Catholic News 2
WEST CHAZY, N.Y. (AP) -- Only 17 snowy miles from the Canadian border, Katie Bushey's most basic needs are met by traveling health aides who come into her home to change her diapers, track her seizures, spoon-feed her fettuccine Alfredo and load her wheelchair into the shower....
NEW YORK (AP) -- David Rockefeller, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who was the last in his generation of one of the country's most famously philanthropic families, died Monday. He was 101....
NEW YORK (AP) -- The person who shares a news story on social media is more important than the story's actual source in determining whether readers believe it, a study by the Media Insight Project has found....
LONDON (AP) -- Britain will begin divorce proceedings from the European Union on March 29, starting the clock on two years of intense political and economic negotiations that will fundamentally change both the nation and its European neighbors....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Quick, name a Supreme Court justice. OK, name three. One of the current justices, Stephen Breyer, once noted wryly that their names are less well-known than those of the Three Stooges....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee praised President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick on Monday for an "unfailing commitment" to the principle of separation of powers, as Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearing got underway....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on a congressional inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election (all times local):...
(Vatican Radio) Germany's government has cast doubt on Turkey's chances of joining the European Union, amid growing tensions with Ankara over human rights and Turkey's claim that it's being treated unfairly by countries in western Europe. The comments by the German foreign minister came as an estimated crowd of at least 30,000 Turkish Kurds gathered in the German city of Frankfurt over the weekend to protest against the constitutional reforms sought by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Kurdish Turks, many carrying banned symbols and banners sympathetic to Kurdish political groups marched against Erdogan through the streets of Frankfurt, closely watched by a large police force. The protesters demanded a ‘NO’ vote to proposed changes in Turkey's constitution that would extend President Erdogan's powers. “First of all we demand freedom for [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK politician Ab...
(Vatican Radio) Germany's government has cast doubt on Turkey's chances of joining the European Union, amid growing tensions with Ankara over human rights and Turkey's claim that it's being treated unfairly by countries in western Europe. The comments by the German foreign minister came as an estimated crowd of at least 30,000 Turkish Kurds gathered in the German city of Frankfurt over the weekend to protest against the constitutional reforms sought by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Kurdish Turks, many carrying banned symbols and banners sympathetic to Kurdish political groups marched against Erdogan through the streets of Frankfurt, closely watched by a large police force. The protesters demanded a ‘NO’ vote to proposed changes in Turkey's constitution that would extend President Erdogan's powers. “First of all we demand freedom for [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK politician Abdullah Ocalan and then for the oppressed Kurdish people," a female protester said. "And of course we want to raise our voice against Erdogan and his referendum in April. We are strictly against it.”
Turkey condemned the gathering as “unacceptable” and accused Germany of hypocrisy for allowing it. Yet, the Kurdish protesters aren't along in expressing concern over Erdogan's policies.
Germany and neighboring Netherlands have been outraged over his remarks comparing their behaviour to those of the
Nazis during World War Two. Erdogan made those comments after the two countries blocked Ankara ministers who wanted to campaign among Turkish immigrants for a 'YES' vote in the upcoming referendum.
Amid the controversy and concerns over a crackdown on journalists and civil servants in Turkey, senior German officials have cast doubt Turkey's chances of joining the European Union.
PRIVILEGED PARTNERSHIP?
In an interview published by German weekly Der Spiegel, Germany's foreign minister suggested that for now the
most that Turkey can hope for is to one day achieve a "privileged partnership" with the 28-nation bloc.
In Sigmar Gabriel's words: "Turkey is further away than ever before from EU membership."
It also remains unclear which German chancellor will soon have to deal with Turkey, after the center-left Social Democratic Party unanimously elected Martin Schulz on Sunday as the party's top candidate.
Polls show he may provide a serious challenge to current leader Angela Merkel in the country's upcoming general election.
Schultz has vowed to fight populism if his party wins the September vote, amid concerns over rising far-right and nationalist parties in Germany and other European Union nations.
(Vatican Radio) Saint Joseph gives young people “the ability to dream, to risk, and to undertake the difficult tasks that they have seen in dreams.” That was the message of Pope Francis during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.The day’s liturgy commemorated the Solemnity of St Joseph, which is normally celebrated on 19 March, but which is transferred when that date falls on a Sunday in Lent. In his homily, Pope Francis focused on the figure of St Joseph, the guardian of weaknesses, and of the “dream of God.”The Gospel of the day tells how Joseph, in obedience to the angel who appeared to him in a dream, took Mary, who had conceived by the Holy Spirit, as his wife. Joseph, silent and obedient, is a man who carries with him the promises of “ancestry, heritage, paternity, sonship, stability”:“And this man, this dreamer, is able to accept this duty, this grave duty. He has so much to say to us in this time of a strong sense ...
(Vatican Radio) Saint Joseph gives young people “the ability to dream, to risk, and to undertake the difficult tasks that they have seen in dreams.” That was the message of Pope Francis during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
The day’s liturgy commemorated the Solemnity of St Joseph, which is normally celebrated on 19 March, but which is transferred when that date falls on a Sunday in Lent.
In his homily, Pope Francis focused on the figure of St Joseph, the guardian of weaknesses, and of the “dream of God.”
The Gospel of the day tells how Joseph, in obedience to the angel who appeared to him in a dream, took Mary, who had conceived by the Holy Spirit, as his wife. Joseph, silent and obedient, is a man who carries with him the promises of “ancestry, heritage, paternity, sonship, stability”:
“And this man, this dreamer, is able to accept this duty, this grave duty. He has so much to say to us in this time of a strong sense of being orphaned. And so this man takes the promise of God and carries it onward in silence, with strength, he carries it onward so that God’s Will might be done.”
Saint Joseph, the Pope said, is a man “who can tell us many things, but who does not speak,” “the hidden man,” the man of silence, “who has the greatest authority in that moment without letting it be seen.” And the Pope emphasized that the things God confides to the heart of Joseph are “weak things”: promises – and a promise is weak. And then there is the birth of the child, the flight into Egypt, situations of weakness. Joseph takes to heart and carries forward “all these weaknesses” as weaknesses are carried forward: “with so much tenderness,” “with the tenderness with which one takes a child in one’s arms”:
“He is the man who doesn’t speak but obeys, the man of tenderness, the man capable of carrying forward the promises so that they might become solid, certain; the man who guarantees the stability of the Kingdom of God, the paternity of God, our sonship as children of God. I like to think of Joseph as the guardian of weaknesses, of our weaknesses too: he is able to give birth to so many beautiful things from our weaknesses, even from our sins.”
Joseph is the guardian of weaknesses so that they might become firm in faith. But he received this duty in a dream: he is a man “able to dream,” Pope Francis said. And so he is also “the guardian of the dream of God”: God’s dream “of saving all of us,” of redemption, was entrusted to him. “How great was this carpenter!” the Pope exclaimed. He was silent, but he worked, he guarded, he carried forward the weaknesses, and he was capable of dreaming. And so he is a figure who has a message for all:
“Today I want to ask, grant to all of us the ability to dream, that when we dream great things, beautiful things, we might draw near to the dream of God, the things God dreams about us. [I ask] that he might give to young people – because he was young – the capacity to dream, to risk, to undertake the difficult tasks they have seen in dreams. And [I ask] him to give to all of us the faithfulness that tends to grow when we have a just attitude – Joseph was just – [the faithfulness that] grows in silence, with few words; that grows in tenderness that guards our own weaknesses and those of others.”
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian government forces on Monday regained control of parts of Damascus that were attacked and captured by rebels and militants the previous day, with the two-day fighting leaving dozens dead on both sides, the military and an activist group said....
