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The CBCI representatives on Tuesday met the Indian Prime Minister at his office in the Parliament in New Delhi to discuss issues related to the Christian Community in the country. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, the President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Cardinal George Alancherry, the Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church and Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the President of CCBI, submitted requests for taking immediate steps for the release of Fr. Tom Uzhunallil who is in captivity since March 2016. The Prime Minister has assured the team of the necessary and immediate actions to be taken for the same. He has also informed the cardinals that the government holds a favourable attitude towards the visit of Pope Francis in India. The team has assured the Prime Minister that the Christian Churches will continue their support towards the integral growth of the nation.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday encouraged the faithful to strive to be living signs of hope for the entire human family.Speaking during the weekly General Audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope continued his catechesis on Christian hope, conceding that especially in times of darkness and difficulty, hope is no easy virtue.Quoting from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians he pointed out that Paul encourages the members of the early Church to sustain one another in hope through mutual prayer and practical concern for those in need.“We must help one another, he said, in the many needs of everyday life, but also when we are in need of hope.” And he referred in particular to those who have the responsibility of providing pastoral guidance, whom he said, on the one hand have the force and the strength of a divine ministry, but on the other are in need of the respect, the comprehension and the support of all.Underlining the fact that Christian hope is inte...
Tokyo, Japan, Feb 8, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A 17th century Catholic Samurai and martyr was beatified during a Mass in Osaka, Japan on Tuesday.Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the Beatification Mass of Justo Takayama Ukon, who was declared a martyr by Pope Francis in January last year.Takayama Ukon was born in 1552 in Japan during the time when Jesuit missionaries were being introduced within the country. By the time Takayama was 12, his father had converted to Catholicism and had his son baptized as “Justo” by the Jesuit Fr. Gaspare di Lella.Takayama's position in Japanese society as daimyo (a feudal lord) allowed him many benefits, such as owning grand estates and raising vast armies. As a Catholic, Takayama used his power to support and protect the short-lived missionary expansion within Japan, influencing the conversion of thousands of Japanese.When a time of persecution...
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2017 / 05:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis made an urgent appeal for prayer on behalf for all suffering due to slavery and exploitation, pointing specifically to the minority Rohingya population of Myanmar, who have undergone violent persecution for years.“I would like pray with you today in a special way for our brother and sister Rohingya. They were driven out of Myanmar, they go from one place to another and no one wants them,” the Pope said Feb. 8.“They are good people, peaceful people, they aren’t Christians, but they are good. They are our brothers and sisters. And they have suffered for years,” he said, noting that often times members of the ethnic minority have been “tortured and killed” simply for carrying forward their traditions and Muslim faith.He spoke to pilgrims gathered for his general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, leading them in praying an “Our Father” for th...
Glasgow, Scotland, Feb 8, 2017 / 05:53 am (CNA).- A Glasgow priest says he firmly believes he survived a recent near-fatal health scare thanks to the miraculous intercession of Venerable Margaret Sinclair, the poor Edinburgh girl turned nun who died in 1925.“For 32 years of priesthood, I’ve been preaching the resurrection of Christ and this is a sign for me that I am doing something which is true and not wasted,” said Monsignor Peter Smith, parish priest of St Paul’s in Whiteinch, during an exclusive interview with this month's edition of Flourish, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Glasgow.“I don’t want to be the center of attention, but if I’ve been granted this favor then I have to let it be known and allow the Church to judge it.”Since being diagnosed with cancer last May, 58-year-old Monsignor Smith has been urging friends and family to pray to Venerable Margaret to aid him. His request was enthusiastically supported...
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Brittany Ross remembers she was savoring the smell of her aunt's simmering white beans when the storm that injured about 40 people in southeastern Louisiana hit....
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The developer of the stalled Dakota Access oil pipeline could get clearance from the Army as early as Wednesday to finish the $3.8 billion project, though the American Indian tribe that has led the battle against the project for months has vowed to continue the fight....
MOSCOW (AP) -- A Russian court on Wednesday found opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty in the retrial of a 2013 fraud case, which disqualifies him as a candidate for president next year....
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Two Israeli rights groups on Wednesday asked the country's Supreme Court to overturn a new law legalizing West Bank settlements, in the first concrete attempt to counter the contentious measure....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court will decide whether to reinstate President Donald Trump's travel ban after a contentious hearing in which the judges hammered away at the administration's motivations for the ban, but also directed pointed questions to an attorney for two states trying to overturn it....