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(Vatican Radio) Thousands of vulnerable South Sudanese are at imminent risk of death from hunger and lack of medicines. A worsening crisis in the world’s youngest nation sees a famine being declared in the midst of civil war.Caritas Internationalis and other aid agencies say that currently 1 million people in South Sudan are in imminent danger of famine and in total 5.1 million are in urgent need of food and livelihood help. At least 270,000 children are suffering acute malnutrition.They are warning that if large-scale aid of food and medicines does not arrive before the imminent rainy season there are going to be a lot more deaths very soon.Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe, President of Caritas South Sudan and Bishop of Yei, is in Rome for a high level Caritas Internationalis meeting that aims to plan a scaling-up of the emergency response in an enhanced cooperation across all Caritas agencies in the region.Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni, Bishop Lodu Tombe a...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter of condolence to the Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, following the death of Cardinal William Keeler, who led the Archdiocese of Baltimore from 1989-2007. The full text of the telegram can be found below: To the Most Reverend William E. LoriArchbishop of BaltimoreDeeply saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal William H. Keeler, I offer heartfelt condolences to you and to the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese. With gratitude for Cardinal Keeler’s years of devoted episcopal ministry in the local Churches of Harrisburg and Baltimore, his years of leadership within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and his long-standing commitment to ecumenical and interreligious understanding, I join you in commending the soul of this wise and gentle pastor to the merciful love of God our heavenly Father. To all who mourn the late Cardinal in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I cord...
(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See has released the following communiqué on Pope Francis' audience for the President of Fiji: Today, Friday 24 March, the Holy Father Francis received in Audience, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the president of the Republic of Fiji, His Excellency Mr Jioji Konousi Konrote, who subsequently met with His Eminence Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States. During the cordial discussions, the existing good relations between the Holy See and Fiji and the contribution of the Catholic Church to the life of the country were evoked. Attention then turned to the issue of climate change and, above all, to its ethical dimension, which demands solidarity with the most vulnerable social groups and countries, and with the new generations.
Vatican Radio’s English shortwave broadcast for Asia has come to an end, with its last transmission going out Friday evening, after nearly 60 years of service. However this does not mean it has disappeared altogether. What ultimately closed on March 24 as Vatican Radio’s English Service for Asia, is however very much alive online on Vatican Radio’s website. The gradual phasing out of Vatican Radio’s shortwave frequencies is seen as part of the reform of the Roman Curia or the central administration of the Catholic Church here in the Vatican, called for by Pope Francis. The Pope established the new dicastery or office of the Secretariat for Communications on June 27, 2015, bringing 9 media bodies of the Vatican, including Vatican Radio, under the Secretariat’s direction, with the purpose of overhauling, streamlining and ultimately merging them as a cohesive unit. What ended on March 24 as Vatican Radio’s English Servic...
San Jose, Calif., Mar 24, 2017 / 06:38 am (CNA).- A priest in California has been found guilty of diverting $19,000 in donations to his personal account.Father Hien Minh Nguyen, 57, was found guilty on 14 counts of bank fraud by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman of San Jose, CBS San Francisco reports.The donations, made between 2005 and 2007, had been intended for the Vietnamese Catholic Center in San Jose. Fr. Nguyen had served as the center’s director from 2001-2011. He has also served as a pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, now called Our Lady of La Vang.The priest previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion for the years 2008-2011. He faces sentencing for all convictions on June 30. He could face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each bank fraud account, and a maximum sentence of five years for each tax evasion count.Fr. Nguyen has been a priest of the Diocese of San Jose since 1995. He has been on a personal leave of absence since December 2013. Fr. Nguyen...
Washington D.C., Mar 24, 2017 / 08:56 am (CNA).- A new report by the Pew Research Center has found that the overwhelming majority of Americans support paid family and medical leave for workers.More than 80 percent of adult Americans surveyed believe that women should have paid maternity leave, and just under 70 percent support paid paternity leave.When it comes to paid leave for new fathers, there are significant generational differences. Of those under 30 years of age, 82 percent believe dads should get paid leave after a birth or adoption. Support drops to 76 percent among respondents from 30-49 years of age, and 59 percent for those 50 and older.Support for paid family leave was a rare issue of agreement between both candidates in the last presidential election, although Democrats and Republicans have general disagreement on the extent to which the government should be involved in ensuring this benefit.The study, based on two surveys conducted late last year, found that there is ...
By Cindy WoodenROME (CNS) -- The head of the Franciscans hopes the order'snew website will have a certain "hip-hop" style -- being very modernor "hip" and inspiring people to move, act or "hop."Franciscan Father Michael Perry, minister general of theorder, said the March launch of the revamped website -- www.ofm.org -- is justphase one of a comprehensive project that will include opportunities for thepublic to interact with the friars and for the friars to reflect formally onhow, when and why they communicate.The Franciscans decided their website needed a radicalredesign because "we discovered we were communicating only to ourselvesand not to the world," Father Perry told Catholic News Service. "Reading the signs of the times" means not simplyacknowledging a problem, but doing something about it, he said. So the friarsengaged Longbeard Creative, a Canada-based digital design company, to help themmove the website into the modern age and respond to the Franciscans' obligationto share...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob RollerBy Rhina GuidosWASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairman of the U.S. bishops'Committee on International Justice and Peace met with the country's topdiplomat, Rex Tillerson, March 23, for a policy-packed 35-minute conversation about immigration,the Middle East, Africa and the role of the Catholic Church's efforts towardbuilding "the common good.""After some small talk about Texas," the two spoke about theMiddle East, about Iraq and Syria, reaching out to Central America and Mexico,and the situation in Africa, said Bishop Oscar Cantu of LasCruces, New Mexico, explaining his initial meeting in Washington withTillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, who, like Bishop Cantu, hails fromTexas.Bishop Cantu said the meeting was about letting Tillersonknow "that our only motive is to help build the common good, that we don't haveulterior motives," and explaining the bishops' peace and justice committee'swork in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Far East.Bishop Ca...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler OrsburnBy Barb FrazeWASHINGTON (CNS) -- The railroad runs more than 550 milesthrough 27 communities in the Brazilian Amazon. It runs so close to people'shomes that the houses have cracked, and some people have hearing loss.The trains carry minerals out of the rainforest to thecoast. But the tracks separate families from their schools, health centers andfields and, sometimes, the trains stop on the tracks.Sister Jakelyn Vasquez, a member of the Oblate Sisters ofthe Sacred Heart of Jesus who works with communities along the tracks inMaranhao and Para states, said the trains often sit for hours, sometimes an entire day.In early March, a 336-car train stopped on the tracks in oneof the villages. Sister Vasquez told Catholic News Service that the closest ramp tocross over the tracks was more than four miles away. So, as local residentssometimes do, a mother and her baby climbed under the train to cross -- and thetrain began to move.The mother lost her fingers; the ...
