Two Catholic priests kidnapped in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=168159&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Gunmen in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo kidnapped two Catholic priests in an area at the center of over two years of massacres by unknown assailants, the country's conference of bishops said on Monday.The two priests -- Charles Kipasa and Jean-Pierre Akilimali -- were taken from Our Lady of the Angels parish in Bunyuka, located between the towns of Butembo and Beni, by a group of around 10 assailants just before 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Sunday."Priests are men of God who devote their lives to the good of the population without a political agenda. To hurt them is to harm the community they serve," the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) said in a statement.CENCO called upon the security forces to do everything possible to free the men. Three other priests, abducted in the same area in October 2012, still have not been freed, the statement said.Congo's mineral-rich eastern borderlands, a tinderbox of ethnic tensions, has for more than two dec...
Gunmen in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo kidnapped two Catholic priests in an area at the center of over two years of massacres by unknown assailants, the country's conference of bishops said on Monday.
The two priests -- Charles Kipasa and Jean-Pierre Akilimali -- were taken from Our Lady of the Angels parish in Bunyuka, located between the towns of Butembo and Beni, by a group of around 10 assailants just before 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Sunday.
"Priests are men of God who devote their lives to the good of the population without a political agenda. To hurt them is to harm the community they serve," the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) said in a statement.
CENCO called upon the security forces to do everything possible to free the men. Three other priests, abducted in the same area in October 2012, still have not been freed, the statement said.
Congo's mineral-rich eastern borderlands, a tinderbox of ethnic tensions, has for more than two decades been the theatre of successive wars and rebellions.
Beni has been among the most volatile zones in the last two years. A series of nighttime massacres that began in October 2014, mostly carried out with hatchets and machetes by unidentified assailants, has killed hundreds of civilians.
Over 930 prisoners were freed last month in an attack on the town's main prison that also killed 11 people. Another dozen people were killed when a so-called Mai-Mai militia coalition launched raids on the city center.
KINSHASA, July 17 (Reuters)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275571&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The spiritual shepherd of the Church in Singapore is Cardinal William Goh, archbishop since early 2013 and a cardinal since 2022. / Credit: Sean Boyce/EWTN NewsNational Catholic Register, May 3, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis recently announced his intention to travel to Southeast Asia in September to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The island nation of Singapore is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse regions in Asia and is home to about 395,000 Catholics. The small but strategically important nation also has the highest urban density in Asia but is ranked as the country with the highest quality of life. Like everywhere else, it also faces the threats of secularism and relativism and a loss of traditional values, especially a commitment to family and respect for the elderly. The spiritual shepherd of the Church in Singapore is Cardinal William Goh, archbishop since early 2013 and a cardinal since 2022. He sat down in his res...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275563&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275562&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...