The worldwide leader of the Society of Jesus is in India, the first country he chose to visit after being elected the 31st Superior General of the Jesuits in October. Arriving at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on February 18 on an 11-day visit, Venezuelan Father Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal was received by a team of Jesuits from the Delhi province. India is part of the Jesuit’s South Asia Assistancy that accounts for 4,000 members of the 16,000 Jesuits worldwide, the largest religious congregation for men in the Catholic church. The 68-year old Venezuelan is the first Jesuit chief from Latin America, the same region of Pope Francis.Fr Sosa who will be in India until February 28, is being accompanied by three Rome-based assistants who look after the society’s ministries in South Asia. Fr Sosa will stay in Delhi for two days and then head to the Jesuit province of Madhya Pradesh ...
The worldwide leader of the Society of Jesus is in India, the first country he chose to visit after being elected the 31st Superior General of the Jesuits in October. Arriving at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on February 18 on an 11-day visit, Venezuelan Father Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal was received by a team of Jesuits from the Delhi province. India is part of the Jesuit’s South Asia Assistancy that accounts for 4,000 members of the 16,000 Jesuits worldwide, the largest religious congregation for men in the Catholic church. The 68-year old Venezuelan is the first Jesuit chief from Latin America, the same region of Pope Francis.
Fr Sosa who will be in India until February 28, is being accompanied by three Rome-based assistants who look after the society’s ministries in South Asia. Fr Sosa will stay in Delhi for two days and then head to the Jesuit province of Madhya Pradesh that covers the tribal-dominated central Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh capital Jabalpur he will meet all the Jesuit provincials of South Asia. Fr. Sosa will then proceed Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, on February 27.
The South Asia Assistancy comprises Jesuits working in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It has 18 provinces and two regions. (Source: Matters India)
The new apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, arrived in New Delhi on Feb. 16 and is expected to prepare for a possible visit of Pope Francis to India this year. Top officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), including its president, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, were at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport to meet the Vatican ambassador.Pope Francis announced the 62-year old Italian archbishop as Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal on Jan. 21, to take over from Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio who was transferred to Poland in August, 2016. The Apostolic Nunciature to India and Nepal is based in the Indian capital New Delhi.On his flight back from his apostolic visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan on Oct. 3, 2016, the Pope spoke to reporters on board about his 2017 foreign visits, saying, “I will go to Portugal; and almost certainly to India and Bangladesh,” but did not speci...
The new apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, arrived in New Delhi on Feb. 16 and is expected to prepare for a possible visit of Pope Francis to India this year. Top officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), including its president, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, were at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport to meet the Vatican ambassador.
Pope Francis announced the 62-year old Italian archbishop as Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal on Jan. 21, to take over from Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio who was transferred to Poland in August, 2016. The Apostolic Nunciature to India and Nepal is based in the Indian capital New Delhi.
On his flight back from his apostolic visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan on Oct. 3, 2016, the Pope spoke to reporters on board about his 2017 foreign visits, saying, “I will go to Portugal; and almost certainly to India and Bangladesh,” but did not specify any date. The leadership of the Catholic Church that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 7 later said that "India is favorable" to a papal visit. (Source: UCAN)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans control Congress so President Donald Trump's pledge to boost the Pentagon budget by tens of billions of dollars should be a sure bet....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans control Congress so President Donald Trump's pledge to boost the Pentagon budget by tens of billions of dollars should be a sure bet....
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- At a hospital morgue in Malaysia's capital, the tightly guarded corpse of a middle-aged man has become the focus of a dizzying case of international intrigue involving five countries, combative North Korean diplomats and an apparently duped female assassin....
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MUNICH (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to the United States and others on Saturday to support and bolster multilateral organizations such as the European Union, the United Nations and NATO, an alliance to which U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pledged America's commitment was "unwavering."...
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MUNICH (AP) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence sought Saturday to calm jittery partners by declaring that the United States, under President Donald Trump, would "hold Russia accountable" and maintain steadfast support for NATO, the post-World War II military alliance Trump once dismissed as "obsolete."...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception who are in Rome for their General Chapter, telling them to open hearts with the Gospel message.Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception was founded, in 1673, in Poland and works in 26 countries around the world.In prepared remarks to the participants of the Congregation’s General Chapter on Saturday, Pope Francis told them that the example of their founder, St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, who was canonized last year, was both the light and guide of their walk and fully understood the meaning of being a disciple of Christ.In this perspective, the Pope said, “your service of the Word is the witness of the Risen Christ, that you have encountered on your path…” adding, that they were called to spread the Gospel message wherever they are sent.The Pope also unde...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception who are in Rome for their General Chapter, telling them to open hearts with the Gospel message.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
The Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception was founded, in 1673, in Poland and works in 26 countries around the world.
In prepared remarks to the participants of the Congregation’s General Chapter on Saturday, Pope Francis told them that the example of their founder, St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, who was canonized last year, was both the light and guide of their walk and fully understood the meaning of being a disciple of Christ.
In this perspective, the Pope said, “your service of the Word is the witness of the Risen Christ, that you have encountered on your path…” adding, that they were called to spread the Gospel message wherever they are sent.
The Pope also underlined that Christian witness requires engagement with and for the poor, noting it was a commitment that has characterized the Congregation.
The Holy Father encouraged the Marian Fathers to keep alive this tradition of service to the poor and the humble, through the proclamation of the Gospel, along with the works of mercy and prayers for the souls of the faithfully departed.
He continued by saying that “the great challenge of inculturation asks you today to announce the Good News in languages ??and ways understandable to the men and women of our time, involved in rapid social and cultural transformation processes.
The horizons of evangelization and the urgent need to bear witness to the Gospel message, without distinction, the Pope said “constitute the vast field of your apostolate.” Many people, the Holy Father observed, “are still waiting to know Jesus, the one Redeemer of man.”
Such an urgent mission, Pope Francis underlined, “requires personal and community conversion. Only fully open hearts to the action of Grace”, he said, “are able to interpret the signs of the times and to seize the appeals of humanity in need of hope and peace.”
Preparations are far advanced for a national re-consecration of Ghana to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the Catholic Church in that country.The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State as his special envoy to celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Ghana and the Holy See as well as the 60th Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Ghana.According to Ghana’s weekly ‘Catholic Standard’ newspaper, the re-consecration of Ghana to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be part of the spiritual contribution of the Church to the milestone celebrations. The celebrations and re-consecration are scheduled to take place in the capital Accra on Saturday, 4 March 2017.The re-consecration will comprise an ecumenical and inter-faith Prayer Service. In attendance will be the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich; ...
Preparations are far advanced for a national re-consecration of Ghana to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the Catholic Church in that country.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State as his special envoy to celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Ghana and the Holy See as well as the 60th Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Ghana.
According to Ghana’s weekly ‘Catholic Standard’ newspaper, the re-consecration of Ghana to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be part of the spiritual contribution of the Church to the milestone celebrations. The celebrations and re-consecration are scheduled to take place in the capital Accra on Saturday, 4 March 2017.
The re-consecration will comprise an ecumenical and inter-faith Prayer Service. In attendance will be the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich; the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Philip Naameh and other Bishops.
Leaders of other religious bodies and Government authorities will also participate in the ceremony.
Ghana was first consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during Mass on 3 March 1957 at the Holy Spirit Cathedral of Accra. This was as a prelude to Ghana’s independence that was celebrated on 6 March 1957.
After the re-consecration ceremony on Saturday 3 March 2017, a Thanksgiving Holy Mass will be celebrated to mark the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Ghana and the Holy See as well as the 60th Anniversary of Independence. This will be at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra.
Richmond, Va., Feb 18, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Virginia could become the third state to officially recognize the harmful effects of pornography.By a vote of 82-8, the Virginia House of Delegates on Feb. 2 passed a resolution recognizing that pornography leads to “individual and societal harms.”The resolution says pornography is biologically addictive and hurts families. The use of pornography may normalize violence and abuse, lead to the hypersexualization of teenagers, and increase acceptance of risky behavior, the resolution said.Nine delegates did not vote on the resolution, which now heads to the Senate for consideration.The measure was introduced by Delegate Robert G. Marshall, a Republican from Prince William. The original wording recognized pornography as a “public health crisis,” but that language was changed, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.Both chambers of the South Dakota legislature unanimously passed a resolution against pornography...
Richmond, Va., Feb 18, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Virginia could become the third state to officially recognize the harmful effects of pornography.
By a vote of 82-8, the Virginia House of Delegates on Feb. 2 passed a resolution recognizing that pornography leads to “individual and societal harms.”
The resolution says pornography is biologically addictive and hurts families. The use of pornography may normalize violence and abuse, lead to the hypersexualization of teenagers, and increase acceptance of risky behavior, the resolution said.
Nine delegates did not vote on the resolution, which now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The measure was introduced by Delegate Robert G. Marshall, a Republican from Prince William. The original wording recognized pornography as a “public health crisis,” but that language was changed, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
Both chambers of the South Dakota legislature unanimously passed a resolution against pornography. The Jan. 31 vote in the House was 65-0, following a 35-0 vote in the Senate.
The South Dakota resolution used wording that recognized pornography as a public health hazard. The language was identical to that of a resolution the Utah legislature passed unanimously in March 2016.
Other countries are also considering the effects of widespread pornography.
In December 2016 the Canadian House of Commons unanimously approved a motion introduced by MP Arnold Viersen instructing health officials to examine the public health effects of violent pornography on adults and children.
Canada’s last major public study on sexually explicit material was the 1985 Fraser Committee Report.
“It is appalling that the last time Canada studied the impact of violent sexually explicit material was 30 years ago, before the invention of the internet,” Viersen said in March 2016. “This is a public health issue, it’s a women’s equality issue and it is time for Parliament to make this a priority.”
Dawn Hawkins, executive director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, backed the Canadian resolution. She citied research showing “neurologic changes to the brain that mimic drug addiction.” Other research indicated a link between pornography and increases in sexual dysfunction and even sexual violence.
“Once a social or health issue involves problems that affect individuals or groups beyond their capacity to correct, responsibility shifts from individual accountability to holding the forces and influences that cause it accountable,” Hawkins said in December.
She said it is “vital” for all countries with heavy internet use to study the effects of pornography on younger generations. She suggested there needs to be a public health campaign against “the use and normalization of pornography.”
About 27 percent of children are exposed to pornography even before puberty, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said.
