Catholic News 2
One of Jerry Sandusky's sons was charged Monday with sex crimes involving two girls, more than five years after the former Penn State assistant coach was himself first arrested on child molestation charges....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A bitterly divided Senate on Monday confirmed Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary despite strong objections by Democrats that the former banker ran a "foreclosure machine" when he headed OneWest Bank....
OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- Helicopters dropped giant rock-filled sandbags into place Monday to shore up a California reservoir that had threatened to breach its banks and unleash a 30-foot wall of water, but officials said an evacuation order covering nearly 200,000 people would stay in place until they are sure it's safe to return home....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned late Monday night, following reports that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russia. His departure upends Trump's senior team after less than one month in office....
Amman, Jordan, Feb 10, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jerusalem Bishop William Shomali, newly appointed to the Latin Patriarchate of Jordan, says that although Christians are a very small minority in Jordan, through the Catholic schools, hospitals and charities their presence is strongly felt in the communities.Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, after consultation with the Bishops Council and the Consultative Council of the Latin Patriarchate, announced Feb. 8 that he named Bishop Shomali the next Patriarchal Vicar of Jordan.Auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem since 2010, Bishop Shomali told CNA Feb. 9 that while he will make several visits to Jordan over the next few months, including one for a bishops' conference, he won't permanently take over in Jordan until a few months from now, at which point he will reside in Amman.Although Christians are a very small minority in the area – they only make up about tw...
Amman, Jordan, Feb 10, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jerusalem Bishop William Shomali, newly appointed to the Latin Patriarchate of Jordan, says that although Christians are a very small minority in Jordan, through the Catholic schools, hospitals and charities their presence is strongly felt in the communities.
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, after consultation with the Bishops Council and the Consultative Council of the Latin Patriarchate, announced Feb. 8 that he named Bishop Shomali the next Patriarchal Vicar of Jordan.
Auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem since 2010, Bishop Shomali told CNA Feb. 9 that while he will make several visits to Jordan over the next few months, including one for a bishops' conference, he won't permanently take over in Jordan until a few months from now, at which point he will reside in Amman.
Although Christians are a very small minority in the area – they only make up about two percent of the overall population, he said – their social status and presence, relatively speaking, has a much stronger influence.
“The Catholic Church, although a minority, is very active through Catholic schools, Caritas, and other institutions,” he said. “We also have Catholic hospitals in Jordan, so our presence in the health and social and educational sectors is strong.”
This doesn't mean Bishop Shomali won't face challenges in Jordan, though.
The issues, he said, are not new ones, but ones the area has been facing for some time: mainly pertaining to the economy, refugees and the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The presence of two million refugees” from Syria in Jordan, he said, presents a challenge on a humanitarian level, although the Catholic organization Caritas is very involved on that level.
Jordan is also dealing with an ongoing economic crisis, which significantly affects institutions of higher education, such as the local universities.
“Another challenge is that the diocese is divided into many sectors: Jordan, Palestine, Israel,” he explained. “So we have to care for the unity of the diocese, despite the political and economic differences and discrepancies.”
Asked his response to the possibility of a U.S. embassy move from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem, which U.S. bishops condemned just earlier this week, Bishop Shomali said that the bishops in the Holy Land are also united in considering it a bad idea.
“We feel that if the embassy is transferred, it will be a handicap against the two-state solution,” he said, and that they really “don't advise Mr. Trump to do that.”
Not all bad news, the bishop said that Jordan does have a number of young and vibrant priests which helps to make his job much easier. “On the positive side, we have a younger clergy, very dynamic, and very orthodox, which makes it easier for the bishop to work,” he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's meeting with Japan's prime minister offers a chance to shore up a long-standing security alliance and repair economic ties shaken by U.S. withdrawal from a Pacific trade pact....
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranians began a nationwide celebration Friday to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the 1979 revolution with rallies around the country....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Tom Price, President Donald Trump's choice to be health secretary, is the latest of a handful of Cabinet nominees to eke out a confirmation victory in a bitterly divided Senate....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With her move to Washington, Ivanka Trump isn't just taking on a new city; she's navigating a different world....
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- It was the sound of soft sighs and cries in the half-light that first struck Cheree Morrison, and then as the dawn broke she began to see the extent of the carnage - more than 400 whales had swum aground along a remote New Zealand beach....
