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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The FBI is being sued by survivors of the Charleston church shooting, who say federal negligence enabled Dylann Roof to buy the .45-caliber handgun he used....
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for July 2, 2016 features a special programme stemming from a remark made by Pope Francis relating to the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz Birkenau which he is scheduled to visit at the end of July. In a remark made during the inflight press conference on his way back to Rome from Armenia when reflecting on his upcoming journey to Poland he said that in a place like this, he likes to reflect silently, “alone,” praying that the Lord might grant him “the grace of crying.” So to set the scene for this sobering visit we bring you a couple of features focusing on the visits there of his predecessors to the See of Peter: Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II. On a different note, for the series 'Blood, Sweat and Tears in the Bible' we share with you the story of the Prophet Nathan, recounted for us by scripture scholar and Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia Mark Benedict Coleridge. The programme ends w...
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for July 3, 2016 features our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel presented by Jill Bevilacqua for the series 'There's More in the Sunday gospel than Meets the Eye'. The programme ends with 'Joan knows...', a bird's eye view of the past week in the Vatican with Joan Lewis, EWTN bureau chief here in Rome.Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis had a private meeting in the Vatican on Friday with Rome’s newly elected mayor, Virginia Raggi of the ‘5 Star Movement’.The 37 year old lawyer is the youngest person ever to head Rome’s City Council, as well as the first female mayor of the Eternal City.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: Virginia Raggi swept to victory in the run-off election last month, capturing over 67% of the vote for her anti-establishment party. She pledged to tackle the city’s most enduring problems, from traffic congestion, to waste management, from lack of social housing to the endemic corruption that erupted most recently in the Mafia Capitale scandals.At the meeting with Pope Francis, Raggi was accompanied by her parents and her six year old son Matteo, as well as by members of her staff. She also brought with her a tablet, on which she showed the Pope a collection of video-messages recorded by Roman citizens living in some of the po...
A priest in the western Indian Archdiocese of Bombay is committed to bringing in the life of the faithful the environmental encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Si.” Fr. Magi Murzello, the new rector of St. Andrews College in Bandra, in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), describes himself as eco-friendly. The priest who has a doctorate in Environmental Sciences, intends "to translate into a creative and pedagogical manner, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Sì" including its content in the worship and devotional practices. Fr. Magi conducted a ‘Stations of the Cross” focussing on issues of environmental degradation, which led to a discussion on "Do not waste God’s gifts" and ended with the cleaning of a beach. He explained to Vatican’s Fides news agency that he wants to deepen the different chapters of Laudato Sì, to raise awareness in all the people of God on issues such as dialogue, integral...
Nepal has finalized rules for granting aid money to families seeking to rebuild homes destroyed in a set of devastating earthquakes that hit the Himalayan country last year. Under pressure to speed up reconstruction, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli said that payments of an equivalent of $1,850 would be made to families in two installments, instead of three as originally planned. He also said the first installment would cover 75 percent of the total. The decision was cheered by some of the millions left homeless by the disaster, many of whom have been living in tents or makeshift shacks through winter snows and the monsoon rains.Nearly 1 million homes were destroyed in the April 25, 2015, earthquake and strong aftershocks. Since then, only 13,616 families have received partial aid money for reconstruction. Nepal estimates the total reconstruction bill will come to $7.86 billion, of which $4.1 billion has been pledged by foreign governments and donor a...
“Be inspired by confidence and hope despite the problems, risks and difficulties that you face,” This was the message of the Bishop of Garissa, Joseph Alessandro, who is also Chair of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (KCCB) – Commission for Refugees, Seafarers and Migrants. The Bishop was speaking when he addressed refugees at Divine Word Parish in Kayole, Nairobi. This was on the occasion to mark this year’s World Refugee Day.The Bishop’s consoling message came to the refugees amidst plans regarding the Kenyan government’s intention to close Garissa’s Dadaab refugee camp due to security concerns. Dadaab camp is home mostly to refugees of Somali origin. Bishop Alessandro assured the refugees that the Church stands with them under all circumstances. “You have a special place in the heart of the Church, and you help the Church to enlarge her heart, to manifest her motherhood towards the entire human family&rdq...
Vatican City, Jul 1, 2016 / 07:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Though he has rarely spoken since resigning from the papacy, Benedict XVI granted several lengthy interviews to German journalist Peter Seewald shortly after stepping down - conversations that touched on themes such as the reform of the Curia, his resignation and his thoughts on Pope Francis.The interviews, conducted a few months after Benedict’s Feb. 28, 2013, resignation, are set to be released in one book simultaneously worldwide Sept. 9, according to Italian daily “Corriere della Sera.”About 240 pages in length, the book in German is titled "Letzte Gespräche," or, "Final Conversations," and “touches upon all the most important stages of life of Joseph Ratzinger.”These stages include Benedict’s childhood under the Nazi regime, the discovery of his vocation to the priesthood, the hardships of the war and his time in the Vatican until his election to the pap...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jim Bovin, Catholic SpiritBy Maria WieringST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) --Hundreds of Catholics crowded into the Cathedral of St. Paul to venerate therelics of two English saints who are known as icons of religious libertybecause of the circumstances of their martyrdom.Relics of St. Thomas More andSt. John Fisher, whose lives spanned the 15th and 16th centuries, were viewedat the cathedral June 26 as part of a national tour coinciding with theFortnight for Freedom.A prayer service was part of theevent and included eucharistic adoration, a Gospel reading and presentations onthe martyrs from John Boyle, professor of theology and Catholic studies at theUniversity of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and Jan Graffius, curator at StonyhurstCollege in England, which holds the relics.The faithful waited up to anhour to process up the cathedral's center aisle to the Communion rail, wherethe relics were displayed in two simple glass boxes. People briefly kneeled andprayed before the relics; m...
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI has givenanother interview to the journalist and author Peter Seewald, and a Germanpublisher announced it would be released worldwide Sept. 9.Titled "Letzte Gesprache," (which translates as "lastconversations"), the book includes an in-depth conversation with theretired pope about the background of his resignation in 2013, said the Germanpublisher, Droemer Knaur.Information about an English translation and publisher was not immediatelyavailable.The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, which has therights to an Italian newsstand edition of the book, reported July 1 that PopeBenedict admits to Seewald that he knew of "the presence of a 'gay lobby'in the Vatican composed of four or five people and he says he was able toremove their power."Pope Benedict also says he kept a diary during hispontificate, but he plans to destroy it, even though he knows that historianscould find it valuable, Corriere reported.On its website, ...
