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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday that he created the Atlantic Ocean's first national monument because the planet cannot be protected without trying to safeguard its oceans....
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An officer responding to a reported armed robbery shot and killed a 13-year-old boy when the teen pulled a firearm from his waistband that was later determined to be a BB gun but looked "practically identical" to the weapon that police use, authorities said Thursday....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The four-star officers in charge of each U.S. military branch pleaded with lawmakers to find common ground and avoid the return of strict, across-the-board spending limits that increase the risk of sending inadequately trained and equipped troops into combat....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump says he believes women should be able to obtain birth control without a prescription....
Am 8:4-7; I Tm 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13 Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, once told about a make-believe country where only ducks lived. On Sunday morning all the ducks came into Church, waddled down the aisle, waddled into their pews and squatted. Then the duck minister came in, took his place behind the pulpit, opened the Duck Bible and read, "Ducks! You have wings, and with wings you can fly like eagles. You can soar into the skies! Ducks! You have wings!" All the ducks yelled, "Amen!" and then they all waddled home. [Jim Burns, Radically Committed (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991).] No one flew or even tried. Friends, there’s just too much truth to that little fable. Using the parable of a rascal manager in today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us to see that it is time for the children of light to quit waddling. It's time for us to soar by wisely using our God-given talents and blessings for the welfare of others, thus glorifying God...
Bitrus Zachariah with his wife Rebecca came under the ferocious attack of Boko Haram elements on the 21 August 2014. This attack happened before the widely-publicised 2015 massive offensive which saw Boko Haram terrorists completely overran the headquarters of the multinational Joint Task Force in the town of Baga.Baga, a Nigerian town at the extreme north of Borno State has had more than its share of Boko Haram atrocities.Rebecca narrated to me how Boko Haram fighters stormed her town. In great confusion, she fled her lovely home with her husband, Bitrus and two sons, Zachariah who was 3 years, and Jonathan 1. At the time, she was expecting a third child. She lost her pregnancy six months later owing to the subhuman condition she was subjected to after her capture by the militants.On that fateful day of the attack, as they fled, she knew that her husband was the primary target of the militants. With Boko Haram hot in pursuit, Bitrus could not run fast enough because he was ...
(Vatican Radio) Papal diplomats from around the world are in Rome this week for a special Jubilee event that includes both practical refresher seminars and moments of spiritual reflection with the Holy Father.Relations with Islam, gender culture and other challenges facing the Church today are on the programme, as Philippa Hitchen reports:The year of mercy may be drawing to a close but Pope Francis is maintaining a packed agenda of Jubilee events. From September 15th to 17th he’s meeting with over a hundred representatives of the Holy See working in locations right across the globe. Of the 108 diplomatic missions in existence today, 103 are headed by archbishops serving as papal nuncios, while the other five posts are permanent observers to international organisations.The Jubilee event began on Thursday morning with Mass, presided over by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in St Peter’s Basilica, followed by two seminars held in the Synod Hall. The fi...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday reflected on how we are created in the image and likeness of the Creator, and warned us – God’s children – against the temptation of undermining our intrinsic dignity by embracing false idols. The Pope’s words came during a speech to members of the Italian Biblical Association whom he received in the Vatican on the occasion of National Biblical Week.Pope Francis remarked on the theme chosen for the occasion which focusses on the male-female polarity in the Scriptures.He recalled the cycle of catechesis held by St. John Paul II during the first part of his pontificate regarding the many aspects of the relationship between man and woman stemming from the analysis of biblical texts. The Pope said that he himself, during a Catechesis last year, had occasion to stress that “God, after having created the universe and all living beings, created his masterpiece, the human being, whom He made in his own image...
(Vatican Radio) In a “world that suffers the crisis of a great orphanhood,” we have a Mother that accompanies and defends us. That was the message of Pope Francis during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.The Gospel of the day brings us to Calvary. All the disciples had fled, except for St John and a few women. At the foot of the Cross is Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Everyone is looking at her, saying, “That’s the mother of this delinquent! That is the mother of this subversive!”“And Mary heard these things. She suffered terrible humiliation. And she also heard the dignitaries, even some priests, whom she respected, because they were priests, [saying] “You who are so good, come down! Come down!” With her Son, naked, there [on the Cross]. And Mary had such great suffering, but she didn’t go away. She didn’t deny her Son! He was her flesh.”Pope Francis recalled that, when he was...
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, lamented how often in today’s throw-away culture, the elderly feel useless and alone because they have lost their proper place in society. His remarks came during an address on Wednesday at a Session of the UN’s Human Rights Council dealing with the Rights of Older Persons. Archbishop Jurkovic expressed the Holy See’s concern over the “increasing discrimination” faced by the elderly and said some of the biggest challenges to their welfare include poverty and inadequate access to health care. He also said the Holy See considers of “utmost importance” the need to “keep older people engaged in decision-making about their lives and their social integration.” Please find below the full text of Archbishop Jurkovic’s address to the U.N. Session: Mr. President,My Delegation is grateful for the Report of the...
