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Lahore, Pakistan, Jan 6, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Supporters of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy law attempted to march in Lahore on Wednesday, but were thwarted when police made more than 150 arrests.The nation's blasphemy laws impose strict punishment on those who desecrate the Quran or who defame or insult Muhammad.The Jan. 4 demonstrations would have fallen on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 assassination of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, a prominent advocate of changing the strict blasphemy law. He was killed by his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri, for his stance on the law.Some backers of the strict anti-blasphemy law consider Qadri a hero.Protesters from several religious parties had planned the march in the capital of Punjab province. The arrested were members of the Islamist coalition Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah.Authorities said that more arrests would be made and no one had permission to hold a rally in Lahore, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reports.Po...
By Carol ZimmermannWASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Catholic Church has a "tremendousresponsibility to bring people together in prayer and dialogue, to begin anewthe vital work of fostering healing and lasting peace," said a report by aU.S. bishops' task force released Jan. 5 in the wake of last year's incidentsof violence and racial tensions.Thework to "root out racism and create healthy dynamics in our neighborhoods"is a long-term project, but the scope of it should not cause fear orintimidation, wrote Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the TaskForce to Promote Peace in Our Communities, in the report's introduction.He alsosaid "the church is at her absolute best when she is a bold and propheticvoice for the power of the love upon which our faith is based, the love of Jesus Christ."Thetask force is taking on a broad issue, but in its report, it breaks down whatneeds to be done into a few recommendations to the U.S. bishops, urging them tofocus on:-- Prayer:Masses, rosarie...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICANCITY (CNS) -- The Magi had the courage to set out on a journey in the hope of finding somethingnew, unlike Herod who was full of himself and unwilling to change his ways,Pope Francis said.The Wise Men who set out fromthe East in search of Jesus personify all those who long for God and reflect"allthose who in their lives have let their hearts be anesthetized," the pope said Jan. 6, the feast of theEpiphany."TheMagi experienced longing; they were tired of the usual fare. They were all toofamiliar with, and weary of, the Herods of their own day. But there, inBethlehem, was a promise of newness, of gratuity," he said.Thousandsof people were gathered in St.Peter's Basilica as the pope entered to the sounds of the choir singing"Angels we have heard on high" in Latin. Before taking his place infront of the altar, the pope stood in front of a statue of baby Jesus, spending several minutes inveneration before kissing it.Thepope said that t...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic SpiritBy Maria WieringST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- Anewborn child found on the doorstep of the Cathedral of St. Paul was in goodhealth and being cared for by local children's services officials.Nathan Leonhardt, a custodian at the cathedral,discovered the child Jan. 4 as he was locking the building about 6 p.m. followingevening Mass. The baby was left in a plastic laundry basket between theexterior and interior doors of a church entrance.Leonhardt and Father John Ubel, cathedralrector, cared for the infant boy in the church sacristy until emergencyresponders arrived. The priest said he baptized the child while waiting forpolice and an ambulance to arrive.FatherUbel said he hopes the boy, whom he christened Nathan John, will be adopted by aCatholic family. He finds it significant that the baby was left at a Catholicparish. The baby was placed in the care of Ramsey County Child ProtectiveServices.Police are not pursuing the case as a criminalmat...
Three rookies among 17 first-time selections highlight The Associated Press 2016 NFL All-Pro Team, led by Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott and Kansas City's Tyreek Hill, a unanimous choice as punt returner....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Television's enthusiastic attic-rummaging for old shows to resurrect isn't abating....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When President Barack Obama urged fellow leaders at the United Nations to do more for the world's refugees, his mention of a young boy named Alex could have been just a footnote, unnoticed or quickly forgotten....
ATLANTA (AP) -- Panicked shoppers emptied shelves of bread and milk, road workers began working 12-hour shifts, and governors in Alabama and Georgia declared states of emergencies ahead of a winter storm stalking the South....
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tilikum, an orca that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010 and was profiled in a documentary that helped sway popular opinion against keeping killer whales in captivity at SeaWorld parks, has died....
CHICAGO (AP) -- The two 18-year-old men had been schoolmates, police say. After meeting at McDonald's, they spent two days together, driving around visiting friends. Then a pretend fight escalated into a brutal beating of one of the men, a mentally disabled teenager, in an attack that stirred racial tensions and outrage after being broadcast on Facebook Live....
