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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump is shaking up his transition team as he plunges into the work of setting up his administration, elevating Vice President-elect Mike Pence to head the operations. It amounts to a demotion for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had been running Trump's transition planning for months....
Vatican Weekend for November 13, 2016 features our weekly reflection on the Sunday Gospel reading in Jill Bevilacqua's series, "There's More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye," and our resident Vatican watcher, Joan Lewis looks back at the past week's events in the Vatican.Listen to this programme produced and presented by Tracey McClure:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday welcomed to Rome more than 6000 people, men and women from various European nations, who have lived, or are even now, living on the street.The Jubilee for Socially Excluded Persons embraced not only the homeless, but also disadvantaged persons and people living in poverty.The event was made possible with the help of “Fratello”, an association which organizes and hosts events with and for people in situations of exclusion, in partnership with associations assisting such people.Following testimonies from two of the participants, Pope Francis addressed the crowd, thanking them for coming to Rome to meet with him and to pray for him. The Holy Father reflected on some of the ideas brought up by the two men who spoke before him.The first was that human beings do not differ from the “great people” of the world. All men and women, the great and the small, have their own passions and dreams. “Don’t stop dreaming!&rd...
Indonesia’s Catholic bishops ended their 11-day annual meeting on Thursday with a pastoral call urging Catholics to unite to fight deep-rooted corruption that has infiltrated all levels of society, including the Church. "Corruption can be found everywhere. It can be found in the business world as well as in state institutions. It even can be found in religious institutions including the church," the bishops said in a letter after their Oct. 31-Nov. 10 meeting in Jakarta. They noted that “the pattern of corruption within the Church is usually similar to that found in other institutions.” “Expenditure on unclear budgets, marking-up budgets needed for various projects, and the use of fictitious receipts," the bishops added. Corruption has destroyed human dignity and been difficult to fight because it takes place on a large scale, they said. "Fighting corruption must be done through a joint movement and carried out in...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday met a group of young men who have left the priesthood during the past years to show his closeness and affection towards them. His surprise visit to an apartment in the outskirts of Rome to meet with the group made up of five Italians, a Spaniard and a man from Latin America, came as part of his traditional gestures of Mercy on one Friday a month during this Jubilee Year.A Vatican statement said the young men in question took the difficult decision to leave the priesthood despite opposition in many cases from their fellow priests or their families after serving for several years in parishes where loneliness, misunderstanding, fatigue arising from their many responsibilities prompted them to rethink their choice. It said the men spent months and years wrestling with uncertainty and doubts before coming to the decision they had made a mistake by becoming priests and therefore decided to leave and form a family.
Washington D.C., Nov 11, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA).- While Donald Trump has unequivocally won the U.S. presidency, the 2016 election race remains one of the most divisive in recent history.Polls throughout the election process showed nearly unprecedented disapproval ratings for both Trump and former Secretary Hillary Clinton.Due in part to these historic levels of unpopularity, many individuals cast their support – or at the very least, public appreciation – for parody candidates such as Harambe the Gorilla and wrestling star Stone Cold Steve Austin.CNA spoke to one such candidate – Sweet Meteor O'Death, or SMOD – a sharp-witted, scathingly funny asteroid who claims to offer the world “a better alternative in the form of the end of human civilization.”Over the course of the campaign SMOD gained a large following – including a sizable Catholic contingent – on Twitter. (SMOD also claims to have been raised Catholic itself – though ...
Vatican City, Nov 11, 2016 / 07:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When asked in a new interview what he thinks of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, Pope Francis said he doesn’t judge politicians, but noted that main concern is for migrants and refugees.“I don’t make judgments on people and on political men, I only want to understand what the sufferings are that their way of proceeding causes to the poor and excluded,” the Pope told Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari in an interview published Nov. 11Scalfari, 92 and an atheist, is the founder of Italy’s leftist paper “La Repubblica,” and has spoken to the Pope on several occasions, however, he doesn’t not record his conversations with the Pope, and the Vatican has on numerous occasions had to issue statements urging readers to be cautious of things Sclafari has written.According to Scalfari, he met with the Pope the day before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election that climaxed with the nominat...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Aprille Hanson, Arkansas CatholicBy Aprille HansonCABOT, Ark. (CNS) -- U.S. Navyveteran Dave King's whole world changed when Zack came into his life.The young Catahoula mix pluckedfrom a shelter already has all the love in the world for his new companion. Butwhen Zack is wearing his vest he has a higher purpose -- he is a service dog intraining to help King cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic braininjury.Before King got Zack threemonths ago, he almost became a statistic -- about 20 American vets a day commitsuicide, according to 2014 data from the Department of Veterans Affairs."I tried to commit suicide. Istepped out in front of a speeding vehicle and he just happened to stop shortand it was a sheriff," he said, adding he was taken to the hospital for help.King, who was homeless, found AVeteran's Best Friend, a volunteer nonprofit organization and Christianministry that helps veterans by training service dogs for free throughcommunity and church ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Orestis Panagiotou, EPABy Cindy WoodenROME (CNS) -- The day before Donald Trump was electedpresident of the United States, Pope Francis said he would make no judgmentsabout the candidate and was interested only in the impact his policies wouldhave on the poor.Eugenio Scalfari, co-founder and former editor of LaRepubblica, an Italian daily, said he met with Pope Francis Nov. 7 and askedhim what he thought of Trump."I don't give judgments about persons and politicians;I only want to understand what sufferings their way of proceeding will causethe poor and excluded," the pope said, according to Scalfari.The journalist has explained on more than one occasion thathe does not take notes or record his conversations with the pope; he re-createsthem afterward from memory, including the material he puts in quotation marks.Scalfari, in an article published Nov. 11, said Pope Francissaid his greatest concern today is for refugees and immigrants."Only a small portion of them ar...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Di Meo, EPABy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICANCITY (CNS) -- Looking directly at thousands of homeless and marginalizedpersons, Pope Francis asked for their forgiveness for failures to recognizetheir dignity and alleviate their suffering."Iask your forgiveness if I have ever offended you with my words or for nothaving said something that I should have," the pope said Nov. 11 during anaudience with pilgrims attending special Year of Mercy events for people whoare homeless or otherwise socially excluded.PopeFrancis, speaking in the name of all Christians, asked their forgiveness fortimes when they were not treated with the dignity the Gospel says they have."Iask your forgiveness for all the times that we Christians stand before a poorperson or a situation of poverty and look the other way," the pope said. Theforgiveness of those who have felt unloved and unwanted by men and women of thechurch "purifies us and helps us to believe once again that at the heartof th...
