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NEW YORK (AP) -- The Latest on explosive devices being found in two states (all times local):...
(Vatican Radio) The party of Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered historic losses in Berlin state elections, while a rising right-wing anti-immigrant party will enter the regional parliament for the first time, amid public anger over her open-door policy towards refugees. Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) were ousted from the state governing coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), just weeks after losing an election in another state.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: However members of the anti-immigrant and European Union skeptic Alternative for Germany Party (AFD) had reasons to celebrate in Berlin.Preliminary results from Sunday's elections showed they had won over 12 percent of the vote in the state, enough to secure a presence in Berlin’s regional assembly.Voters appear to have punished German Chancellor Merkel for allowing some 1.1 million migrants fleeing war and poverty to be registered in Germany, after several other EU countries ...
(Vatican Radio) Three days of dialogue have been organized ahead of the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi.The Sant’Egidio community has organized the series of presentations, round tables, and panel discussions on a host of themes, from social justice and equality as keys to peace, to the local effects of –and responses to – global challenges, to the need once again and with an ever more unified voice decry the misuse and abuse of religion in the service of unworthy causes.Listen to Chris Altieri's report: Thirst for Peace: religions and cultures in dialogue, is the theme of this 30th anniversary iteration of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, first convoked by Pope St. John Paul II in 1986. “We’ve made important progress,” the Archbishop-emeritus of Barcelona,Card. Lluis Martinez Sistach told Vatican Radio on the sidelines of one of the events in the city of St. Francis.He went on to express his gratitude to the Sant’Egidio comm...
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, is to attend the signing of the ‘Final Accord for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Durable Peace’ between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).A statement released on Monday by the Holy See Press Office confirmed Cardinal Parolin’s presence at the signing, which is set to take place 26 September 2016.
(Vatican Radio) The streets of Assisi are always peopled with pilgrims and tourists from every race and all walks of life. These days in Assisi, however, many can be seen wearing a particular lanyard with the Thirst for Peace emblem emblazoned on it. They are here for three days of dialogue ahead of the World Day of Prayer for Peace, which this year is marking the 30th anniversary of its first celebration under Pope St. John Paul II.The Sant’Egidio community, which Pope St. John Paul II charged with carrying forward the message and the “spirit” of Assisi, has organized these days in order to take a measure of the progress made over the past three decades and – with the help of Pope Francis’ presence on Tuesday, September 20th, for the culminating event – to rekindle a sense of urgency and universal duty to pray and work for peace.Despite our differences – which are real and honestly felt – the desire for peace is, like the longing fo...
The social action arm of the Philippine Archdiocese of Manila concluded a 3-day programme on Sunday, in which drug addicts were offered livelihood training and marketing assistance. "Part of the church's drug rehabilitation and restoration program is to give [drug users] new opportunities through alternative livelihood programmes," said Father Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila. He said the church will use its social enterprise marketing arm, Caritas Margins, to provide help to victims of illegal drugs. "We want them to become social entrepreneurs," said the priest in an interview on Sept. 16. Caritas Margins showcased various products from different community partners, such as artwork from inmates of penal communities under the Caritas Restorative Justice Ministry. The priest said that extending the program to drug offenders is one way of reintegrating them to society.Manila Archbishop, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle l...
A diocese in Bangladesh held a three-day pastoral meeting last week on the theme of "joy of merciful love in the Christian family" to reflect on the sacrament of marriage and to respond to the crisis of the family. The Bishop, priests and speakers of Rajshahi Diocese came together September 12 to 14 to discuss the many challenges facing families in the diocese. While stressing on the indissolubility of Christian marriage, Bishop Gervas Rozario who heads the diocese of over 60 thousand Catholics, noted that "only love makes the family alive and family life joyful”. Around 203 Catholics from 21 parishes attended the meeting with each parish submitting a report on the problems encountered in families. They picked out challenges such as lack of dialogue between husband and wife, increasingly frequent cohabitation outside of marriage, alcoholism and drugs, and suggested practical ways to overcome them. A priest, Fr. Go...
The Missionaries of Charity in the Catholic Diocese of Maralal are a happy lot after the canonization of their founder, Mother Theresa of Kolkata on 4th, September 2016. This has renewed their faith and zeal to serve the poorest of the poor.In an exclusive interview with Waumini News Today, Sr. Jane Maria MC said, the Sisters received the news of the canonization with a lot of joy.“I was so happy that Mother Theresa has been made a saint, I lived with her in Kolkata for a year, and I am excited that one of the people I knew personally is a Saint because I am sure she continues praying for me and the others,” said Sr. Jane Maria.In Kenya, the sisters who follow closely in the footsteps of St. Theresa of Calcutta serve in one of the remotest and inaccessible villages of Samburu County inhabited by the Samburu, Pokot and Turkana people who are mostly pastoralists.According to Sr. Jane Maria , the nuns rescue infants as young as one day old whose mothers have died; nurse a...
(Vatican Radio) A Holy See delegation, led by the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, on Monday joined other world leaders in New York for a high level Summit hosted by the UN General Assembly to address issues related to large scale movements of refugees and migrants.Faith-based organizations are holding a side event on the same subject to make sure questions regarding the human rights of refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants are not up for debate. One of the faith-based organizations calling for a people-centered, human rights and dignity approach to internal and international migrants and refugees is the Jesuit Refugee Service.Jesuit Father Michael Gallagher, JRS representative to the United Nations in Geneva told Linda Bordoni that while he welcomes the unprecedented summit and its outcome document which reiterates a series of fundamental commitments, there are important issues – such as the commitment not to detain migrant children - that hav...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday accepted the credentials of Britain’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Sally Axworthy, who has worked extensively on conflict resolution in north and eastern Africa.Axworthy, who is married with four children, joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986 and has recently headed its department for North Africa, as well as for the Great Lakes, East Africa and Somalia regions.She has also had diplomatic experience in Russia, Ukraine, Germany and India.Just after the papal audience, she came to Vatican Radio to share her impressions and to talk about the skills she hopes to bring to this new position.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's interview with Ambassador Axworthy: Ambassador Axworthy speaks first of her first meeting with Pope Francis who, she said, was very humble, simple, friendly and keen to “pass on his good memories of meeting the Queen”.In her first blog post, the new ambassador talks about her top prioritie...
