Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Vatican Weekend for February 11th, 2017 features a review of Pope Francis’ General Audience, shocking testimony about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo from a Caritas official, a look at the grim reality of the illegal trafficking of human organs that was the topic of a Vatican conference and Part 2 of a special program exploring the historical context of the signing of the 1929 Lateran Pacts that led to the creation of the Vatican City State.Listen to this program produced and presented by Susy Hodges:
Vatican Weekend for February 12th, 2017 features our weekly reflection on the Sunday Gospel reading, “There’s more in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye,” plus our resident Vatican watcher Joan Lewis reviews the past week’s events in the Vatican.Listen to this program produced and presented by Susy Hodges:
(Vatican Radio) If you listen carefully to what Pope Francis has been telling us about communicating, there’s much more to it than just conveying facts, figures or opinions; he says it’s about sharing, listening, closeness, acceptance and truth.Again and again, he asks journalists, writers, reporters, bloggers and all those who communicate through social media to put their abilities and gifts at the service of the common good in a perspective of true encounter and exchange.Alessandro Gisotti, a veteran journalist at Vatican Radio and a member of the Secretariat of Communications’ project for Vatican social media, has taken Pope Francis’ advice to heart and compiled a ‘guide’ book for all those, professionals and non, who want to get the message across.Linda Bordoni talked to him about his recently published “Decalogue of the good communicator according to Pope Francis”…Listen: Alessandro Gisotti says the aim of the...
India's Latin-rite Catholic bishops have pledged to give special pastoral attention to people estranged from the Church and their families. During the 29th plenary assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state, 137 bishops from the country’s Latin dioceses discussed on how to revitalize Catholic families who are drifting away from vital Catholic teachings. The theme was inspired by Pope Francis' 2016 exhortation, 'Amoris Laetitia' (The Joy of Love). "We will reach out to those who for several reasons feel estranged from the church … including people who are divorced, those civilly remarried and cohabiting partners," the Latin bishops said in a final statement. They said they would do this keeping in mind Pope Francis' words that "what is urgently needed today is a ministry to care for those whose marital relationship has broken down." They also ...
The commission investigating deaths and abuses during Nepal's communist insurgency received a one-year extension Thursday after being unable to finish its work on thousands of claims and complaints collected from victims and their families. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission received 58,052 claims and complaints since 2 commissions were established in 2015 - one to probe enforced disappearances and another to investigate more than 60,000 complaints of violations committed during the war. More than 17,000 people are believed to have been killed in a decade of fighting between communist rebels and government troops before a United Nations-brokered peace deal ended the conflict in 2006.It took years for the government to set up the commission, and even longer to establish the laws and regulations for it to function. The government said in a statement that the decision to extend the commission's tenure was made at a Cabinet meeting Thursday. ...
(Vatican Radio) Human rights activists have vowed to sue Hungary at the European Union's top court after the government announced that it will hold asylum seekers in border camps made up of shipping containers while their asylum requests are settled. The container plan is part of a Hungary's tough anti-immigration policy that has raised concerns within the EU and advocacy organizations.The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, one of the country's leading rights groups, says it will sue Hungary at the European Court of Justice in every case where asylum-seekers in its words illegally kept in custody. That would likely force the Hungarian government to make compensation payments.In its words the government would do better instead to improve the quality of the open reception centers and spend this money on the integration of people who have found asylum in Hungary.The announcement came shortly after János Lázár, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief...
(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, Pope Francis named Archbishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C., the Bishop of Warszawa-Praga, as a Special Envoy of the Holy See to Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.The scope of his mission, according to the press release announcing the appointment, is “to acquire a profound understanding of the pastoral situation” in Medjugorje, with special concern for the “needs of the faithful who come on pilgrimage;” and on the basis of that understanding “to suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future.” His mission, therefore, “will have an exclusively pastoral character.”Responding to questions from journalists, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke said, “The Special Envoy of the Holy See will not enter into the question of the Marian apparitions, which are the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” Archbishop Hoser’s mission, he said, “is a sign of Ho...
The government of Kenya declares drought situation, a national disaster. The International Federation of the Red Cross says infact 11 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need help.Speaking Friday after a brief on the situation on the ground by Cabinet Secretaries involved in drought management and food security at State House Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta called on all stakeholders to support the government by up-scaling drought mitigation programmes.“Support from our partners would complement government’s efforts in mitigating the effects of drought,” said President Kenyatta.On Tuesday this week, The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) called on the government to declare drought a national disaster noting that about 2.4 million in the country needed help urgently. “We hasten to appeal to the Government to declare the current drought a national disaster in order to beckon the international community to step forward and support the...
(Vatican Radio) The World Day of the Sick, established by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1993, is celebrated each year on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, 11 February. This year marks the 25th annual commemoration of the day.The theme chosen for World Day of the Sick 2017 is “Amazement at what God has accomplished: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me’.” In his message for the Day, Pope Francis said, “This celebration likewise gives the Church renewed spiritual energy for carrying out ever more fully that fundamental part of her mission which includes serving the poor, the infirm, the suffering, the outcast and the marginalized” – echoing the words of St John Paul.Pope Francis also focused on the Marian aspect of the commemoration, saying, “I encourage all of you, the sick, the suffering, physicians, nurses, family members and volunteers, to see in Mary, Health of the Infirm, the sure sign of God’s love for every human ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. In remarks ahead of the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father offered a meditation on the Gospel reading for this Sunday, taken from the 5th chapter of Gospel according to St. Matthew, in which Our Lord says:Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.Reflec...
