Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenTBILISI, Georgia (CNS) -- Pope Francis said a global waragainst marriage is underway and Catholics must respond by helping couples staystrong and by providing pastoral care to those experiencing difficulty."Today there is a global war to destroy marriage,"the pope said Oct. 1 during a meeting in Tbilisi with priests, religious,seminarians and laypeople active in parish life."Today you do not destroy with weapons, you destroywith ideas," the pope said. "It is ideological colonization thatdestroys."The only way to defend marriage against the onslaught, hesaid, is to help couples "make peace as soon as possible, before the dayends, and don't forget the three words: 'May I?' 'Thank you' and 'Forgiveme.'""Marriage is the most beautiful thing that God hascreated," Pope Francis said. In marriage, man and woman become one flesh, "the image of God.""When youdivorce one flesh you sully the God's image," he said.A woman named Irina, who with her husband, Z...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM AZERBAIJAN (CNS) -- Catholicswho are homosexual, confused about their sexuality or convinced they were bornin the wrong body deserve the same attentive pastoral care as anyone else,Pope Francis said.Flying back to Rome Oct. 2 after a visit to Georgia andAzerbaijan, the pope was asked, given his criticism Oct. 1 of "gendertheory" and of what he describes as "ideological colonization,"how he would provide pastoral care to a person who felt his or her sexualitydid not correspond to his or her biology.Pope Francis began responding to the reporter's question bysaying that as a priest, a bishop and even as pope he has "accompaniedpeople with homosexual tendencies and even homosexual activity. I accompaniedthem; I helped them draw closer to the Lord, although some couldn't. But I neverabandoned them.""People must be accompanied like Jesus would accompanythem," he said. "When a person who has this situation arrives beforeJes...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Cindy WoodenABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM AZERBAIJAN (CNS) -- Catholicsfacing difficult political choices must study the issues, pray about theelection and then vote according to their consciences, Pope Francis said.Flying back to Rome from Azerbaijan Oct. 2, the pope was askedby a reporter what U.S. Catholics should do in a presidential election whereboth candidates hold some positions contrary to church teaching.Although he was in a relaxed mood and welcomed reporters'questions for almost an hour, Pope Francis said he would never comment on aspecific electoral campaign."The people are sovereign," he said. "Studythe proposals well, pray and choose in conscience."Pope Francis also was asked when he would name new membersto the College of Cardinals and what criteria he would use to choose them.He said he still had not decided precisely when to announcethe names or hold the consistory to create the new cardinals, but it wouldlikely be at the end of this year o...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Ever defiant, Donald Trump and his Republican allies embraced a report on Sunday that said the New York businessman may not have paid federal income taxes for nearly two decades after he and his companies lost nearly $916 million in a single year....
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia's peace deal with leftist rebels seemed headed to defeat as votes against the accord held a razor-thin edge in a national referendum Sunday, less than a week after it was signed in front of an audience of heads of states....
DENVER (AP) -- The leak of some of Donald Trump's tax returns highlights enormous disparities in the tax code between high-income businesses and individuals and everyone else that may have allowed the Republican presidential nominee to avoid paying federal income taxes for nearly 20 years....
Vatican Weekend for October 2, 2016 features the latest in our weekly series, "There's More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye" and we shine the spotlight on some of the highlights of Pope Francis' 16th apostolic journey abroad: to Georgia and Azerbaijan, and in particular, on his day in Baku, Azerbaijan.Listen to this programme presented and produced by Tracey McClure:
Rouen, France, Oct 2, 2016 / 12:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The French diocese of Rouen has officially begun an inquiry into the beatification of French priest Jacques Hamel, killed by Islamic extremists earlier this summer, after receiving a note from Pope Francis waiving the traditional five-year waiting period.Rouen’s Archbishop Dominique Lebrun made the announcement after celebrating a Mass Oct. 2 to re-open the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, where Fr. Hamel was killed by supporters of the Islamic State while saying Mass in July.Typically there is a five-year waiting period required after the death of a person before a diocese can begin official investigations for the beatification. Though waiving the rule isn’t normal, other modern examples of the exemption are St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. John Paul II.According to an Oct. 2 statement released by the French Bishops Conference, Archbishop Lebrun was informed by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause...
By Cindy WoodenTBILISI, Georgia (CNS) -- At a papal Mass focused on two female saints, the longing for Christian unity and the painfulreality of Christian division were strong undertones.Celebrating Mass Oct. 1, the feast of St. Therese ofLisieux, Pope Francis also praised St. Nino, a woman who evangelized Georgia inthe fourth century, is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church and hailedby the Georgian Orthodox as "equal to the Apostles and the enlightener ofGeorgia."A few thousand people -- including many expatriates living andworking in Georgia -- attended the morning Mass, which was celebrated in aTbilisi soccer stadium.While the official theme of the pope's visit to Georgia was"Pax vobis" -- "Peace be with you" -- the caps and scarveshanded out at the Mass and worn by most in the crowd said, "Ut unumsint," the Latin for "that all may be one."The vast majority of Georgians are members of the OrthodoxChurch. Catholics, including Armenians, Chaldeans and members of the Latin...
BISHOFTU, Ethiopia (AP) -- Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said. The Oromia regional government confirmed the death toll at 52....
