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SEATTLE (AP) -- Thousands of people across the U.S. marched Saturday on President Donald Trump's 100th day in office to demand action on climate change....
Vatican Weekend for April 29th, 2017 features a roundup of the highlights from Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Egypt, plus three interviews exploring the background to this trip with a US. Catholic priest based in Cairo, a leading expert on relations between the Vatican and the Islamic world and an official from the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. Listen to this program produced and presented by Susy Hodges:
Caritas India has started the Agrarian Prosperity Program (APP) in several northern Indian villages to provide the villagers with alternative sources of income and to check economic migration.Caritas introduced farmers to new techniques such as organic farming, a system to preserve indigenous seeds besides intensifying activities to save water such as renovation and construction of check dams, ponds, tanks and wells.They formed self-help groups and farmer clubs to empower women and build the capacity of farmers to create better livelihood opportunities. It also encouraged them toward animal husbandry and cultivating kitchen gardens to create food security and increase income.Mass migration from India's villages to major cities has challenged church workers to help people find farming methods to end their hunger and earn a better living.Frederick D'Souza, executive director of Caritas India said that the objective of Caritas India is always reaching the unreached with...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday told Egypt’s priests, religious and seminarians to be sowers of hope, builders of bridges and agents of dialogue, despite the many difficulties they face.The pope’s words came during his final encounter, a prayer service at the seminary in Cairo at the end of his two day visit to the North African nation.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: Pope Francis began by thanking and encouraging the leaders of this tiny Catholic community for their daily witness “amid many challenges and often few consolations”.The Catholic Coptic Church, the largest of seven different rites, counts less than 200.000 members, or less than half a percent of the population. The Pope said despite the many negative and despairing voices, priests and religious there are called to be a positive force within society.Resist temptationsPope Francis then urged the Catholic leaders to resist the many temptations they encounter, beginning with the de...
Indian authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute self-appointed “cow protectors” or vigilantes who have committed brutal attacks against Muslims and Dalits over rumors that they sold, bought, or killed cows for beef, a leading human rights group said on Friday. “Instead of taking prompt legal action against the vigilantes, many linked to extremist Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the police, too often, have filed complaints against the assault victims, their relatives, and associates under laws banning cow slaughter, Human Rights Watch said.Hindus, who form 80 percent of India's 1.3 billion population, consider cows to be sacred and for many eating beef is taboo. In many Indian states, the slaughtering of cows and selling of beef is either restricted or banned. Since May 2015, a violent vigilante campaign against beef consumption has led to the killing of at least 10 Muslims, including a...
Cairo, Egypt, Apr 29, 2017 / 07:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told Egypt’s priests and religious to never be discouraged or fear the challenges of their ministry, and warned against seven key temptations he said can keep them from being faithful to the Lord in their daily tasks.“Do not be afraid of the burdens of your daily service and the difficult circumstances some of you must endure,” the Pope said April 29. “We venerate the Holy Cross, the instrument and sign of our salvation. When we flee the Cross, we flee the resurrection!”Pope Francis met with Egypt’s priests, religious and seminarians at Cairo’s Al-Maadi Seminary on the final day of his April 28-29 visit to the country, intended to both offer support to local Christians and strengthen interfaith and ecumenical ties in the region.After being welcomed by the seminary’s rector, Fr. Toma Adly Zaky, the Pope thanked Egypt’s religious for the good they do “amid m...
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2017 / 09:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Order of Malta elected Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre as their new Grand Master as the latest move in the ongoing reform their leadership, which the bulk of his one-year mandate will focus on.Announced in an April 29 communique from the order, the election of Dalla Torre was the result of the Order of Malta’s daylong “Council Complete of State,” which fell shortly after the resignation of the Order’s former Grand Master, Matthew Festing, earlier this year.Dalla Torre will swear an official oath before Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, the Pope’s special delegate to the Order, and members of the “Council Complete of State” that elected him Sunday, April 30, at the church of Santa Maria in Aventino.Even though he's currently concluding a two-day trip to Egypt, Pope Francis was the first to be informed of Dalla Torre’s election through a letter. Notice was then given to other members and ...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Carol GlatzCAIRO(CNS) -- The only kind of fanaticism that is acceptable to God is beingfanatical about loving and helping others, Pope Francis said on his final dayin Egypt."Truefaith," he told Catholics, "makes us more charitable, more merciful,more honest and more humane. It moves our hearts to love everyone withoutcounting the cost."Thepope celebrated an open-air Mass April 29 in Cairo's Air Defense Stadium, builtby the anti-aircraft branch of the Egyptian armed forces. The popeconcelebrated with Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak of Alexandriaand leaders of the other Catholic rites in Egypt.Afterspending the first day of his visit in meetings with Muslim leaders, governmentofficials, diplomats and members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the popededicated the second day of his trip to Egypt's minority Catholic community. Arrivingat the stadium in a blue Fiat, the pope was slowly driven around the stadium'sred running track in a small and low g...
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The City of Brotherly Love turned a boring event into an entertaining show....
