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Clockwise, from top left: Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong, Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Father Mike Schmitz of Duluth, Minnesota, will address the Class of 2024. / Credits: Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images; Edward Pentin/National Catholic Register; Benedictine College; and FOCUSNational Catholic Register, May 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Commencement ceremonies are underway at the nation's Catholic colleges and universities, many of which are annually highlighted in the National Catholic Register's "Catholic Identity College Guide."Notable speakers include Cardinal Stephen Chow at Boston College on May 20 and "The Bible in a Year" and "The Catechism in a Year" podcast host Father Mike Schmitz, who serves as chaplain at the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Newman Center and who spoke to Ave Maria University's Class of 2024 on May 4. "Life takes courage ... because love takes courage. And every one of you is called to love, eve...
Over a year after the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey in February 2023, restoration of Aleppo's Church of St. George has been completed. / Credit: Abdul Kareem DanielAleppo, Syria, Apr 23, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).This year's feast of St. George was a particularly joyful one in the Syrian city of Aleppo, especially for the Melkite Greek Catholic community. The church is reopening its doors after undergoing restoration due to damage from a February 2023 earthquake. Additionally, Archbishop George Masri of the Melkite Archdiocese of Aleppo and its environs will celebrate his golden jubilee.The celebrations took place during the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, who presided over the Divine Liturgy in the restored church on the evening of April 23. The evening before, there was a procession along Holy Bible Street followed by vespers.Restoration of the Church of St. George in Aleppo after the February 2023 earthquake...
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the signing of the ELVIS Act to Protect Voice & Likeness in Age of AI event at Robert's Western World on March 21, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. / Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Human Artistry CampaignWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).The first English-language translation of the Bible in the United States will become an "official state book" in Tennessee on July 1.Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a bill on Tuesday that names the Aitken Bible and nine other texts as official state books in the Tennessee Blue Book (an official manual on the state government). This is the first time Tennessee has formally recognized any official state books.The Bible translation was published by Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken in 1782 and received an official endorsement from Congress. The American Revolution, which began in 1776, halted trade with Great Britain and cut off the supply of Bibles, which prompte...
Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, a Trappist monk and spiritual writer, has served as bishop of Trondheim in Norway since 2020. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Newsroom, Mar 18, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).A Norwegian bishop and monk has hailed the publication of Norway's first official Bible for Catholics as a breakthrough."The publication of a Bible presented and packaged as 'The Catholic Canon' by the Norwegian Bible Society is a major ecumenical event," Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim told CNA in an email."It invites us afresh to engage with the entirety of Scripture, to read each book as part of a whole, attentive to the symphony of voices that join in proclaiming a single, undying and saving Word. It is my hope that many Catholics will discover the immense fascination of the scriptural text, learning to love and revere it, letting their lives be renewed by it."Varden, 49, is a Trappist monk and spiritual writer. He was consecrated bishop of Trondheim, in central Norway, in 2020. Pu...
The new Norwegian translation of the Bible, published March 15, 2024. / Credit: Norwegian Bible SocietyCNA Newsroom, Mar 15, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).For the first time in Norway's history, the Norwegian Bible Society has announced the publication of a Catholic edition of the Bible, marking a significant milestone for the country's Catholic community. Published today, March 15, this edition is distinguished not only by its inclusivity; the project saw linguists and Scripture experts collaborating with poets and other literary authors, including Nobel laureate Jon Fosse.The Catholic editor Heidi Haugros Øyma, deeply involved in the project, told CNA in a written interview: "The inclusion of the Deuterocanonical books represents a move toward a more inclusive, ecumenical approach to Scripture in Norway." The new publication corrects a long-standing omission influenced by historical pressures, presenting a genuinely ecumenical Bible that reflects the entire Christian canon.Many ...
null / Credit: OFFSTOCK/ShutterstockCNA Staff, Feb 20, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Jerry Trzeciak leads a lot of Catholic retreats. But the participants aren't your typical parishioners, and they live in a place where not many people have the courage to go. For the past several years, Trzeciak has worked with the Texas Department of Corrections as a volunteer chaplain in the Jim Ferguson Unit, located in Midway, Texas, which has a maximum capacity of over 2,000 men and mainly houses those who are violent and gang-affiliated.Working with a Catholic lay group called Kolbe Prison Ministries (KPM), Trzeciak and his fellow volunteers are admitted to the prisons to lead three-day retreats for the inmates, usually about 66 at a time. The volunteers share their faith in talks, pray with the incarcerated men or women, and give them opportunities to attend Mass or Communion services. After the face-to-face retreat ends, the volunteers are able to provide the inmates with follow-up educati...
Cardinal Joseph Zen is bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. / Credit: The World Over with Raymond ArroyoRome Newsroom, Feb 16, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, has released another critique of the Synod on Synodality, arguing that the ongoing discussion and discernment process offers "two opposing visions" of the nature, organization, and role of the Church. "On the one hand, the Church is presented as founded by Jesus on the apostles and their successors, with a hierarchy of ordained ministers who guide the faithful on the journey toward the heavenly Jerusalem," the 92-year-old cardinal observes in a nearly 3,600-word commentary posted on Feb. 15 titled "How will the Synod continue and end?""On the other hand, there is talk of an undefined synodality, a 'democracy of the baptized,'" he continues, interjecting "Which baptized people? Do they at least go to church regularly? Do they draw faith from the Bible and strength fro...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pornography and lust undermine and rob people from experiencing God's gift of love, Pope Francis said."Sexual pleasure, which is a gift from God, is undermined by pornography: satisfaction without relationship that can generate forms of addiction," the pope said Jan. 17 at his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall."We must defend love, love of the heart, mind and body, loving by giving oneself to another -- this is the beauty of a sexual relationship," he said.Continuing a series of audience talks about vices and virtues, the pope reflected on the vice or "demon" of lust, which is "a kind of 'voracity' with regard to another person, that is, the poisoned bond that human beings have with each other, especially in the sphere of sexuality.""Please note," the pope said, "in Christianity, there is no condemnation of the sexual instinct."The Song of Songs in the Bible, "is a wonderful poem of love between two lovers," he said, and the human experie...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- An emphasis on God's mercy has so dominated Pope Francis' pontificate that it should surprise no one that he said he hopes hell is empty.Yet, a firestorm erupted on social media after Pope Francis was asked in an Italian television interview how he imagines hell given his belief that God forgives everyone who asks."It's difficult to imagine it," the pope responded Jan. 14. "What I would say is not a dogma of faith, but my personal thought: I like to think hell is empty; I hope it is.""What about Hitler?" hundreds of people posted in reply on X, often adding other notoriously evil figures from history, their least favorite politicians or annoying neighbors."What about justice?" others asked. "What about the Bible?"Dozens accused the pope of "universalism," a belief, condemned by the church, that all souls go to heaven whether or not they repented of their sins.Others, like @Knyexor, tweeted: "The number of people angry about the pope just saying what amounts to ...
Gideon - another underdog of the Bible and the patron Saint of motels...
