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(Vatican Radio) The Holy See Press Office on Monday released the details and schedule for Pope Francis' Apostolic Journey to Egypt, set to take place on 28-29 April.Pope Francis will arrive at Cairo International Airport around 14:00 on Friday where he will be welcomed at the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis before making a courtesy visit to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.He will then address participants in the International Conference on Peace before visiting His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.On Saturday, the Holy Father celebrates Mass and then has lunch with Egyptian bishops. His last event in Egypt is a prayer meeting with clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians.The full programme of the Pope's visit is below:Friday 28 April 201710.45 Departure by air from Rome-Fiumicino airport for Cairo14.00 Arrival at Cairo International AirportOFFICIAL WELCOMEWELCOME CEREMONY in the Presidential Palace in HeliopolisCOURTESY VISIT TO THE GR...
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches has called on Catholics around the world to give generously to the Good Friday collection that traditionally goes to support the Church in the Holy Land.In an interview with the news agency of the Italian Bishops Conference (SIR) the cardinal talks about the importance of contributing to the upkeep of the sacred sites, while at the same time supporting the search for peace in the land where Jesus lived.Faced with the events that “take place in this troubled region of the world”, the cardinal says, there is a risk that we see them as unconnected to our own lives, “as if we had no responsibility”.But by taking part in this annual collection for the Holy Land, he says, Catholics can personally contribute to combatting “war, poverty, terrorism, violence, division”.The collection for the Holy Land has been supported by the different popes over the ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a message on Monday to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)’s “17th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference,” taking place in Vienna.The message was read by Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.Click here to read our report on the Pope's message.The Holy Father called the problem “a form of slavery, a crime against humanity, a grave violation of human rights, and an atrocious scourge” and said that in some instances, “evidence brings one to doubt the real commitment of some important players.”Please find below the full text of the message:17th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference“Trafficking in Children and the Best Interests of the Child”Vienna, 3 April 2017CHILD TRAFFICKING: SOME URGENT CONCERNSMichael Czerny S.J.Under-Secretary o...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis told a Vienna “Trafficking in Persons” conference on Monday it is time to put an end to the “worsening tragedy” of child trafficking and slavery.The Pope’s words came in a message read out by Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)’s “17th Alliance against Trafficking in Persons Conference,” taking place in Vienna.Listen to Devin Watkins’ report: In his message to the OSCE conference on trafficking in children, Pope Francis called the problem “a form of slavery, a crime against humanity, a grave violation of human rights, and an atrocious scourge”.“Today’s complex migration scenario is sadly characterized by ‘[…] new forms of slavery imposed by criminal organizations, which buy and sell men, women...
Philippine Catholic bishops have dismissed as "nonsense" President Rodrigo Duterte's tirades of March 30, against the Catholic Church.President Duterte renewed attacks against the Catholic Church, which has been vocal in its criticism against the president's anti-narcotics war, his plan to re-impose the death penalty and lower the age of criminal liability.It is good to simply ignore such remarks said, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Mission chairman Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes over church-run Radio Veritas. Echoing Bishop Bastes, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on the Laity chairman Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo in the same interview said, “What he says has no value anyway.”Duterte during the oath-taking of new appointees in Malacañang last Thursday launched tirades against the Church anew, saying the institution will be passé in three decades because of its alleged abuses and flaws. Bishops Bastes and Pabil...
(Vatican Radio) Three new Syrian families have found shelter and welcome in the Vatican as part of an ongoing effort to provide the means and the tools for integration and a new life of hope for those fleeing conflict and persecution.All in all, thirteen people - from two Christian and one Muslim family - have been able make their homes in three Vatican-owned apartments recently vacated by other refugees who have since moved on to more permanent situations.According to a communiqué released by the Vatican Press Office, two of the families have fled violence and discrimination because of their Christian faith. They arrived in Italy in March.The first family is composed of the mother, two adolescent children, the grandmother, an aunt and a Syrian woman who lives with them.The second family includes a young couple with their two-week old baby daughter, Stella, who was born in the apartment they now live in. The mother had been abducted and in the hands of the so-called Islamic...
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, President of Caritas Internationalis and Archbishop of Manila, participated last week in a series of encounters in Florence focusing on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Evangelii Gaudium” and on the Pope’s call to Church members to take the Church into the world and into its peripheries.Cardinal Tagle told Vatican Radio’s Alessandro Gisotti about the force of the Pope’s call for a missionary spirituality and about how much common ground is shared by “Evangelii Gaudium” and another encyclical - “Populorum Progressio” - that is marking its 50th anniversary.Listen: “When people hear about Evangelii Gaudium of course they associate it with the favorite expression of Pope Francis: the Church that goes out to the peripheries” Cardinal Luis Tagle explains, but if we study the document carefully there is a deep spirituality to be discovered.The Cardinal says the Pope himself...
IMAGE: CNS/ReutersBy Junno Arocho EstevesROME (CNS) -- While the wounds of past trials have healed,the scars that remain will serve as a reminder of strength and courage forfuture generations, Pope Francis told survivors of an earthquake.VisitingCarpi and Mirandola April 2, nearly five years after a 5.8-quake rocked thenorthern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, the pope said his visit was a signof "closeness and encouragement" as the people continue to rebuildtheir homes and their lives. "Looking at these scars, you will have the strength togrow and to make your children grow in that dignity, in that strength, in thatspirit of hope, in that courage that you had in the moment you received those wounds," he said. The pope spoke to the survivors, who were gathered in the small square outside the Mirandolacathedral, which is still covered in scaffolding and where broken stones are stillpiled on the ground.Before addressing the people, he laid a bouquet of yellowand white flowers on the...
By Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will meet with theleader of one of the world's leading Sunni Muslim institutions, the head of theCoptic Orthodox Church and representatives of the Catholic Church on a two-daytrip to Cairo.The pope is scheduled to arrive in Cairo April 28 forcourtesy visits with political and religious leaders and deliver a speech, alongwith the grand imam of al-AzharUniversity, to an international conference on peace. He will celebrateMass for the small Catholic community in Cairo the next day and meet withbishops, clergy, religious and seminarians before returning to Rome April 29.In mid-March, the Vatican confirmed the pope would make thetrip following an invitation from President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the Catholic bishops inEgypt, Coptic Orthodox PopeTawadros II and SheikAhmad el-Tayeb, grandimam of al-Azhar.It will be the pope's 18th trip abroad in his four yearsas pope and the seventh time he visits a Muslim-majority nation. He will be theseco...
By Junno Arocho EstevesVATICANCITY (CNS) -- The first threerefugee families from Syria welcomed by the Vatican left their temporary homesto start their new lives in Italy, and three new families took their places inVatican apartments.The papalAlmoner's Office, whichhelps coordinate Pope Francis' acts of charity, announced April 2 that twoChristian families and oneMuslim family moved the apartments that housed the first refugeefamilies welcomed by the Vatican in late 2015 and early 2016. The twoChristian families, the papal almoner's office said, arrived in March after"suffering kidnapping and discrimination" because of their faith."Thefirst family is composed of a mother with two adolescent children, agrandmother, an aunt and another Syrian woman who lives with them," theoffice said.The second family is a young couple, who had theirfirst child -- a daughter named Stella -- shortly after moving into the Vaticanapartment, the Almoner's Office said. "The mother had been kidnapped fors...
