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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his reflections on Christian hope, as he greeted thousands of pilgrims and visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square and in the Paul VI audience hall for his weekly general audience. Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: Pope Francis began his reflection by noting that none of us can live without love. Yet many people today, he went on, are anguished or empty inside because they don’t believe they are beautiful or important enough to be loved by others.Imagine a world where everyone is seeking attention and no-one is prepared to give love in a gratuitous way, he said. Behind so much narcissistic behaviour and incomprehensible actions we discover feelings of solitude and abandonment.When adolescents feel unloved, the pope continued, they may turn to violence, hatred or delinquent behaviour. There is no such thing as bad children or evil adolescents, he said, but there are unhappy people. When we look and smile fre...
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See has called for spiritual care to be provided in tandem with medical treatment to persons living with mental health problems.“Spiritual care is an important component of integral care, that considers the person in his entirety, and that unites the human body, with its psychological, social and spiritual dimension.”Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN in Geneva, made the appeal to the Human Rights Council in response to a Special Report on Physical and Mental Health.He said the issue of mental health problems has “too long been ignored or, worse yet, been shrouded in fear, stigma, discrimination, and outright rejection that, in the past, led to “warehousing” of such persons in large, isolated, and closed institutions.”Archbishop Jurkovic praised the Special Rapporteur but said the Holy See saw a unity between medical and spiritual care when treating mental illnesses.“While ...
Washington D.C., Jun 14, 2017 / 02:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Online pornography is one of the fastest growing addictions in the United States, on par with cocaine and gambling.Once confined to the pages of a smuggled Playboy magazine, pornography can now be in the hands of anyone with a smartphone, and is more prolific and anonymous than ever.PornHub, one of the world’s largest sites with porn video streaming, reports that it averages 75 million viewers per day, or about 2.4 million visitors per hour. In 2015 alone, the number of hours streamed from the site was double the amount of time human beings have populated the Earth, according to TIME Magazine.And while pornography used to be a simpler problem for priests to address in the confessional – consecrate yourself to Mary, go to weekly adoration – the growing level of addiction makes it a much more complex problem for the Church to address.That’s why Fr. Sean Kilcawley, the program directory and theological a...
Vatican City, Jun 14, 2017 / 03:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday, Pope Francis said that God’s love isn’t something we earn or deserve by our good works, but that it is free and unconditional – no matter what.“God's first step towards us is that of an anticipated and unconditional love. God loves first,” Pope Francis said June 14.“God does not love us because there is some reason that causes love. God loves us because He Himself is love, and love tends to spread and give by its nature. God does not even tie his benevolence to our conversion: if anything this is a consequence of God's love.”“Saint Paul says it perfectly,” he continued: “‘God demonstrates his love for us in the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rm 5:8).”“None of us can live without love,” the Pope said, but to believe that love is earned is to fall into a type of slavery. “Perhaps much of...
Shangqiu, China, Jun 14, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local authorities in China’s Henan province reportedly destroyed a Christian church building last month, beating parishioners who tried to stop the demolition and detaining 40, the group China Aid says.“The church was completely razed, and a church member likened the scene to the Japanese invasion of China during World War II,” China Aid said.China Aid, an international non-profit dedicated to promoting religious freedom and human rights for Christians in China, reported that Shuangmiao Christian Church in Shangqiu, which was still under construction, was destroyed May 5 by 300 police officers and inspectors.Parishioners tried to stop the demolition but many suffered beatings as a result, and were “pushed to the ground,” the report stated. 40 were detained, although no one has yet been formally arrested.The government had reportedly deemed the church an “illegal structure” and ordere...
NEW YORK (AP) -- "The Most Interesting Man in the World" is giving up beer for tequila....
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Typewriter enthusiasts gather at an Albuquerque restaurant to experiment with vintage Smith Coronas. Fans in Boston kneel in a city square and type stories about their lives during a pro-immigration demonstration. A new documentary on typewriters featuring Tom Hanks and musician John Mayer is set for release this summer....
LONDON (AP) -- The Latest on the London fire (all times local):...
LONDON (AP) -- A deadly overnight fire raced through a 24-story apartment tower in London on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring 74 others. One desperate woman threw a baby out of a high window and a man on the ground managed to catch the child, a witness said....
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