smart phones, laptops and other devices are cleaned of pornographic content, she added.
(Vatican Radio) A Filipino is the new head of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. Father Arturo Sosa, the superior general of the worldwide Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, has appointed Father Antonio F Moreno, the current provincial of the Philippines, as the next president of the regional Conference. He succeeds Father Mark Raper, the former provincial of Australia, who headed the Conference for 9 years. Fr. Moreno will assume office within the next six months. "The fact that the Society relies so much on the Philippine Province at this time is surely an indication of the maturity and quality of the Province," Fr. Sosa wrote in a letter dated April 22 appointing the new president of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. He noted that the success of the Philippine Province is the "product of so many fine missionaries from other provinces who were sent to, began, and built up the Philippine Province." Fr. Sosa expresse...
(Vatican Radio) A Filipino is the new head of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. Father Arturo Sosa, the superior general of the worldwide Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, has appointed Father Antonio F Moreno, the current provincial of the Philippines, as the next president of the regional Conference. He succeeds Father Mark Raper, the former provincial of Australia, who headed the Conference for 9 years. Fr. Moreno will assume office within the next six months.
"The fact that the Society relies so much on the Philippine Province at this time is surely an indication of the maturity and quality of the Province," Fr. Sosa wrote in a letter dated April 22 appointing the new president of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. He noted that the success of the Philippine Province is the "product of so many fine missionaries from other provinces who were sent to, began, and built up the Philippine Province." Fr. Sosa expressed his gratitude to the Philippine Province and asked its members to accept his decision "in the spirit of generosity and trust in God’s Providence."
Fr. Moreno became head of the Philippine Province in 2013 after six years as president of Ateneo de Zamboanga in the southern Philippines. He holds a doctorate in Development Studies from the University College of Wales and a Master in Philosophy on Development Studies from the University of Sussex. He went to Ateneo de Manila University for his Bachelor of Arts in Pre-Divinity and his Masters in Theology. After his ordination in 1993, Fr. Moreno taught at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary while doing pastoral work in Culion in the central Philippines, the world’s largest leper colony.
As president of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific, Fr. Moreno will be coordinating and facilitating the mission of the Society of Jesus in Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The approximately 1,600 Jesuits in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific account for about 10 percent of the total number of Jesuits in the world.
In his letter, Fr. Sosa expressed his gratitude to Fr. Raper for his "nine years of dedicated and fruitful service as conference president." "I pray that, as you come to the end of your term, the Lord may fill you with much gratitude and consolation, as you see how much he has done in and through you to serve the Society’s mission in Asia Pacific," the Jesuit superior general wrote.
Prior to becoming the Conference president, Fr Raper served as provincial of the Jesuits in Australia from 2002 to 2008. He was President of Catholic Religious Australia from 2005 to 2007. He spent 20 years in the service of refugees, first as the Regional Director of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) for Asia Pacific beginning in 1982 and he set up a base for JRS in Bangkok, Thailand where he stayed from 1985 to the end of 1989 and then as the International Director of Jesuit Refugee Service, based in Rome, Italy from 1990 to 2000. In 2004, he received the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) 2004 Human Rights Award, in recognition of his 30 years of commitment to the advancement of human rights. Fr Raper is expected to move to Myanmar where he has been the major superior of the Jesuit mission since 2011.
Vatican City, Apr 27, 2017 / 07:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis met with members of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation, telling them that in a world full of desperation, their charitable assistance helps the Church spread a message of hope to those most in need.“Today’s world, so often torn by violence, greed and indifference, greatly needs our witness to the Gospel message of hope in the redemptive and reconciling power of God’s love,” he said April 27.He voiced his gratitude to the organization “for your desire to assist the Church’s efforts to proclaim that message of hope to the ends of the earth and to work for the spiritual and material advancement of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, especially in developing countries.”Pope Francis met with members of the Philadelphia-based charitable organization Thursday morning in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. They are gathered in Rome April 26-29 for their...
Vatican City, Apr 27, 2017 / 07:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis met with members of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation, telling them that in a world full of desperation, their charitable assistance helps the Church spread a message of hope to those most in need.
“Today’s world, so often torn by violence, greed and indifference, greatly needs our witness to the Gospel message of hope in the redemptive and reconciling power of God’s love,” he said April 27.
He voiced his gratitude to the organization “for your desire to assist the Church’s efforts to proclaim that message of hope to the ends of the earth and to work for the spiritual and material advancement of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, especially in developing countries.”
Pope Francis met with members of the Philadelphia-based charitable organization Thursday morning in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. They are gathered in Rome April 26-29 for their annual pilgrimage, during which they present the Pope with their annual contribution to his charities.
The Papal Foundation was established by U.S. Catholics in 1988 under St. John Paul II, to whom it offered its first donation of financial support in April 1990.
Since then, the organization, according to their website, has provided more than $111 million in grants and scholarships, the funds of which go toward building up the Church, educating and preparing leaders, and caring for vulnerable people, both young and old, throughout the world.
The primary purpose of the organization is to provide financial support for the Pope’s charities, with the commitment “to walk in union with the Holy Father and the Magisterium of the Church as we bring the love of Christ to a world in need.”
In 2015, the Papal Foundation awarded almost $15 million in grants and scholarships to various projects around the world, including to churches, seminaries, schools, hospitals, convents and monasteries, and in the areas of humanitarian aid, communications, and education.
Last year the foundation donated a whopping $10 million to support the Pope’s numerous global charitable initiatives.
In his speech, Pope Francis said he was happy to greet the group on their visit, particularly in the joy of the Easter season, when the Church “celebrates the Lord’s victory over death and his gift of new life in the Holy Spirit.”
“It is my hope that your pilgrimage to the Eternal City will strengthen you in faith and hope, and in your commitment to promote the Church’s mission by supporting so many religious and charitable causes close to the heart of the Pope,” he said.
“Each of us, as a living member of Christ’s body, is called to foster the unity and peace that is the Father’s will, in Christ, for our human family and all its members,” he continued.
Francis then said a “vital” part of their commitment to the work of the foundation is to pray for “the needs of the poor, the conversion of hearts, the spread of the Gospel, and the Church’s growth in holiness and missionary zeal.”
He also asked them to not forget to pray for him.
“Dear friends, with these words of encouragement, and with great affection, I commend you and your families to the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church,” he concluded. “To all of you I impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of abiding joy and peace in the Lord.”
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Jonathan LuxmooreWARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- France'sCatholic primate has condemned the current presidential campaign as his country's"worst ever" and urged Christians to help prevent democracy from "losingits sense.""Left and right rivaledeach other and had their radical wings, but there was also a center. Now, leftand right have stepped back, and the main candidates are divided by otherunclear criteria. I have the impression our voters are totally lost," saidCardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon.In an interview with Poland'sCatholic Information Agency (KAI), published April 26, Cardinal Barbarin saidFrance was witnessing "the twilight of its existing political system"as citizens sought out "leaders closer to the people in their economic andsocial realities.""Democracy seems to belosing its sense and being cast adrift by media shabbiness," CardinalBarbarin added. "This has been our worst-ever election campaign,characterized by the unforgivable accusations, total ...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring
By Jonathan Luxmoore
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- France's Catholic primate has condemned the current presidential campaign as his country's "worst ever" and urged Christians to help prevent democracy from "losing its sense."
"Left and right rivaled each other and had their radical wings, but there was also a center. Now, left and right have stepped back, and the main candidates are divided by other unclear criteria. I have the impression our voters are totally lost," said Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon.
In an interview with Poland's Catholic Information Agency (KAI), published April 26, Cardinal Barbarin said France was witnessing "the twilight of its existing political system" as citizens sought out "leaders closer to the people in their economic and social realities."
"Democracy seems to be losing its sense and being cast adrift by media shabbiness," Cardinal Barbarin added. "This has been our worst-ever election campaign, characterized by the unforgivable accusations, total critiques, violence, chaos and the misleading of voters."
In the first round of French elections April 23, Emmanuel Macron, founder of En Marche!, a center-left political movement, and Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, emerged as the two top vote-getters. They will face off May 7, when voters will choose who will be president for the next five years. Candidates from the mainstream Socialist and Republican parties will not be in the final round.
Cardinal Barbarin said the success of Le Pen, who has vowed to take France out of the European Union and give French nationals priority over foreigners in jobs, welfare, housing and education, reflected a "destabilizing trend" also visible in other parts of Europe and the United States. He spoke of a "form of democratic terrorism," which stripped candidates of their dignity by establishing a right "to know everything, whether proved or unproved" about them.
"It seems we're dealing with a democracy gone mad," the cardinal said. "Although statesmen still exist, they're unable to get through today's campaign mechanisms, where everything is decided by the art of winning. Those who win are just electoral animals, not competent, rational politicians."
Catholics traditionally make up two-thirds of France's 67 million inhabitants, although only a small proportion attends Mass.
In a book-length message last October, "Recovering the sense of politics," the bishops' conference said "weariness, frustration, fear and anger" in the country had fueled "profound hopes and expectations of change," but also cautioned against "a search for facile, emotive options."
Cardinal Barbarin told KAI the Catholic Church should appeal to citizens not to vote "for people with pretty eyes, who can make stars of themselves with media support."
"This is a time of decadence, and decadence means certain forms and structures are nearing their end," he said.
"As Christians, we yearn for social order, peace and harmony -- a state based on principles of welfare and participation, where all can make contributions and citizens are subjects of the political community," he said. "But the problem in today's France is the rising disappointment and anger of those who feel ill-treated, rejected and forgotten."
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DALLAS (AP) -- United Airlines says it will raise the limit - to $10,000 - on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and will increase training for employees as it deals with fallout from the video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat....
