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Vatican City, Aug 30, 2016 / 10:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In honor of all “workers and volunteers of mercy,” the Vatican is encouraging those who volunteer in different service opportunities to share their testimony on social media with the hashtag #BeMercy.Launched by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the #BeMercy initiative is meant to coincide with the special Sept. 2-4 Jubilee for Workers and Volunteers of Mercy, and is part of Pope Francis’ wider Holy Year of Mercy.“Charity, love and mercy are different words to express the same reality: God’s love,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Council for the New Evangelization, told CNA in an interview.“God is close to you and God is always helping you,” he said, noting that love, charity and mercy aren’t limited to just helping people, but “become a great witness for us in the moment we are able to forgive people.”“That wi...
Washington D.C., Aug 31, 2016 / 06:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has given $1.25 million in aid to Catholic refugee relief efforts.“Together, as people of faith, we know that refugees desperately need our help – and this generosity allows us to serve many more,” said Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration.The LDS Church, whose members are colloquially known as Mormons, gave cash and donated goods to aid newly arrived refugees. The refugees are helped through Catholic dioceses’ resettlement offices under the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services. The donation will help welcome refugees and help them build new lives, the U.S. bishops’ conference reported.Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the LDS Church, spoke about the aid.“We are grateful for the ongoin...
Vatican City, Aug 31, 2016 / 07:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis stressed the importance of having the courage to recognize our sins and ask God for forgiveness, moving forward rather than getting stuck in feelings of shame and rejection.“How many times do we feel rejected internally because of our sins!” the Pope said Aug. 31, noting that what the Lord tells us in these moments is “have courage, come. For me you are not discarded, have courage.”In the face of our sins Jesus calls us sons and daughters, he said, adding that “this is the moment of grace, of forgiveness, a moment of inclusion in the life of Jesus, in the life of the Church. It's the moment of mercy.”To hear someone say “you are no longer discarded, I forgive you, I embrace you,” is truly “the mercy of God,” he said, adding that “we must have courage to go to him and ask forgiveness for our sins, and then move forward with courage.&r...
Denver, Colo., Aug 31, 2016 / 09:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Voters in Colorado will decide whether to legalize assisted suicide in their state in November, after a campaign gathered enough signatures to put the proposal on the ballot.If passed, the measure known as the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act would allow for someone with a terminal illness to request a lethal prescription from their physician. The person must be at least 18 years old, deemed mentally competent, and have a diagnosis from two physicians of six months or fewer to live. The measure also requires that they self-administer the drug, called secobarbital, which is also used for lethal injections in some states.But these safeguards are not enough to keep Coloradans safe from coercion and error, argues Carri Ann Lucas, an attorney and board member for Not Dead Yet, a disability rights group that advocates against assisted suicide measures.“Nobody wants themselves or their family members to suffer, but they haven&r...
By Carol GlatzVATICANCITY (CNS) -- Do not turn to superstition or blame God in the aftermath of adeadly tragedy, the bishop of Rieti told people mourning the deaths of thosekilled by the devastating earthquake that struck central Italy.Godis humanity's salvation and he "cannot be used as a scapegoat,"Bishop Domenico Pompili said in his homily Aug. 30 at a funeral Mass in thevillage of Amatrice, which was nearly razed to the ground. The 6.2 quakerumbled across the central Italian regions of Lazio, Mache and Umbria Aug. 24,leaving at least 292 people dead and more than 400 people injured. TheMass, attended by residents left homeless as well as top government officials,was held under a large tent canopy. Awooden statue of the crucified Christ, salvaged from the wreckage, wassuspended from a rope behind the altar. It hung against a backdrop of concreteand twisted steel from a building that buckled under the weight of its roof;solar panels lay in a jumble on top, like playing cards hast...
By Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To promote Catholic social teaching and ensureappropriate assistance to vulnerable people -- especially victims of war,refugees and the sick -- Pope Francis has established a new office combing theresponsibilities of four pontifical councils. In an apostolic letter given "motuproprio" (on his own initiative) and published by the Vatican Aug. 31, thepope said the new "Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development"will merge the pontifical councils for Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, Migrants and Travelers, andHealth Care Ministry. The pope named Cardinal Peter Turkson, current president of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to serve as prefect of the new office, which will begin functioning Jan. 1.In his letter signed Aug. 17, the pope said,"This dicastery will be competent particularly in issues regardingmigrants, those in need, the sick, the excluded and marginalized, theimprisoned and the unemployed, as well as victims of a...
HONOLULU (AP) -- The number of savanna elephants in Africa is rapidly declining and the animals are in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent, according to a study released Wednesday....
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- The Latest on fallout from GOP Gov. Paul LePage's obscenity-laced tirade against a Democratic legislator (all times local):...
BEIRUT (AP) -- The Islamic State group's spokesman and chief strategist, who laid out the blueprint for the extremist group's attacks against the West, has been killed while overseeing operations in northern Syria, the group has announced....
SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AP) -- The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War....
