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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican senators pressed FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday about whether anything more could have been done to prevent recent acts of extremist violence, including the Orlando nightclub massacre and the Manhattan bombing this month....
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- Donald Trump blamed the moderator, a bad microphone and anyone but himself Tuesday after he was forced onto the defense by Hillary Clinton's cascade of attacks about his taxes, honesty and character in the first presidential debate....
(Vatican Radio) During the final two months of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, initiatives to promote the faith are intensifying, often drawing on the lives of holy men and women as examples of virtue and mercy.One such initiative is the ‘Witnesses of Mercy in the Americas’ Symposium, organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the US Archdiocese of Denver in Colorado.The Symposium held in Rome on Sept. 24 reflected on some lesser-known witnesses to the faith, including Venerable Fr. Michael McGivney, Fr. Eusebio Kino, Fr. Antonio Margil de Jesús, as well as Denver’s Julia Greeley.Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver spoke to Vatican Radio about how these ‘normal people’ can provide an uncommon light for the world.Listen to the full interview: Speaking about the Symposium, Archbishop Aquila said the aim was to "recognize very normal people who had lived lives of mercy, who had responded to the call of mercy".Mission...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday named Msgr Robert Milner Coerver, of the clergy of the Diocese of Dallas, as Bishop of the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas, USA. Monsignor Coerver has been serving as Pastor of Saint Rita Parish in Dallas.He succeeds Bishop Plácido Rodríguez of Lubbock, whose resignation was accepted by the Holy Father, also on Tuesday.Biography of Bishop-elect Robert M. CoerverMonsignor Robert Coerver is a priest of the Diocese of Dallas, raised in St Thomas Aquinas Parish.He studied philosophy at Holy Trinity Seminary and the University of Dallas. Monsignor Coerver was sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome for his theological studies, taking courses at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1981 he obtained a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the Gregorian University, and later (1990) a Master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance from Texas A & M University — Com...
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Monday celebrated a Liturgy of the Word in Cartagena to mark the signing of the Final Agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Marxist FARC rebels which aims to end decades of conflict which have left nearly 250,000 people dead, and displaced millions of others.In his homily, the Cardinal said Pope Francis has followed “with great attention” and encouraged “the efforts of recent years in search of harmony and reconciliation.”“The Pope has always encouraged respect for human rights and Christian values, ??which are at the center of the Colombian culture,” Cardinal Parolin continued.The Cardinal said he hoped the signing of the Agreement would “ease the pain of those many people who have been humiliated and oppressed by the violence [of the conflict], stop hatred, and change the course of history to build a better future with strong and just institu...
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican told the United Nations on Monday “nuclear arms offer a false sense of security, and that the uneasy peace promised by nuclear deterrence is a tragic illusion.”“Nuclear weapons cannot create for us a stable and secure world,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.He was speaking at an event marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.“Peace and international stability cannot be founded on mutually assured destruction or on the threat of total annihilation,” the Vatican diplomat said. The full statement of Archbishop Auza can be found below Statement of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito AuzaApostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nationsat the High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promoteThe International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear WeaponsNew York, 26 September 2016 Mr. Preside...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said silence and prayer is the way to overcome our darkest moments, rather than resorting to pills or alcoholic drinks to escape from our woes. His comments came during his homily at the morning Mass celebrated on Tuesday at the Santa Marta residence. Taking his cue from the day’s first reading where Job was living through a spiritual desolation and was giving vent to his sorrows before God, the Pope’s homily focused on these dark moments of spiritual desolation that all of us experience at some point and explained how we can overcome them. He said although Job was in deep trouble and had lost everything he did not curse God and his outburst was that of “a son in front of his father.”All of us sooner or later experience a spiritual darkness“Spiritual desolation is something that happens to all of us: it can be stronger or weaker … but that feeling of spiritual darkness, of hopelessness, mistrust, lacking the de...
Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 27, 2016 / 03:11 am (CNA).- The needs of Father David Bedrossian’s parish are unique.While many priests grapple with budgetary concerns and a desire to fill pews, Father Bedrossian is wondering where he’s going to find the resources to house the next Syrian refugee who shows up on the church steps.Father Bedrossian’s parish, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Armenian Catholic Church, has a long history of sheltering displaced persons. From the Armenian refugees escaping genocide and communism through the 1900s to the present-day Christian Syrian refugees, the parish has been a sanctuary for a generation of persecuted persons.Each month, Syrian refugees show up at the church with their last penny to meet the man everyone calls “abouna,” (Arabic for father) Father Bedrossian. He is their job coach, landlord, translator, teacher and priest. And to many Father Bedrossian is their last hope.Seventeen years ago, Father Bedrossian had to flee ...
Indianapolis, Ind., Sep 27, 2016 / 05:02 am (CNA).- The new T.V. series The Exorcist, based on the horror film series of the same name from the 19070s, debuted on FOX on Friday, sparking another wave of fascination with the supernatural.In a recent article prior to the show’s launch, Lance Higdon, writing for pop culture website Vice, explored the world of exorcism, a phenomenon mysterious to many inside and outside the Church. Higdon recalled that in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in May, director William Friedkin, of the original “The Exorcism” film series, claimed that he had been invited to the Vatican to see - and film - an exorcism in real life.A Vatican spokesman denied the claim to AFP, noting that the Vatican does not have an official exorcist. The spokesman said it may have been possible that Friedkin was mistaking the Vatican for another Catholic entity.Fr. Vincent Lampert is a Vatican-trained exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapol...
Washington D.C., Sep 27, 2016 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A U.N. resolution against further nuclear weapons tests drew praise from the U.S. Catholic bishops, who repeated their support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the wake of North Korean weapons tests.The U.S. bishops’ conference “welcomes the action of the U.N. Security Council as encouraging this important step toward a world without nuclear weapons,” Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M. said Sept. 23.The prelate, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said the U.S. bishops have long supported ratification of a comprehensive test ban.On Friday, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution that called on countries to refrain from nuclear weapons testing. It presented the avoidance of nuclear weapons testing as an international norm.The resolution, proposed by the United States, passed with 14 votes and the abstention of Egypt. The Wall S...
