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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written a letter to the bishops of the Buenos Aires region of Argentina, praising them for their document which spells out ways in which priests should apply the teachings of his apostolic exhortation ‘Amoris Laetitia’.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: The Pope was responding to a document by the bishops entitled ‘Basic criteria for the application of chapter 8 of ‘Amoris Laetitia’ which details ways of ‘accompanying, discerning and integrating weakness’ for Catholics living in irregular family situations. That chapter focuses on the need to support and integrate divorcees into the life of the Church, specifying that “in certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments”.In his letter the Pope underlines the urgency of formation of priests for the practice of discernment, stressing that this is central to the task of accompanying families in difficulty. He calls for in-dept...
OFF THE COAST OF LIBYA (AP) -- When the camera's viewfinder is in "night vision" mode, a hidden world appears that is invisible to the naked eye in the darkness of night. Bathed in green, the view is even more dreamlike - or nightmarish....
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Faced with a shrinking pool of inmates to help fight major wildfires, California is increasingly turning for new recruits to its state Conservation Corps, a program with roots in the Great Depression and a motto that promises "hard work, low pay, miserable conditions ... and more!"...
BERLIN (AP) -- The oft-delayed trial of a former SS medic who served at the Auschwitz death camp opened Monday in Germany, amid lingering questions about whether the 95-year-old is fit enough for the proceedings to continue....
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) -- The mosque that Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen attended was set on fire in what Muslim leaders said Monday was the latest incident in an escalating campaign of harassment and violence against the house of worship and its members....
BEIRUT (AP) -- A U.S.-Russian brokered cease-fire for Syria came into effect on Monday at sunset, with monitoring groups and state media reporting clashes up until the final minutes, and the most powerful rebel groups having yet to commit to the truce....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and Russia could approve Syrian government airstrikes as part of a new nationwide cease-fire, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. It's the closest any American official has come to suggesting indirect U.S. cooperation with President Bashar Assad since the civil war started five years ago....
(Vatican Radio) “A discussion on economy is in no way a mere discussion on finance – which is only an instrument”.These were words of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi during a Vatican press conference on Monday to present an upcoming ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles’ conference focusing on economy and social justice. The ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles’ Foundation is an initiative led by the Pontifical Council for Culture and its president, Cardinal Ravasi, following a suggestion of the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, to encourage dialogue between believers of all faiths and nonbelievers, often in the form of discussions between Ravasi and secular professors. Speaking to the media in the run up to the Conference entitled “Towards a more human and just economy. A new economic paradigm in a context of increasing inequalities” scheduled to take place on 21 September in Rome, Ravasi elaborated upon the issue at hand and introduced two of the...
Following the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis in Rome, Sept 4, dioceses, parishes and communities have been offering thanksgiving Masses for the sainthood of the Church’s latest saint. The Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar in eastern India’s Odisha state, is one such community that on Sunday offered a thanksgiving Mass for the sainthood of Mother Teresa. Welcomed by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity nuns, about 2,000 faithful, widows, orphans, sick, disabled and poor people participated in the Mass led by Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar in St Vincent’s Cathedral in the state capital Bhubaneshwar. "Saint Teresa represents the new identity of Christians and a model of goodness for humans in modern times,” Archbishop Barwa said in his homily. “Mother Teresa restored human dignity to people who were abandoned, forgotten, uncared for, not ...
(Vatican Radio) As the deadline for the much anticipated cessation of hostilities looms, the people of Syria wait with baited breath.Bishop Antoine Audo, President of Caritas Syria spoke to Vatican Radio from his Aleppo headquarters and expressed his people’s hope for the silencing of all weapons… Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: “Everyone – especially here in Aleppo – is awaiting this change. We are hoping… we have been suffering for six years, and we are hoping for signs of peace and reconciliation. We are hoping…” Meanwhile, bishop Antoine Audo, President of the local Syrian Caritas organization that is fundamental in getting humanitarian assistance into the besieged city, says his people are working as always and are able now to bring food and medicine into the city, although he has heard that factions opposed to the new deal are planning to step up the bombing again on the city center…Of his com...
