Catholic News 2
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) -- When you walk through the gates of Augusta National, it really is a throwback to a different era....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Before the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base, President Donald Trump accused his predecessor of doing nothing when Syria's government used chemical weapons against its population in 2013. Trump is right that President Barack Obama issued what amounted to an empty threat of military action. The circumstances, though, were more complicated than Trump described....
STOCKHOLM (AP) -- One brutal attack by a man who drove a stolen truck into shoppers in Stockholm has brought Sweden's open-door immigration policies under increased scrutiny - and raised the question if Swedish society, considered democratic and egalitarian, has failed to integrate its newcomers....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian President Bashar Assad was required to declare and dispose of all his chemical weapons under U.N. supervision in 2014, but his forces have been accused of using them since then, most recently this week, when a chemical attack in northern Syria killed nearly 90 people....
BEIRUT (AP) -- Warplanes on Saturday struck the Syrian town where a chemical attack had killed scores of people earlier this week, as Turkey warned that a retaliatory U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base would only be "cosmetic" if greater efforts are not made to remove President Bashar Assad from power....
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- In the aftermath of President Donald Trump's surprise strikes on Syria, his allies and adversaries have searched for some broader meaning in his decision....
The Catholic bishops of the Philippines held talks with top government officials during which they expressed strong commitment to develop positive relations despite differences over President Rodrigo Duterte bloody war on drugs. The initial meeting was held at the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in Manila on March 31 in what is seen as a major step by the two parties to sort our differences.Interviewed with ANC television on March 4, CBCP President, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed that dialogue was the best way forward. “There are issues where we differ in principle, but we should not allow such differences to prevent us from cooperating such as working for the poor and empowering Mindanao,” the archbishop said. “We should support him on peace-making, alleviating the situation of the poor and everything that is for the benefit ...
The Catholic bishops of the Philippines held talks with top government officials during which they expressed strong commitment to develop positive relations despite differences over President Rodrigo Duterte bloody war on drugs. The initial meeting was held at the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in Manila on March 31 in what is seen as a major step by the two parties to sort our differences.
Interviewed with ANC television on March 4, CBCP President, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan stressed that dialogue was the best way forward. “There are issues where we differ in principle, but we should not allow such differences to prevent us from cooperating such as working for the poor and empowering Mindanao,” the archbishop said. “We should support him on peace-making, alleviating the situation of the poor and everything that is for the benefit of the people,” he said.
The Filipino bishops’ president did not identify the Cabinet officials but said they have made a “breakthrough”, adding that there was a mutual request from both sides to “tone down” attacks against each other. “You stop we stop,” Arch. Villegas said. “You can’t tell us to stop talking when issues are so unchristian and against our beliefs.” “If they stop killings, the so-called disregard for human life, then you can trust that we will tone down statements because we will see that goodwill,” he said. The archbishop added that the bishops are concerned that if they keep their silence and do not protest the killings, “people might think it’s the new normal.” “That,” the prelate pointed out, “is the more worrisome issue when our traditionally Catholic beliefs and Filipino culture is being changed slowly.” “It’s like the boiling of the frog. We should not consider killing, adultery, swearing normal,” he said.
The Philippine bishops’ chief clarified that the Church is not against Duterte as a person, but against issues concerning morals. “We assured for the success of the President but solutions should be within parameters of morality,” he said.
The Philippine bishops in February called on their faithful to speak out against summary killings in the government’s war on drugs, saying that silence makes them an ‘accomplice’ in the crime. Archbishop Villegas has also called on bishops not to remain silent but speak out and stand up against what is morally wrong and defend life, even though they may be “unheeded, mocked and ignored." For his part, Duterte has often launched in harsh attacks against the bishops, guilty in his eyes of criticizing the bloodshed caused by his war on drugs and opposing his attempt to reintroduce the death penalty.
According to Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, the Catholic Church, contrary to what some believe, is not an enemy of the Duterte administration but an ally, a helper of the state. In his Sunday homily, April 2, in a parish, the bishop focused on to the rising number of widows and orphans generated by the president’s war on drugs, which has so far left 7,000 people dead. “Mr President,” said the prelate, “the Church and the bishops you curse, together with the priests [. . .] are the ones who help the victims of your fight against drugs”. In lieu of the death penalty, the bishop called on the government to help Filipinos overcome the bondage of addiction through treatment and rehabilitation. Bishop Tobias also criticized the idea that addicts are good for nothing, noting that what brings divisions is judgmental attitudes towards others. As a society, all Filipinos are accountable for the high level of drug abuse, Bishop Tobias added.
At least two Catholic bishops have welcomed the filing of an impeachment motion against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly masterminding the killing of up to 8,000 suspected drug offenders. In a report, Human Rights Watch has accused the police in the Philippines of falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings, and pointed the finger at Duterte as being ultimately responsible. The rights group said the killings of drug suspects could amount to crimes against humanity. (Source: CBCP/AsiaNews)
A group of diocesan priests in India have pledged to take Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a model and source of their inspiration and life. 113 members of the Conference of Diocesan Priests of India (CDPI) from 67 dioceses voiced their desire when they recently met in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, together with several bishops, including local Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta. The theme was "The life and mission of Mother Teresa reflected in the life and mission of the diocesan priests"."I think the effect of this will last for years in the hearts and minds of diocesan priests of India," Fr. Raymond Joseph Irudhayasamy, CDPI Executive Secretary told Fides. The priests made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Mother Teresa praying and celebrating the Eucharist on her grave, and were "deeply touched by her burning desire to love only Christ" and to make the Eucharist "the pivot of her life". "Mother Teres...
A group of diocesan priests in India have pledged to take Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a model and source of their inspiration and life. 113 members of the Conference of Diocesan Priests of India (CDPI) from 67 dioceses voiced their desire when they recently met in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, together with several bishops, including local Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta. The theme was "The life and mission of Mother Teresa reflected in the life and mission of the diocesan priests".
"I think the effect of this will last for years in the hearts and minds of diocesan priests of India," Fr. Raymond Joseph Irudhayasamy, CDPI Executive Secretary told Fides. The priests made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Mother Teresa praying and celebrating the Eucharist on her grave, and were "deeply touched by her burning desire to love only Christ" and to make the Eucharist "the pivot of her life". "Mother Teresa bent down to serve the Jesus she saw in the poorest of the poor, the terminally ill or incurable. She teaches us with her life that holiness is not a luxury for some, but a pastoral priority for every diocesan priest", Fr. Irudhayasamy said.
Bishop Salvatore Lobo of Baruipur, spoke to the assembly about "total surrender to Jesus, to love Jesus alone, to give to Jesus and live only for Jesus", urging priests to "be the face of Christ on earth". Mother Teresa of Calcutta, he said, was "an exemplary model of silence, deep friendship with Jesus and evangelization through her life".
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Conference of diocesan priests issued a statement pledging their commitment to emulate Mother Teresa. "We, diocesan priests, appreciating our divine gift of priesthood,” they wrote, “will strive to assimilate the values lived by Mother Teresa, particularly her spirit of universality that pushed her toward all who suffer, regardless of creed, caste or country.” “We will do our best to serve those who are marginalized economically and spiritually in our parishes, beyond the borders of our faith community,” the priests pledged. “We have decided to celebrate the Eucharist remembering the maternal advice of Mother Teresa: celebrate this Mass, as if it were your first Mass, as if it were your last Mass, and as if it were the only one.” We pledge to respect the human dignity of each individual with whom we come into contact and to carry out our priestly ministry with the greatest love, so that if becomes a source of inspiration for all,” the diocesan priests stated.
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what is Macedonia today, Mother Teresa came to eastern India’s Kolkata city in 1929, as a Loreto nun. Later, in what she described as a call within a call, she founded her Missionaries of Charity congregation in 1950. She obtained Indian citizenship the following year. Mother Teresa earned 124 national as well as international honours for her works of mercy, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87 and St. John Paul II declared her Blessed in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, on October 19, 2003. Pope Francis officially proclaimed her a saint of the Catholic Church on September 4, 2016 in the Vatican. (Source: Fides)
NEW YORK (AP) -- Travelers stuck in endless delays at New York City's cramped and congested LaGuardia Airport can feel like prisoners. Now there's a plan to liberate them by closing the city's most notorious jail....
DALLAS (AP) -- Masha Gregory was nervous to move out of her parents' home and into her own place, where the 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman worried about making friends and being away from her parents. But after living in her own apartment at a complex that focuses on adults with autism, she's made new friends and found she loves her independence....
