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A would-be suicide bomber's explosives failed to detonate in a packed Catholic church in western Indonesia during Sunday Mass, and he injured a priest with an axe before being restrained, police said. During Mass at St. Joseph’s Church in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, 17-year-old Ivan Armadi Hasugian left his bench and ran toward the priest at the altar, but a bomb in his backpack only burned without exploding, said national police spokesman Maj. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. Before he was restrained by members of the congregation, the man managed to take an axe from the backpack and attacked the celebrant Fr. Albert Pandiangan, causing a slight injury to the 60-year-old priest's hand, Amar said. "From the cellphone that was seized by security forces, this youth was obsessed with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," Chief Security Minister Wiranto told reporters, referring to the leader of the Islamic State (IS), the Middle Eastern militant group....
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave a keynote address for World Water Week on Monday, in which he examined the links between faith and development in the search to make drinkable water accessible to all people.His words came at the conference taking place in Stockholm, Sweden on 28 August - 2 September.In his address, Cardinal Turkson noted several contributions religious faith can make to societal development.“Motivation to virtue is the valuable contribution that religious faith and spiritual practices can and must bring to development, through their spiritual leaders and the multitudes of believers and adherents.”He also listed several contributions of faith-based organizations to making universal and sustainable access to drinkable water a reality.- Educate youth to embrace solidarity, altruism, and responsibility. The latter of these virtues will help them to be honest administrators and politicia...
The Archdiocese of Lahore in Pakistan was blessed last week with a windfall of five new priests. Archbishop Sebastian Shah of Lahore celebrated the ordination Mass on Friday in the presence of hundreds of faithful and the relatives of the new priests in Lahore’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. According to the archbishop, the group is the largest since 1994. "So far we had only had one or two priests (a year). Five priests are really a record," he told AsiaNews. This year, a total of 21 priestly ordinations took place in Pakistan. There will be three in October in Karachi Archdiocese. Fr Joseph Louis, a former executive secretary of Caritas Lahore, believes that the rise of terrorism since the attacks on 11 September 2001 in the United States has "increased local vocations." "People are getting closer to faith. They feel that they must do something because the rulers do not give hope. People attend church more b...
India is failing to help and protect journalists who are facing violent threats or attacks for their work, an international watchdog agency said Monday, noting a pattern of resistance in investigating crimes targeting reporters. The Committee to Protect Journalists counted 27 journalists killed for their work since 1992, and noted that it was still investigating more than two dozen cases to determine whether those journalists' deaths were also work-related. Most at risk are small-town journalists investigating corruption, rather than journalists in big cities like New Delhi or Mumbai. The New York-based watchdog said in a report released Monday that it could find only one case in 10 years in India in which a suspect was prosecuted and convicted for killing a journalist, but that the suspect was later released on appeal.``Perpetrators are seldom arrested,'' said Sujata Madhok, a member of the watchdog. ``The torturously slow Indian judicial system, tog...
Vatican City, Aug 29, 2016 / 06:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis met with Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of social networking giant Facebook, at the Vatican, marking the latest in a string of visits from other major tech-heads this year.According to an Aug. 29 communique from the Vatican, Francis and Zuckerberg, who was accompanied by his wife Priscilla Chan, “spoke of how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage the culture of encounter and bring a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged.”The theme of poverty and bringing a message of hope to the poor and marginalized is something Francis has spoken about ceaselessly since his election, barely stopping to take a breath in the past three years.Though he has publicly admitted in interviews to not owning a cell phone or using the computer, it seems that Pope Francis sees the value of the digital age, specifically in terms of the benefits new technologies can bring t...
By Carol GlatzVATICANCITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis said he wants to visit survivors and those affectedby a deadly earthquake in central Italy as soon as possible.Hewants to go to the ravaged area to "bring you personally thesolace of faith, the embrace of a father and brother, and the support ofChristian hope," he said after praying the Angelus with visitors gatheredin St. Peter's Square Aug. 28.Thepope expressed his closeness and concern for the people "hard hit by theearthquake" in the central Italian regions of Lazio, Marche and Umbria. Beforeleading a prayer for the deceased and survivors, the pope praised the rapidresponse of the Italian government and volunteers, saying their efforts showed"how important solidarity is in order to overcome such painfultrials." The6.2 quake rumbled across the region Aug. 24, collapsing roofs, leveling buildingsand homes while people slept, and leaving 290 people dead. It also left 388 people injured, with more than 250 of them requiring hospitaliz...
IMAGE: CNS/L'Osservatore RomanoBy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) --Continuing his dialogue with leaders in the world of social media and technology, Pope Francismet with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.Zuckerberg and his wife,Priscilla Chan, met thepope Aug. 29 in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where the pope lives."It is an honor to be with you today," Zuckerberg told thepope, adding that he hoped to help spreadthe pope's "message of mercy and tenderness."He also presented PopeFrancis with a model replica of Aquila, a solar-powered aircraft that will beaminternet connectivity to areas with limited or no connection. Greg Burke, Vaticanspokesman, said the pope and Zuckerberg spoke about "how communicationstechnology can be used to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounterand help deliver a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantagedpeople."PopeFrancis presented Zuckerberg and his wife with a copy of "The Name of Godis Mercy," a book-length interview ...
LOS BANOS, Calif. (AP) -- A drone whirred to life in a cloud of dust, then shot hundreds of feet skyward for a bird's-eye view of a vast tomato field in California's Central Valley, the nation's most productive farming region....
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis has met with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, at the Vatican....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin says she is separating from husband Anthony Weiner after another sexting revelation involving the former congressman from New York....
