Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Vatican City, Oct 18, 2016 / 09:27 am (CNA).- The decision to open a McDonald’s restaurant inside a Vatican property just around the corner from St. Peter’s Square has been met harsh criticism from cardinals who live in the building.But the man in charge of rolling out the project says the plan is moving forward despite disagreement.Dubbed by some as “McVatican,” the new restaurant will be located in a Vatican property on the intersection of Rome’s Via del Mascherino and Via Borgo Pio, literally around the corner from the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica.After having received numerous requests from different companies to move into the empty space, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which oversees the Vatican's assets, decided to rent it to McDonald’s for 30,000 euros a month.In an interview with Italian newspaper La Reppublica, Italian Cardinal Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Fordham UniversityBy Beth GriffinNEWYORK (CNS) -- Laughing at ourselves and being open to sharing our failures andflaws within and beyond the community of faith is a powerful means to dispelthe myth that Catholics are ignorant or judgmental or exclusive in any way,actress Jeannie Gaffigan told an audience in New York Oct 14.Thecomedy writer and producer of "The Jim Gaffigan Show" accepted the inauguralEloquentia Perfecta Award from Paulist Press and the Fordham UniversityGraduate School of Religion and Religious Education.Theactress, who is the wife of comedian Jim Gaffigan and mother of their fivepre-teenage children, said her Catholic faith and Jesuit education inform andinspire the scripts she co-writes for her husband's comedy specials and hisseries on the TV Land cable network.Shesaid the couple tries, "in our own imperfect way, to present a household offaith in one of the most culturally diverse places in our country." Thetelevision show is loosely ba...
By Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following Christ may take a person down a path that leads to anguish, isolation, even martyrdom, but a Christian will never feel bitterness or regret because Christ never leaves his or her side, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.In his homily during Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae Oct. 18, the pope focused on the day's reading from St. Paul's Second Letter to Timothy (4:10-17) in which the apostle sadly takes note of those who deserted him. However, "the Lord stood by me and gave me strength," the verse says."The life of the great Paul ends in desolation, not in resentment and bitterness, but with internal grief," the pope said. In fact, many other martyrs like St. Peter, St. John the Baptist and St. Maximilian Kolbe, he said, died abandoned by so many, but they drew their strength from Jesus, who they knew was by their side."When the apostle is faithful, he doesn't expect an end other than that of Jesus," he said. "This is the law of the Gospe...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It will take more than three clicks of the heels to restore the ruby slippers that whisked Dorothy back to Kansas at the end of "The Wizard of Oz."...
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Neal Spelce was scrounging for news to fill his Austin station's noon radio broadcast when he heard this announcement on the police scanner: "We have a report of a shot being fired at the University of Texas."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are seizing the latest developments in the Hillary Clinton email controversy as an issue that could help Donald Trump make up ground in the final presidential debate - if he can hammer home the message....
Representatives of various Religious sisters on the African continent are this week meeting in a convention under the auspices of the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. The convention which runs from 16 to 19 October is themed, “Catholic Sisters Champions of Sustainable Development in Africa.” It is taking place at Nairobi’s Sarova Panafric.According to ASEC, the reason for the Nairobi Convention is to listen and learn from the Sisters rather than hear formal presentations. Understanding the objectives and core ideas anchoring the work of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Catholic Sisters’ Strategic Initiative will help in assuring that African nations are at the forefront of achieving sustainable development for all citizens by 2030.The Convention also seeks to appreciate the potential of Catholic Sisters as full members of the global partnership for sustainable development as well as the obstacles they f...
(Vatican Radio) The winners of the 2016 Ratzinger Prize have been announed as Inos Biffi and Ioannis Kourempeles.Mgr. Biffi, a professor, theologian and liturgist of international renown, who has also authored hundreds of books and essays, was awarded the prize for his Opera Omnia, a collection of his writings, most of which are on theology and medieval philosophy. Twenty volumes have already been published, while the rest are currently in the preparation phase. The other winner is Ioannis Kourempeles of the Faculty of Theology in Thessaloniki, Greece. A member of the Orthodox Church, he is associate professor in the Department of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.The Ratzinger Prize, awarded by the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI, is given as a sign of the Church’s gratitude to scholars and professors who have stood out for their scientific research in the theological field. The prize will be awarded on the 26th November at the Apost...
Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Fr. Thomas Thennatt of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, the new bishop to the Diocese of Gwalior in India. The 63-year old priest takes over from Bishop Joseph Kaithathara who has retired.Fr. Thomas Thennatt SAC was born on November 26, 1953 in Koodalloor, in the Diocese of Kottayam. In 1969 he joined the Minor Seminary of Pallottigiri in Trivandrum, Kerala. Having completed his Novitiate in the Society of the Catholic Apostolate he made his solemn profession on 31 May 1975 and was ordained a priest on October 21, 1978. After ordination he held the following positions:1978-1980: chaplain in the Diocese of Amravati1980-1981: chaplain in the diocese of Eluru1981-1983: Studied for a licentiate in theology in Poona Seminary1984-1987: parish priest of St. Anthony’s parish in Mudfort, Archdiocese of Hyderabad1987-1991: Director of the Commission on Youth and Young Cathol...
A prominent Asian Cardinal has hit out against religious intolerance in his home nation, calling it a “poison for society”.Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, sent the strongly worded message to the “Fides” Agency, which held an event on Saturday to mark the launch of a book entitled “On the Brink” which examines the realities of life for religious minorities in Asian countries.He said: “Asia is the Mother of the great religions; Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism. But today religious intolerance is a poison for society.” The Cardinal’s criticism was directed not just towards the situation in Myanmar, but also others such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and China.Allegations of religious intolerance in Myanmar date as far back as the 1988 uprising against the military government. Some reports suggest that members of minority, non-Buddhist, faiths face discrimination from b...
