Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) -- Fighting has ended in Aleppo, and now talk is beginning to turn to the question of how to rebuild Syria's largest city, where entire blocks have been smashed to rubble in scenes reminiscent of World War II devastation. The task will take tens of billions of dollars....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans suspended Senate committee rules Thursday to muscle President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency toward confirmation after Democrats boycotted a vote....
Pope Francis on Thursday created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Chittagong in Bangladesh. While raising Chittagong Diocese to the status of Archdiocese, he also elevated Bishop Moses Costa of Chittagong to the rank of Archbishop. For administrative purposes, dioceses around the globe are grouped into Ecclesiastical Provinces within countries or regions. Each Ecclesiastical Province is named after the Archdiocese, that includes several dioceses called suffragans. Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province now has been assigned Khulna and Barisal as suffragans. So far all of Bangladesh’s 8 dioceses formed a single Ecclesiatical Province of Dhaka but now with the creation of Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province, Bangladesh has two archdioceses.
(Vatican Radio) At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded this week in renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine.Fighting in the frontline town of Avdiivka has left thousands of residents without water or power in freezing conditions. The Catholic Church’s aid organization, Caritas, is in place in Donetsk - the most affected region - and has sent extra teams of aid workers to the city of Adviivka to help people in need on the frontline.Linda Bordoni spoke to Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary General of Caritas Europa about the humanitarian emergency.Listen: Due to the escalation in violence and the increased humanitarian needs, Jorge Nuño Mayer explains, Caritas Ukraine has sent more people to the city of Adviivka which has been suffering the most in the last days starting from the night between Saturday and Sunday with intensified shellings. He explains that out of some 25,000 inhabitants of the city only about 15,000 are left including &ldquo...
Pope Francis also made two appointments elsewhere in Asia. In the Philippines, he transferred Bishop Gilbert Garcera of Daet to Lipa Archdiocese as Archbishop. Bishop Garcera is taking over from Archbishop Ramon Argüelles, who has retired. In Laos, the Holy Father appointed Vicar Apostolic Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun of Paksé the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant see of Vientianne. The appointment came after the Vicar Apostolic Jean Khamsé Vithavong of Vientiane retired.
It was on Dec. 30, 1841, that a group of 12 young Irish women belonging to the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), better known as the Loreto Sisters, landed in Calcutta, British India, in what is Kolkata today, four months after setting sail from Ireland, never intending to return home. This intrepid band of 7 sisters and 5 postulants, averaging just 18 years of age, were led by Sr. Delphine Hart. After landing in Calcutta, they never looked back, and today the congregation is active in many parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh. The Loreto Sisters of South Asia, headquartered in Kolkata, are currently marking 175 years of their presence in the region. “Remember, Reimage, Renew,” is the theme of the year-long celebration that began on December 17. To know more about them, we called Indian Sr. Sister Anita Braganza, the superior of the Loreto Province of South...
(Vatican Radio) Building walls and banning immigrants means “deporting the heart of America” and “letting the politics of fear rule us”. That’s the view of American theologian and author Father Dan Groody, who heads a centre for Latino spirituality and culture at Notre Dame University in Indiana.After spending time running retreat programmes for immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border, Fr Dan has been developing a theology of migration, challenging Christians to view themselves as migrants and Jesus as an illegal immigrant who “put Mary outside the law”.Philippa Hitchen sat down with Fr Dan to hear how new U.S. legislation will affect his country’s immigrant communities and how global migration can be viewed from a theological perspective...Listen: Fr Dan’s interest in Latino spirituality began when he lived in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile during the dictatorship years. Following his ordination, he worked with the Valley Mis...
(Vatican Radio) The Sovereign Order of Malta held a press conference in Rome on Thursday, to outline what has happened since the resignation of Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing on Saturday 28 January. The Order released the following statement: In a press conference today, the government of the Sovereign Order of Malta has outlined its priorities, following the resignation of Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing on Saturday 28 January. The Grand Chancellor Albrecht Boeselager stated: “Together with the Lieutenant ad interim we are governing the Order according to our constitution and in a united and efficient way”.The government emphasized the Order’s loyalty to the Holy Father. It confirmed the Order’s willingness to collaborate with the Special Delegate. On behalf of the government, Boeselager thanked Pope Francis for his guidance that helped end government crises. He observed that in all his decisions the Pontiff showed respect and regard ...
Savannah, Ga., Feb 2, 2017 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A priest who was murdered in 2016 had previously certified that he would not want his murderer executed. Three Catholic bishops say his voice should be heard.The district attorney in Augusta, Georgia is seeking the death penalty for his accused killer.“I request that the person found guilty of homicide for my killing not be subject to or put in jeopardy of the death penalty under any circumstances,” Fr. Rene Robert said in 1995 in a signed and notarized “Declaration of Life” that reflected on the possibility he could be the victim of a capital crime.The man believed to have killed him, Steven Murray, was indicted May 25, 2016 in Georgia by a Burke County Grand Jury for killing the priest April 11, 2016.Father Robert, a retired priest of the Diocese of St. Augustine, had been helping his accused killer for months as part of his prison ministry. Police believe Murray forced the priest into the trunk of his...
Amsterdam, Netherlands, Feb 2, 2017 / 08:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Dutch doctor who drugged an elderly woman and had her restrained as she fought lethal injection has been cleared by a review panel for “acting in good faith.”The woman, in her 80s, had dementia and had been living in a nursing home and exhibited “fear and anger” at times, and would be found wandering around the building, according to case documents.She had reportedly expressed a desire for euthanasia when “the time was right” at an earlier date, but had not done so recently.The senior doctor at the the nursing home determined that the woman’s condition meant that the time was right, and put a sleep-inducing drug into the woman’s coffee in order to administer the lethal injection without consulting the woman.The woman woke up as the doctor was trying to give the injection, and fought the procedure. The doctor had to ask family members to hold the woman down while she com...
