Catholic News 2
HOUSTON (AP) -- The top Roman Catholic bishop in the U.S. lauds President Donald Trump for his anti-abortion views, for comments on the importance of Catholic schools and for promising to defend religious liberties. When it comes to refugees and immigration, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo says he and Trump will "have to agree to disagree."...
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Handcuffed and facing the judge, two young women accused of poisoning Kim Jong Nam appeared in court Thursday as their lawyers said Malaysian police still have not handed over security camera footage and documents crucial to the defense....
MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin's meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hasn't produced any positive shift yet in Russia-U.S. relations, the Kremlin said Thursday....
(Vatican Radio) Holy Week which leads us to the resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday is the most important period in the Church’s calendar.During the Triduum, those emotional days are laid bare and commemorated with ceremonies and Eucharistic celebrations in Rome and far beyond.In the first of a series of reflections for this Holy Week, we shine the spotlight on the intense events of Holy Thursday, looking at the betrayal of Jesus and his fear and anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.Monsignor Eugene Silva, English language official at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization talks to Lydia O’Kane about these emotions and the disciples’apathetic response in the Garden.Listen:
(Vatican Radio) Holy Week which leads us to the resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday is the most important period in the Church’s calendar.
During the Triduum, those emotional days are laid bare and commemorated with ceremonies and Eucharistic celebrations in Rome and far beyond.
In the first of a series of reflections for this Holy Week, we shine the spotlight on the intense events of Holy Thursday, looking at the betrayal of Jesus and his fear and anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Monsignor Eugene Silva, English language official at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization talks to Lydia O’Kane about these emotions and the disciples’apathetic response in the Garden.
Listen:
The Archbishop of Cape Town and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), Stephen Brislin, says that though we live in times of great uncertainty, there is no need to become despondent because the Lord Jesus Christ has not abandoned the world.“An atmosphere of uncertainty – and also of mistrust – is experienced almost throughout the world at the present time and so, even if it is small comfort, we are not alone in this,” Archbishop Brislin said.In his Easter message to the faithful of Southern Africa, Archbishop Brislin said the world, and in particular, the people of Southern Africa must take comfort in the fact that Christ walks with us at all times.“Christ is with us. He never abandons us and “walks” with us at all times, strengthening and consoling us. And so, we never give in to despair. The Easter celebration reminds us that we are the “Easter People,” people of hope, filled with the Life...
The Archbishop of Cape Town and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), Stephen Brislin, says that though we live in times of great uncertainty, there is no need to become despondent because the Lord Jesus Christ has not abandoned the world.
“An atmosphere of uncertainty – and also of mistrust – is experienced almost throughout the world at the present time and so, even if it is small comfort, we are not alone in this,” Archbishop Brislin said.
In his Easter message to the faithful of Southern Africa, Archbishop Brislin said the world, and in particular, the people of Southern Africa must take comfort in the fact that Christ walks with us at all times.
“Christ is with us. He never abandons us and “walks” with us at all times, strengthening and consoling us. And so, we never give in to despair. The Easter celebration reminds us that we are the “Easter People,” people of hope, filled with the Life of God’s Holy Spirit, joyful in our difficulties and problems, because Christ is Risen!” The Cape Town prelate emphasised.
(Email engafrica@vatiradio.va)
Find below the full Easter message of Archbishop Brislin.
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
We’ve had a tumultuous three weeks in South Africa and there are many concerns regarding the future, not least economic concerns. Very often what happens in South Africa also negatively affects Botswana and Swaziland. An atmosphere of uncertainty – and also of mistrust – is experienced almost throughout the world at the present time and so, even if it is small comfort, we are not alone in this. It is difficult to live with uncertainty as it can so easily give rise to anxiety which, in turn, can also negatively affect our relationships with others.
But we are not alone for another reason: Christ is with us. He never abandons us and “walks” with us at all times, strengthening and consoling us. And so, we never give in to despair. The Easter celebration reminds us that we are the “Easter People”, people of hope, filled with the Life of God’s Holy Spirit, joyful in our difficulties and problems, because Christ is Risen! Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! – Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands. The victory is His and is given to us so that we can offer to others the light of hope and joy, which dispels the darkness and shadows.
On behalf of the Southern African Bishops’ Conference I wish all our people of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland, a blessed and holy Easter. May God bless you and your family and give you all his graces, unity and harmony in your family. May it be a time of happiness and joy for you, a time of re-affirming the reason for our hope. I conclude with the consoling words of Isaiah:
Do not be afraid, for I am with you;do not be alarmed, for I am your God.I give you strength, truly I help you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
+Stephen Brislin
President Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis granted an interview with the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, published Thursday morning, in which he spoke about why he always celebrates the Mass of the Lord's Supper with prisoners and about the current “terrible world war being fought piecemeal”This year, the Holy Father celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday at the Paliano Detention Centre, near Rome, where he will once again wash the feet of prisoners on the margins of society.Listen to Devin Watkins' report: The Pope said his decision to continue to celebrate the In Coena Domini Mass with prisoners “is a duty which comes from my heart.”“The Gospel passage of the last judgment says, ‘I was a prisoner and you visited me’. This is Jesus’ task for each of us, but especially for the bishop who is the father of all.”Example of Cardinal Agostino CasaroliWhen asked who had taught him this lesson, Pope Francis ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis granted an interview with the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, published Thursday morning, in which he spoke about why he always celebrates the Mass of the Lord's Supper with prisoners and about the current “terrible world war being fought piecemeal”
This year, the Holy Father celebrates the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday at the Paliano Detention Centre, near Rome, where he will once again wash the feet of prisoners on the margins of society.
Listen to Devin Watkins' report:
The Pope said his decision to continue to celebrate the In Coena Domini Mass with prisoners “is a duty which comes from my heart.”
“The Gospel passage of the last judgment says, ‘I was a prisoner and you visited me’. This is Jesus’ task for each of us, but especially for the bishop who is the father of all.”
Example of Cardinal Agostino Casaroli
When asked who had taught him this lesson, Pope Francis cited the example of the late Cardinal Agostino Casaroli.
He said that even when he was Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli continued to carry out his pastoral activity at Rome’s youth detention facility, Casal del Marmo, unbeknownst to those to whom he was ministering.
“Every Saturday evening he would disappear: ‘He’s resting’, they would say. He would take the bus, with his work briefcase, and would stay to confess young people and play with them. They called him ‘Don Agostino’; they didn’t really know who he was. When John XXIII received him after his first visit to Eastern Europe during his diplomatic mission at the height of the Cold War, he asked him at the end of their meeting: ‘Tell me, do you still visit those young people?’ ‘Yes, Holy Father.’ ‘I ask you this favor, never abandon them.’”
The Holy Father went on to say, “At times, a certain hypocrisy pushes us to see prisoners only as people who have messed up, for whom the only path is prison. But, we all have the possibility to make mistakes.”
World must stop lords of war
Turning to the theme of war and violence, Pope Francis said, “I think today sin is manifested with all its destructive force in war, in different forms of violence and mistreatment, and in the rejection of the most fragile.”
He said the last century “was devastated by two deadly world wars and knew the threat of nuclear war and a large number of other conflicts, while today, unfortunately, we are experiencing a terrible world war fought piecemeal.”
The Holy Father told his interviewer, “The world must stop the lords of war, because those who suffer most are the last and the helpless.”
“I always ask myself,” he said, “Does violence allow us to obtain long-lasting objectives? Are not the results only a further escalation of reprisals and a spiral of lethal conflicts, which benefit only ‘a few lords of war?’”
Pope Francis said, “Responding to violence with violence leads – in the best of cases – to forced migration and inhuman suffering... In the worst of cases, in can bring the physical and spiritual death of many people, if not of all.”
Prejudices close one to truth and freedom
In conclusion, the Pope returned to his evening visit to prisoners at the Paliano Detention Centre.
“When we remain closed in our own prejudices, when we are slaves to idols of a false well-being, when we move within ideological frames, or when we absolutize economic laws which crush people, in reality we are doing nothing other than remaining within the cramped cell walls of individualism and self-sufficiency, deprived of truth which generates freedom. And to point the finger against someone who has messed up cannot become an alibi for hiding one’s own contradictions.”
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 13, 2017 / 12:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A bishop in the Argentine province in Santa Fe is investigating a Eucharistic host that appeared to bleed during adoration at a drug rehabilitation home.Bishop Luis Fernandez of the Rafaela diocese announced that an investigation will be carried out to examine what took place earlier this week, when a group of young people were in Eucharistic adoration and saw a substance in the consecrated host that appeared to be blood.On April 11, Tuesday of Holy Week, a group of young people were praying before the Blessed Sacrament at the San Miguel drug rehabilitation home in the Guemes neighborhood, when they noticed a change in the Eucharist.Juan Ternengo, coordinator of San Miguel house, said that there was a “deep red color, coming out of the host, while the young people were singing and praying.”According to the AICA news agency, when he learned what happened, Bishop Fernandez and Fr. Alcides Suppo went to the ...
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 13, 2017 / 12:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A bishop in the Argentine province in Santa Fe is investigating a Eucharistic host that appeared to bleed during adoration at a drug rehabilitation home.
Bishop Luis Fernandez of the Rafaela diocese announced that an investigation will be carried out to examine what took place earlier this week, when a group of young people were in Eucharistic adoration and saw a substance in the consecrated host that appeared to be blood.
On April 11, Tuesday of Holy Week, a group of young people were praying before the Blessed Sacrament at the San Miguel drug rehabilitation home in the Guemes neighborhood, when they noticed a change in the Eucharist.
Juan Ternengo, coordinator of San Miguel house, said that there was a “deep red color, coming out of the host, while the young people were singing and praying.”
According to the AICA news agency, when he learned what happened, Bishop Fernandez and Fr. Alcides Suppo went to the site.
The bishop was the one who removed the host from the location in order to proceed with the investigation.
A statement from the Diocese of Rafaela notes that “the Church in these cases and other similar ones asks that with prudence and moderation, the event be judged with the aim of shedding light and making certain what occurred.”
“Throughout history, the Church has received the testimony of the real and substantial presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in this unique form of manifestation. These cases have been neither common nor simple to discern.”
Therefore, the text states, “following the procedure recommended by the Church, the Body of Christ, our bishop has removed the host in question from public exposition, reserving it in an appropriate manner. In this way, the path of necessary discernment is begun so that at the proper time, the right conclusions are reached.”
“Whatever the outcome of such an investigation may be, we must use this time to renew our faith and devotion to the greatest miracle, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in each celebration of the Mass,” the statement emphasized.
Once the investigation is concluded, its conclusions will be known, the diocese said.
“Meanwhile, prudence and respect are recommended for the case, the place, the persons who witnessed such an event, especially taking into account that this is a place that requires silence and sobriety as an important part of the process of those who live and work there.”
WADI ABDAH, Oman (AP) -- Deep in the jagged red mountains of Oman, geologists are drilling in search of the holy grail of reversing climate change: an efficient and cheap way to remove carbon dioxide from the air and oceans....
Miss Kindergarten is in the million-dollar club. So are Lovin Lit, the Moffatt Girls and about a dozen other teacher-entrepreneurs who are spinning reading, math, science and social studies into gold by selling their lesson plans online to fellow teachers around the world....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and China have struck what appears to be an unusual bargain as President Donald Trump says he won't label Beijing a currency manipulator and voices confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping will help him deal with North Korea's mounting threat....
