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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is asking for prayers for those countries who are taking in vast numbers of refugees and displaced persons, so they may find the support and the resources to assist those seeking refuge.In a video message produced with the assistance of the Jesuit Refugee Service the Pope speaks about his prayer intentions for the month of November:Jesuit Father Kenneth Gavin, Assistant International Director of JRS, spoke to Vatican Radio's Linda Bordoni about the Pope's prayer intention for November which, he explained, is one of twelve intentions Pope Francis has expressed over this past year, but it is one that is very close to his heart:Listen to the interview with Fr. Kenneth Gavin, SJ: Father Gavin says each video puts the focus on major international challenges and on the mission of the Church in respect to those challenges. In the past months we've seen videos on themes such as interreligious dialogue, respect for women, care for creatio...
(Vatican Radio) Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University was the scene on Friday for a day-long event exploring the transformations that the digital revolution is bringing about today.Under the theme, Core Values: the transmission of values in the digital age, participants spent the day posing hard questions to each other about the values that will best inform and sustain a coherent vision of integral human development in changing times.The guiding idea of the day’s conversations was Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato si’, in which the Holy Father wrote, “As never before in history, common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning ... Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.”The study day was opened by the Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication at the Holy See, Msgr. Dar...
The new Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium, Archbishop Augustine Kassujja, who hails from Uganda, is an experienced diplomat who has served the Holy See for many years. Born in 1946, Archbishop Kasujja is the first non-European Nuncio to Belgium.According to the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Archbishop Kasujja leaves Nigeria for Belgium, “after six years of meritorious service as the representative of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, in Nigeria. During the time of Archbishop Kasujja, at the Apostolic Nunciature, the Catholic Church in Nigeria witnessed tremendous growth in both spiritual and pastoral activities,” reads the Catholic Secretariat statement.Archbishop Kassujja was ordained priest on 3 January 1973 and was appointed Archbishop of the titular see of Cesarea in Numidia in 1998. He arrived to serve as Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria in 2011.Apostolic Nuncio Kasujja is a career diplomat who has served as papal envoy in different parts of the world since he entered ...
Indonesian bishops holding their annual general body meeting in North Jakarta are focusing their attention on how to help combat corruption as a social and moral evil that plagues the nation and to which religious communities can also contribute greatly. Thirty-six bishops, as also retired Archbishop of Jakarta Card. Julius Darmaatmadja, Apostolic Nuncio Arch. Guido Filipazzi, the director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Eusabius Binsasi, and representatives of the Communion of Christian Churches in Indonesia, are participating in the Oct. 31 – Nov 10 meeting.Ignatius Jonan, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, who has led other ministries as well, is the only Catholic minister in the Indonesian government addressing the bishops’ annual assembly. According to Fr. Benny Susetyo, the secretary of the famous Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace", Indonesian President Joko Widodo chose Jonan becaus...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ prayer intention for November is for Countries Receiving Refugees: That the countries which take in a great number of displaced persons and refugees may find support for their efforts which show solidarity. The Apostleship of Prayer has produced the Pope’s Video on this prayer intention.The full text of the Pope’s Video is below:Can one country alone manage the problems of forced migration?We must move away from indifference and the fear of accepting the other.[1]Because that other could be you. Or me…Join me in this prayer request:That the countries which take in a great number of displaced persons and refugees may find support for their efforts which show solidarity. [2] [1] Message of his Holiness Pope Francis for the 101st World Day of Migrants and Refugees (2015). Church Without Frontiers, Mother To All.[2] Universal Prayer Intention of the Holy Father entrusted to the Pope's Worldwide Pray...
(Vatican Radio) The UN charity, UNICEF, says nearly 26,000 people have been displaced since the military operation to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of the so-called Islamic State began in mid-October. It said a further 5,200 arrived in two camps to the south of the city on Friday in the single largest displacement since the offensive began. Altogether there are more than 10,000 displaced children in urgent need of assistance. Peter Hawkins is the country representative in Iraq for UNICEF and spoke to Susy Hodges about their plight.Listen to the interview with Peter Hawkins of UNICEF: Hawkins said it’s not just the displaced people who urgently require aid but also those who have decided to remain in their newly liberated villages and UNICEF is stepping up its relief programme to provide clean drinking water, hygiene kits, immunization and other essentials to both groups. Many of the new arrivals come to the camps with only the clothes on...
(Vatican Radio) Did you know the Vatican Apostolic Library uses a system developed for radio astronomy to help preserve its vast collection?The system is called ‘FITS’ [flexible image transport system format], and it was developed by NASA and the European Space Agency [ESA] in the 1970’s.The Vatican Library hosted an event on Friday to announce the continuation of a five year collaboration with the ESA to use the FITS system to preserve, manage, and exploit the archived information.The system not only helps preserve original documents, it also has a special text header with instructions on how to easily decode the data. In the likelihood current technology becomes obsolete in the future, newer computers will still be able to access the information.“Our collaboration is based on the common intention by our two institutions to promote the long-term preservation of images in electronic format,” – said Monsignor Cesare Pasini, Prefect of the Vatican...
The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan (CBCP) and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have been awarded the 2016 Pax Christi International Peace Award. Pax Christi, a non-profit, non-governmental Catholic peace movement headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, said in a statement that both organizations were chosen as representatives of the nonviolent struggle of the human rights community in Pakistan. "In a country where arbitrary detention, torture, deaths occurring while in custody, forced disappearances, institutional injustices against religious minorities, and extrajudicial execution are frequently reported, Pax Christi International honors the clear and courageous stand taken by practitioners of justice and peace against persistent patterns of violence and human rights violations," read the statement. The two organizations will be honoured at a ceremony in Geneva at th...
Boston, Mass., Nov 4, 2016 / 06:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church in Boston is asking voters in Massachusetts to reject the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state next week.Question 4 is a ballot initiative that would allow individuals at least 21 years of age to use, grow, and possess recreational marijuana. Medical marijuana has been legal in Massachusetts since 2012.Last week, the Archdiocese of Boston donated $850,000 to oppose Question 4. According to a report from The Atlantic, the Church’s donation increased the opposition effort’s funding by roughly 40 percent – the other major donor was Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas billionaire who gave $1,000,000 to the opposition last month. The Knights of Columbus also gave $150,000 to fight the initiative.Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence Donilon told CNA that the donation “was made from unrestricted Central Ministry funds. It does not come from parish collections or the Catholic Appeal nor funds desig...
Vatican City, Nov 4, 2016 / 06:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Reflecting on the faithful work of the bishops and cardinals who have died in the past 12 months, Pope Francis said Friday that death does not separate us, but in fact unites us more closely in the Body of Christ.“In the light of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, their death is, in fact, the entry into the fullness of life. In this light of faith, we feel even closer to our deceased brothers: death has apparently separated us, but the power of Christ and his Spirit unites us in an even deeper manner,” he said.Pope Francis offered Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 4 for the souls of the 126 cardinals and bishops who passed away in 2016.In his homily, he spoke about the passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans which asks, “What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?”The bishops and cardinals “kn...
