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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just over a month from Election Day, Hillary Clinton is treating a trio of perennial swing states - Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin - more like safe states....
The Philippine government's war against illegal drugs has become a challenge to not only church leaders but to "the people of God" who believe in the sacredness of life and in mercy and compassion.The president's war, which has already killed some 3,500 drug addicts and peddlers, has become a call on the conscience and the integrity of Philippine Catholic Church leaders."Thou shall not kill," reads the placards displayed outside some churches. Some Catholics have already decided to act and speak to protect life, practice love and mercy, and to heal the wounded.The teaching of Jesus to protect life has become a challenge in the midst of the killings. Filipino Catholics are called by their faith to take a stand on the issue of justice and due process and the right of people to live and not be shot on the mere suspicion of being a drug addict."Although death is a twin sister born with us on the same day we were born, death by terror and violence, deat...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday during his General Audience greeted the restorers of the Basilica of the Nativity in Jerusalem, accompanied by the vicar general of the Custody of the Holy Land, Fra Dobromir Jasztal, OFM.The current restoration works of the Basilica started in 2013, and so far the roof, windows, the wooden door in the narthex, and the mosaics of the walls in the nave and the transepts have been completed.Currently, the wooden architraves above the marble columns are being restored, and last month work started on the stone external facades on the western end. Funds are being sought to help restore the 50 columns, the floor mosaics, and to provide for the installation of fire prevention and lighting systems.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday remembered the Feast Day of Pope St. John XXIII, which was celebrated on Tuesday, during his special remarks to the young, the sick and newlyweds before his final blessing during his General Audience.“Yesterday we celebrated the memory of St. John XXIII,” – Pope Francis said – “Invoke his heavenly intercession, dear young people, to imitate the gentleness of his paternal love; pray to him in moments of the cross and in suffering, dear infirm, to face difficulties with the same meekness; and learn from him, dear newlyweds, the art of educating children with tenderness and by example.”Pope Francis canonized John XXIII – along with Pope John Paul II – on 27 April 2014. Saint John XXIII was Pope from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963.
(Vatican Radio) The United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa said the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has “made very clear that they will condemn efforts by the opposition that appear to be tilting towards violence.”Tom Perriello told Vatican Radio the Church is seen as a “voice for the national interest” in the ongoing unrest following the announcement of the postponement of elections.Listen to the interview with Tom Perriello: President Joseph Kabila’s term of office is supposed to end in December, but the nation’s electoral commission announced last month that scheduled elections could not be held in November. The announcement led to protests which left several people dead.The United Nations envoy for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Maman Sidikou, on Tuesday told the UN Security Council the country is at "extreme risk" of descending into widespread violence, and the” scope of the t...
(Vatican Radio) At the end of Wednesday’s General Audience, Pope Francis made a special greeting to the organizers and participants of the “Match for peace and solidarity” scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.The football match is being promoted by ‘Scholas occurrentes’, Comunità Amore e Libertà, Centro Sportivo Italiano and Unitalsi. The players include Diego Maradona and Francesco Totti.The event is to promote peace efforts among populations around the world, and proceeds from the match will help the earthquake victims in central Italy.
(Vatican Radio) After reflecting on the mystery of God’s mercy, from the actions of the Father in the Old Testament to those of Jesus, Who in the Gospels demonstrates by His words and gestures that He is the very incarnation of mercy, the Pope announced in this Wednesday’s general audience that he will dedicate a new cycle of catechesis to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.“It is not enough to experience God’s mercy in our lives”, the Pope observed. “It is necessary for those who receive it also to be a sign and instrument for others. … It is not a question of making great efforts or superhuman gestures. The Lord shows us a far easier path, made up of little gestures but which, in His eyes, have great value, to the point of saying that it is on these that we will be judged. … Jesus says that every time we give something to eat to a hungry person and give something to drink to one who thirsts, we dress the naked and welcome ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler OrsburnBy Mark PattisonWASHINGTON(CNS) -- A letter to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders asks themto "renounce publicly" a contentious sentence in the U.S. Commission on CivilRights' report that equates religious freedom with discrimination.Theletter, dated Oct. 7 and released Oct. 12, was signed by 17 religious leaders, including two U.S.Catholic bishops.The sentencewas written by commission chairman Martin Castro and was incorporated into the 306-pagereport issued Sept. 8. It said, "The phrases 'religious liberty' and 'religious freedom'will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words fordiscrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia,Christian supremacy or any form of intolerance.""Weunderstand that people of good faith can disagree about the relationship betweenreligious liberty and anti-discrimination laws in our country, and how thatrelationship should best be structured," said the letter, rel...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Bassam Khabieh, ReutersBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the wake of intensified attacksin Syria, Pope Francis called for an immediate cease-fire -- even if temporary-- so that civilians, especially children, could be rescued from the ruins.Emphasizing that his thoughts and prayers are with"all victims of the inhumane conflict in Syria," the pope said it waswith "a sense of urgency that I renew my appeal, imploring -- with all mystrength -- those responsible so that an immediate cease-fire bearranged."He asked the cease-fire be "implemented andrespected at least for the time needed to allow for the evacuation ofcivilians, most of all children, who are still trapped under fiercebombings."The pope made his appeal Oct. 12 at the end of his weeklygeneral audience in St. Peter's Square. It came after a wave of intenseviolence as Russian airstrikes, supported by the Syrian government, hit Aleppoand rockets launched by rebels rained on Dara in the South.At least six ...
