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Pope Francis on Sunday raised Auxiliary Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong to the rank of Coadjutor Bishop of the same diocese. A coadjutor bishop has the right to succession, meaning that on the retirement, death or stepping down of a current bishop, the coadjutor bishop automatically becomes the new bishop without any separate appointment by the Pope. Bishop Yeung, who is 71, will succeed Hong Kong Bishop, Card. John Tong Hon, who is 78 years old. The canonical retirement age of a bishop is 75 but Pope Francis extended Card. Tong's tenure for another three years, until 2017. When the appointment was announced at the end of the closing mass of the Year of Mercy in Hong Kong’s Immaculate Conception cathedral on Sunday, Bishop Yeung knelt in front of Card. Tong and then in front of Card. Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. Addressing the faithful, Bishop Yeung confessed to having many defects and t...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Remo Casilli, ReutersBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People who follow Christ do notlisten to "prophets of doom," silly horoscopes or sermons thatfrighten and divide people, Pope Francis said.Christians persevere in hope and love -- no matter whatupheavals and difficulties arise, he said in a homily Nov. 13 in St. Peter'sBasilica. "This is important to distinguish the word of wisdomthat God speaks to us each day from the shouting of those who seek in God'sname to frighten, to nourish division and fear," he said.The pope's remarks came during a Mass for the poor andsocially excluded -- "the Lazaruses of today" -- as part of the Yearof Mercy celebrations at the Vatican. The pope reminded those gathered for Mass -- many of themfacing precarious living conditions -- that for those who "are materiallypoor but rich in God, the sun of justice will rise.""Your presence here helps us to be attuned to God'swavelength, to see what he sees," which is not mere appearances, ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Diego Azubel, EPABy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Four cardinals said they formallyasked Pope Francis to clarify his teaching on Communion for the divorced andcivilly remarried and, not receiving a response after two months, they releasedtheir letter to the press."We have noted a grave disorientation and greatconfusion of many faithful regarding extremely important matters for the lifeof the church," the cardinals said. "Even within the episcopalcollege, there are contrasting interpretations of Chapter 8 of 'Amoris Laetitia,'" thechapter dealing with ministry to the divorced in his exhortation on the family.The four who signed the letter are: Cardinals Walter Brandmuller, a German andformer president of the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences; Raymond L. Burke, a U.S.cardinal and patron of theKnights of Malta; CarloCaffarra, retired archbishop of Bologna, Italy; and Joachim Meisner, retiredarchbishop of Cologne, Germany.In releasing their letter and a...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Oscar Martinez, ReutersBy David AgrenMEXICO CITY (CNS) -- Anoutspoken priest who had been reported missing in the state of Veracruz wasfound alive, but with signs of torture. Father Jose Luis Sanchez Ruiz,pastor of Twelve Apostles parish in Catemaco -- a town known for witchcraft,some 340 miles southeast of Mexico City -- was reported missing Nov. 11, sparkingunrest and the ransacking and burning of the city hall by residents impatientwith the police response.A statement from the Diocese ofSan Andres Tuxtla said Father Sanchez was found "abandoned" Nov. 13 "withnotable signs of torture."Father AaronReyes Natividad, diocesan spokesman, told local media that Father Sanchez had received threats viaWhatsApp and Facebook, while the doors to the church also appear to have beenopened with force. He denounced crime and corruption in Veracruz -- where aformer governor is currently on the lam for funneling millions of dollars ofstate money into shell companies -- and also ral...
By Mark PattisonBALTIMORE(CNS) -- In small and often intimate gestures, there are big lessons forbishops to learn as they exercise their ministry, said Archbishop Joseph E.Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, in his final address as president of the U.S.bishops' conference."Nowords of Jesus are more concrete in capturing God's mercy at work in ourbishops' conference than his call in Matthew 25: 'What you did for one of myleast, you did for me,'" he said in remarks prepared for delivery Nov. 14 inBaltimore at the U.S. bishops' annual fall general assembly.Archbishop Kurtz noted different encounters he hadduring his three-year tenure as president, each with a lesson learned.In one instance, a Filipina woman in Tacloban,Philippines, after the devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda, explained what her neighbors and the whole community now faced with "no hintin her voice of seeking her own good," he said. Instead "she was seeking the common good.""Bishops are called always to seek the common ...
BEIJING (AP) -- The brightest moon in almost 69 years is lighting up the sky in a treat for star watchers around the globe....
NEW YORK (AP) -- After years of stamping out soda tax proposals with well-financed campaigns, Big Soda is suddenly finding itself up against bigger adversaries....
LONDON (AP) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was being questioned by prosecutors Monday at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London about possible sexual misconduct committed in Sweden six years ago....
MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) -- Global temperatures are soaring toward a record high this year, the U.N. weather agency said Monday, while another report showed emissions of a key global warming gas have flattened out in the past three years....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump is considering a woman and an openly gay man to fill major positions in his new leadership team, history-making moves that would inject diversity into a Trump administration already facing questions about its ties to white nationalists....
