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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday travels to Cairo to meet with Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar university. The pope will spend just over 24 hours in the Egyptian capital, where he’ll also meet with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II and leaders of the small Catholic community there.At al-Azhar university Pope Francis will speak at an international peace conference which the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is also be attending. His visit to the prestigious Islamic institution comes just two months after the resumption of talks between the university and a Vatican delegation.Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds teaches Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States and was a member of the Catholic delegation for the talks at al-Azhar in February, which came after years of tension and mistrust between the two sides.Philippa Hitchen spoke to Professor Reynolds to find out more about the impact ...
Hundreds of young Filipinos on April 22 gathered in Manila, for a night of music, dancing and testimonials in what its Jesuit organizers dubbed as "One Praise," an annual youth worship that brings together Christian youth bands."We come from different communities, different parishes, but we come here united," said Father Roseller Atilano, director of the Jesuit Music Ministry, who spearheaded the event at the Ateneo de Manila University.The priest said the annual gathering is in only on its second year but "hopefully, every year it gets bigger and bigger."Father Atilano said this year's event attracted hundreds of young people, the so-called millennials, from various youth groups in the Philippine capital, including priests, seminarians, and even religious sisters."Apart from bringing more and more Catholic communities together, we have observed that Filipino composers are beginning to explore the modern sound of praise. This initiative is ou...
The Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal has called on all Catholics in the Himalayan nation to pray for peace and for the rights of minorities. Church leaders made the appeal on April 25, following an April 18 arson attack on a vehicle parked near Kathmandu’s Assumption Cathedral that damaged the parish residence. The Vicariate "decided to hold an hour of prayer in all of the country’s churches,” said Chirendra Satyal, spokesman for the local Catholic Church. "Hundreds of people joined in the prayer for peace and for Christians,” said Satyal Chirendra. “Hundreds of non-Catholics came to the mass and condemned the violence and attacks against minorities." He added that many young people wore T-shirts that read “We would like to see Jesus "Police have launched an investigation into last week’s attack but has not made any arrest so far. The incident is the second attack against Nepal’s main Catholic ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received participants in the Congress of the Interntaional Forum- Catholic Action on Thursday morning in the Synod Hall at the Vatican.The Congress is focused on the theme: “Catholic Action in Mission with All and for Everyone”, and is marking the 150th anniversary of the organization’s founding.The charism of Catholic Action is one of lay-led missionary discipleship: faithful to the Pope, rooted in the local Church, and active in service especially and particularly at the parish level.Listen to our report In his remarks to the participants, Pope Francis focused on renewing the mission of Catholic Action by recovering the original sense of the apostolate and applying that sense of self-understanding to the concrete conditions encountered in contemporary life.Delivered in his native Spanish, and based on bullet-points, Pope Francis encouraged the participants to foster renewal by becoming prayerfully active, outgoing, docile to the Spi...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday reflected on the fact that being Christian is not a social status.Speaking during the homily at the Mass in the Casa Santa Marta the Pope said Christians must be witnesses of obedience to God, like Jesus was.Recalling the reading of the day Pope Francis quoted Peter’s words before the Sanhedrin when he said “You must obey God rather than men." Peter and the Apostles had been freed from prison by an Angel, and forbidden to teach in Jesus’s name And yet the high priest said “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us”.In order to better understand this event the Pope also referred to the Book of Acts regarding the early months of the Church which describes a growing Christian community and many miracles. There was the faith of the people, he said, but there were also “wily” people trying to take advantage of the situation...
Stockholm, Sweden, Apr 27, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new Swedish study has shown that women who are taking the contraceptive pill might be putting themselves at risk for decreasing their overall health and well-being. Mood swings, energy level shifts, and a “significantly lower” quality of life were the reported side effects of the contraceptive pill when the three-month study had concluded. “Despite the fact that an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills we know surprisingly little today about the pill's effect on women's health,” said Professor Angelica Linden Hirschberg, one of the study’s leaders, according to the Karolinska Institute. “The scientific base is very limited as regards the contraceptive pill’s effect on quality of life and depression and there is a great need for randomized studies where it is compared to placebos,” Dr. Hirschberg continued. The...
Regina, Canada, Apr 27, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Non-Catholic students at Catholic schools in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan will not receive taxpayer funding, a judge ruled last week.The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association criticized the April 20 ruling, saying Catholic school divisions have “the right to decide to admit non-Catholic students” and to determine the extent to which their admission allows them to have “a truly authentic faith-based Catholic school system.”“Our faith is a journey that includes inquiry of non-Catholics and growth of existing members. This requires inclusion and a welcoming spirit,” the school boards association said in a letter responding to the decision.The association charged that the complaint threatens parents’ choices and limits the choices of non-Catholic parents.Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donald Layh ruled that any provincial government funding would violate Canada&rs...
BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian state media blamed Israel on Thursday for an early morning missile attack on a military installation near Damascus International Airport that shook the capital with the force of the blasts....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code leaves much of the heavy lifting to Congress, while ignoring years of hard work by the guy who will have to do a lot of that lifting: House Speaker Paul Ryan....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea observers have long marveled at the ability of a small, impoverished, autocratic nation to go toe-to-toe with the world's superpowers....
