Catholic News 2
ROME (AP) -- Emma Morano, at 117 the world's oldest person who is also believed to have been the last surviving person born in the 1800s, died Saturday at her home in northern Italy, her physician said....
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea paraded its intercontinental ballistic missiles in a massive military display in central Pyongyang on Saturday, with ruler Kim Jong Un looking on with delight as his nation flaunted its increasingly sophisticated military hardware amid rising regional tensions....
BEIRUT (AP) -- A stalled population transfer resumed Saturday after a deadly explosion killed at least 100, including children, government supporters and opposition fighters, at an evacuation point - adding new urgency to the widely criticized operation....
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have issued messages for the Christian observances of Easter and Good Friday this year, expressing appreciation for the values that Christ lived and died for. "On the joyous occasion of Easter, I extend best wishes and felicitations to all my countrymen in India and abroad, especially to my Christian brothers and sisters,” the Indian President wrote in a brief message on the eve of Easter, April 15. “May this Easter be a time of renewal and rejuvenation,” Mukherjee wrote, adding, “The teachings of Lord Jesus Christ inspire us to lead a life filled with truth, forgiveness, love and selfless service.” “Let us unite together to eradicate violence and hatred from society. Let us dedicate ourselves to the service of the weak and downtrodden,” the Mukherjee wrote.Earlier on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed esteem for the service and sac...
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have issued messages for the Christian observances of Easter and Good Friday this year, expressing appreciation for the values that Christ lived and died for. "On the joyous occasion of Easter, I extend best wishes and felicitations to all my countrymen in India and abroad, especially to my Christian brothers and sisters,” the Indian President wrote in a brief message on the eve of Easter, April 15. “May this Easter be a time of renewal and rejuvenation,” Mukherjee wrote, adding, “The teachings of Lord Jesus Christ inspire us to lead a life filled with truth, forgiveness, love and selfless service.” “Let us unite together to eradicate violence and hatred from society. Let us dedicate ourselves to the service of the weak and downtrodden,” the Mukherjee wrote.
Earlier on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed esteem for the service and sacrifice of Christ, saying his life was devoted to mitigating human suffering. "Today, on Good Friday, we remember the service & sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His was a life devoted to mitigating human suffering," he tweeted.
On Good Friday Christians commemorate the suffering and the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ with his death by crucifixion. Good Friday is part of the Holy Week, the final week in the 40-day Lenten period when Christians specially give in to fasting, abstinence, prayer and good works, in preparation for their greatest feast, Easter or the Resurrection of Christ from death. Good Friday is the part of the so-called Easter triduum or the final 3 days, including Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, climaxing to Easter on Sunday.
Good Friday is a public holiday in India. However, the federal government this year decided to observe Good Friday as “’Digital India Day.” However, the state government of Meghalaya,in northeast India, has decided against observing Digital India Day on April 14 because it coincides with Good Friday, an important occasion for the state’s Christian-majority population. Chief minister Mukul Sangma took strong exception to the NDA government’s decision to hold the event on a sacred day, and stated that it was an attempt to “dilute the secular fabric of the nation”. He said on Tuesday, he would be “writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi because it is necessary for me to express concern on behalf of the people with special reference to the Northeast, which has a significant Christian population.”
Nearly 75% of Meghalaya’s two-million population (Census 2011) are Christians. Other states in north-east India with a Christian-majority population are Nagaland (88%) and Mizoram (87%).2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared that December 25, Christmas Day, would be observed as Good Governance Day. There was much objection expressed about it but it was ignored.
A group of students in India’s only Catholic university recently initiated a programme to help village communities connect with one another using communications as a tool for social development. The Department of Mass Communication of Don Bosco University in north-east Assam state, organized the community connect program as a Communication for Development (C4D) project at Amguri village in Sonapur outside state capital Dispur. As an introduction to C4D tools, the department conducted a participatory photography workshop for a combination of village elders and youth which included both men and women.Department head Dr Machun Kamei says, “The community connect has been designed with an intention to develop a road map for communication approaches concerning the factors hindering the development of the local communities within the Sonapur area where the university is located and to encourage entrepreneurial ventures using communication as a tool for social deve...
A group of students in India’s only Catholic university recently initiated a programme to help village communities connect with one another using communications as a tool for social development. The Department of Mass Communication of Don Bosco University in north-east Assam state, organized the community connect program as a Communication for Development (C4D) project at Amguri village in Sonapur outside state capital Dispur. As an introduction to C4D tools, the department conducted a participatory photography workshop for a combination of village elders and youth which included both men and women.
Department head Dr Machun Kamei says, “The community connect has been designed with an intention to develop a road map for communication approaches concerning the factors hindering the development of the local communities within the Sonapur area where the university is located and to encourage entrepreneurial ventures using communication as a tool for social development.” Some 40 neighbourhood villages have been ear marked for social intervention by students of various departments such as Social Work, Education, Psychological Counselling, Human Rights and Mass Communication.
“The idea was to help villagers focus on problems they face and highlight them in the photographs they take as part of their hands-on practical exercise,”said mentor and Assistant Professor Kaushik Bhuyan. “It was amazing to see, the villagers successfully highlighted and portrayed through their photographs the problems of unemployment, improper road conditions, lack of skill based and entrepreneurial training and irregular connectivity to electricity,”says final year Mass Communication student and inter university winner of photography Amar Laishram Swital.
Event Coordinator Assistant Prof Rose Mary Ishorari noted, “These photographs will be showcased in appropriate platforms to enable stakeholders concerned and the community themselves to take relevant corrective measures and initiate means to help developing their own communities.” Ishorari assures, “While the concerned project will be taken up in phases to achieve the said objective, this was just the beginning.” The event was part of “Imageind 2017-The Sonapur Edition” sponsored by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR-NERC) which included a roundtable conference on “communication for development: critical approaches”with academicians and practitioners from the field, a photography workshop for students and faculty from institutes around Sonapur and Guwahati in association with Canon India. (Source: Mattersindia)
The Catholic Church of India has expressed admiration for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as a “great intellectual giant” and an “erudite and knowledgeable theologian,” who has contributed immensely to the Universal Church and the world. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the secretary general the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has issued a message in view of the retired pontiff’s 90th birthday on April 16, Easter Sunday, regarding him as a “great man” who “enthralled the Church and the world with his simplicity, humility and his ardent efforts for peace in the world.” The message describes Pope Benedict XVI as holy man who brought lots of blessings to the whole Church as well as humanity.Bishop Mascarenhas noted that the former Pope has contributed immensely to the Universal Church through his teaching and example. “He influenced the people across barriers of nationalities, regions, languages and cul...
The Catholic Church of India has expressed admiration for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as a “great intellectual giant” and an “erudite and knowledgeable theologian,” who has contributed immensely to the Universal Church and the world. Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the secretary general the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has issued a message in view of the retired pontiff’s 90th birthday on April 16, Easter Sunday, regarding him as a “great man” who “enthralled the Church and the world with his simplicity, humility and his ardent efforts for peace in the world.” The message describes Pope Benedict XVI as holy man who brought lots of blessings to the whole Church as well as humanity.
Bishop Mascarenhas noted that the former Pope has contributed immensely to the Universal Church through his teaching and example. “He influenced the people across barriers of nationalities, regions, languages and cultures through inspirational appeals, pleading regularly for prayers and restoration of the faith and peace in the world.” Hailing Pope Benedict XVI’s “gentleness and affability” that touched people all around the world, Bishops Mascarenhas said he always lived what he preached. The CBCI official also recalls Pope Benedict’s advice to a group of Indian bishops in 2011 to remain the friend of the poor and pledges the Church’s continued service to India and its people.
Pope Francis paid a visit to his predecessor on April 12 to wish him in anticipation for his 90th birthday on Easter Sunday. Pope Benedict lives at Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside of Vatican City. The Vatican stamp and coin office also anticipated the pope emeritus’s birthday with the release of stamps marking important events in the life of the church spanning almost 2,000 years. The stamp sheet by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office features a drawing of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict embracing, while the actual stamps show the retired pope praying his rosary. Pope Benedict reciprocates Pope Francis sending him wishes every December 17. Last December, on Pope Francis’s 80th birthday, the Pope emeritus sent a “very affectionate” written message that was “particularly appreciated” by the current pontiff, the Holy See press office said. (Source: Mattersindia)
BIDI BIDI CAMP, Uganda (AP) -- As President Donald Trump seeks to cut foreign aid under the slogan of "America First," two U.S. senators are proposing making American food assistance more efficient after meeting with victims of South Sudan's famine and civil war....
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- In her job as a refugee case manager, Fatimah Farooq would come to work in a hijab and speak with her clients in Arabic. Nonetheless, she found herself being asked whether she was Muslim....
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- While the world watched the latest round of saber-rattling between Washington and Pyongyang, North Korea staged a massive rally and military parade Saturday to mark the 105th anniversary of its national founder, Kim Il Sung. There weren't any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches to mark the day. But concerns the rising tensions could lead to a real conflict were on the minds of many Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone....
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- A federal judge dealt another blow Saturday to Arkansas' unprecedented plan to execute eight inmates in an 11-day period, saying the men have the right to challenge a drug protocol that could expose them to "severe pain."...
