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BEIRUT (AP) -- Death in Aleppo was personal for Modar Sheikho. He lost his sister to government bombing early in the revolt. His brother was killed last month. And as they looked for a place to bury him, another airstrike killed his father....
(Vatican Radio) Russia's President Vladimir Putin has wrapped up a visit to Japan, inviting Japanese businesses to invest in eastern Siberia. The visit marked a warming of ties, two years after Russia seized Crimea.Listen to Alastair Wanklyn’s report: Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed a range of business deals for Japanese companies in Russia's Far East.The Kremlin has long promised to upgrade infrastructure in sparsely populated eastern Siberia but has lacked the cash.There will be greater cooperation, too, on several disputed islands that the Soviet Union seized after Japan surrendered in World War II. The two sides still have not agreed a peace treaty. The isles, known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, are a rallying point for Japanese nationalists. On Friday, police in Tokyo stepped up security around Russian diplomatic missions. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said greater commercial exchanges will help to build trust. But P...
(Vatican Radio) Russia has strongly denied U.S. claims that it hacked official emails. The war-of-words come as American President Barack Obama vowed to take action against Russia for its alleged interference.Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was the principal celebrant at Mass in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on the morning of December 17th. The Mass was that of the Saturday in the Third Week of Advent, and the concelebrants were the Cardinals resident in Rome.The reason for the extraordinary liturgical celebration was thanksgiving to God for the life of Pope Francis, who was born 80 years ago this day, on December 17th, 1936.The liturgy unfolded with the simple penitential settings of the season, and the readings were those of the day. The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, offered words of greeting in the name of all those present and of all the members of the College, saying, “The risen Jesus appeared to the disciples and addressed these well-known words to Simon-Peter: ‘Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ And the Apostle immediately replied: ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love you!’ It is wit...
(Vatican Radio) Memory was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at a Mass of which he was the principal celebrant in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, along with the cardinals resident in Rome, who were assembled to give thanks to God on the occasion of the Holy Father’s 80th birthday.Memory – not merely recollection – of parents and forefathers, of friends and relatives who have gone before him, of the signs of a life well and fully lived – but most especially the memoria Dei, the “memory of God” that is present throughout salvation history and is the characteristic and the hallmark of Christian life.Click below to hear our report “In Advent we started this journey, of vigilant expectation of the Lord. Today we stop, we look back, we see that the journey has been beautiful, that the Lord has not disappointed us, that the Lord is faithful,” he said.“We also see that both in histor...
(Vatican Radio) To mark Pope Francis' 80th birthday, Our Sunday Visitor's new Managing Editor, Don Clemmer, put together a podcast with recollections from people who have known the Holy Father since his days as a schoolteacher in his native Argentina. You can find Part 1 by clicking here
(Vatican Radio) Here is the second installment of a 2-part collection of reminiscences and recollections produced by the Managing Editor of Our Sunday Visitor (and long-time friend of Vatican Radio), Don Clemmer, in honor of Pope Francis' 80th birthday. This second part brings together a series of reactions from people who knew the man, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, when they heard he had been elected 265th Successor to Peter. Click here to listen to Part 2
Pakistan's Railways and Human Rights ministries plan to run a special train over Christmas to express solidarity with the minority Christian community and promote inter-faith harmony. State-run APP news agency quoted unnamed officials saying that the special "human rights train" would be the first rail service run to celebrate a minority festival. It will depart from Islamabad on Dec. 22.Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael, who is the only non-Muslim minister in the cabinet, will see the train off. It will reach Peshawar the same day before leaving for Rawalpindi on Dec. 23. It will travel to Lahore on the final leg of its journey, on Dec. 24. The train will consist of five carriages decorated with messages of religious tolerance, brotherhood and love.Minister Kamran Michael told the Daily Times that the Christian community was an equal partner in the struggle for ensuring sustained development, stabil...
Vatican City, Dec 17, 2016 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will receive thousands of gifts for his 80th birthday Saturday, from heads of state and the ordinary faithful.Among these gifts are a wood-framed pair of glasses made from part of a 1,600-year-old olive tree. That gift is from Viktor and Sand Jeromil of Croatia, the newspaper Croatia Week reports. Gifts like these from the faithful are often presented to the Pope in the form of pictures. Gifts from heads of state, however, are officially delivered. By tradition, the most precious gifts are given to the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Library, or the Sacristy and Treasury Museum. The other gifts are handled by the Floreria Apostolica, an institution within the Vatican walls that provides for furniture and decorations of the Holy Palaces and for the setting of St. Peter’s Square during the general audiences. The Floreria runs the Pope’s so-called “private warehouse.” Gifts are gene...
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Drug overdose deaths have increased by 33 percent in the past five years across the country, with some states seeing jumps of nearly 200 percent....
