Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis had lunch with a group of 21 Syrian refugees on Thursday at the Casa Santa Marta.During the luncheon, both adults and children had the possibility to speak with Pope Francis about the beginnings of their life in Italy.The children gave the Holy Father a collection of their drawings, and the Pope showered them with toys and other gifts.The refugees, who live in Rome and are hosted by the St. Egidio Community, were brought to Rome from Lesbos by Pope Francis at the conclusion of his visit to the Greek island on 16 April 2016.The first group arrived in Rome with the Holy Father aboard the papal plane, while the second group came to Rome in mid-June at his request.Present at the meal with Pope Francis and his Syrian guests were the Substitute Secretary of State Archbishop Angelo Becciu; Professor Andrea Riccardi, founder of the St. Egidio Community, and other members of the community; the Commander of the Vatican Gendarmerie, Doctor Domenico Giani; a...
We have heard much about the violence against Christians in eastern India’s Odisha state, and the continuing denial of justice to them in the numerous cases pending before the law courts. Violence against Christians during Christmas 2007 was a mere prelude to the violence on a much larger scale in and after August 2008. With its epicenter on Kandhamal District, this time it erupted with untold savagery, with Hindu extremists blaming Christians for the August 23, 2008 murder of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, despite Maoist rebels claiming the assassination. Many have perished in the carnage.Among several persons fighting for the cause of the survivors of the violence in Kandhamal is Fr. Ajaya Kumar Singh, a social worker and human rights activist. The priest of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Archdiocese who is director of the Odisha Forum for Social Action of Odisha Bishops' Regional Council, has been honoured by the Nation...
With the sainthood ceremony of Mother Teresa in Rome less than a month away, preparations are already well underway for the celebration of the event in eastern India’s Kolkata city, where the Albanian-born nun started her mission of mercy and died. Scholars, priests, students and artists in the bustling city, earlier called Calcutta, are continuously holding seminars, exhibitions and prayer meetings every day across the city to promote “Mother Teresa’s philosophy towards humanity” and a group of young independent photographers are taking part in the crowdsourced Sainthood Project. Photographs taken throughout the city will be displayed in several locations in Rome in early September, to coincide with the Sept. 4 canonization of Mother Teresa. The photographers are volunteers, trying to highlight aspects of the young Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity to serve the “poorest of the poor” in India. The young people ar...
A parish in the South Korean capital Seoul has created a fund to help improve education initiatives by the Catholic Church in Mongolia. Daech2-dong Catholic Church of Seoul Archdiocese donated 50 million won (US$45,000) to Peace Makers, a social welfare arm of the Catholic Education Foundation, on Aug. 11 to support ongoing work in Mongolia. Peace Maker will send the funds to Korean Salesian nuns working in the Mongolian education ministry. The money will be used to repair and expand school buildings run by the Salesian nuns and to provide student scholarships. Currently, the nuns are running an elementary school with 40 students and a kindergarten that has 135 children attending.The Catholic Church in Mongolia does not have any diocese, but the entire country comes under the jurisdiction of the Prefecture Apostolic of Ulaanbataar, headed by Filipino Scheut Missionary Bishop Wenceslao Padilla. According to the Vatican’s F...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a special message expressing his condolences for the death of Bishop Edward Kevin Daly on Thursday, recalling his generous ministry in the service of peace and justice.The message was read by Msgr. Amaury Medina Blanco – Secretary of the Apostolic Nunziature to Ireland – at the funeral Mass celebrated for Bishop Daly in St. Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.Bishop Daly became one of the symbols of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland after being photographed holding up a blood-stained handkerchief as he helped a fatally injured protester during the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings in Derry when 14 people were shot dead by British troops. The special message of condolence from Pope Francis is below:The Holy Father was saddened to learn of the death of the Most Reverend Edward Kevin Daly, Bishop Emeritus of Derry, and he sends heartfelt condolences to his family and to the clergy, religious an...
India’s Christian community "does not require any special favours; it wants justice, equality and minority protection, guaranteed by the Constitution of the country. Like other Dalits, Christian Dalits face discrimination, and are not protected from violence since they do not fall within the official category of Scheduled Castes,” said Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the president of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, (CCBI), the body of the country’s Latin Rite bishops. The cardinal who is Archbishop of Bombay expressed his opinion to AsiaNews on the occasion of the ‘Black Day’ protests held every year on 10 August to highlight the discrimination against Christian Dalits. Dalit which means "broken" or “downtrodden”, denotes former "untouchables" so low in social status that they were considered outside the caste system of Hindu society. The Indian Constitution has given special...
The government of southern India’s Kerala state has said it is sending two ministers to Rome for the Sept. 4 canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, PTI reported. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who heads the Kerala’s CPI (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front government said in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday that state Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac and Water Resources Minister Mathew T. Thomas would represent the state government at the sainthood ceremony of the Albanian-born nun who became an Indian citizen. Vijayan told a press briefing the government was sending the delegation on the request of the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis of Trivandrum. Pope Francis announced in March that Mother Teresa would be declared a saint at a canonization or sainthood ceremony on September 4, the eve of her 19th death anniversar...
(Vatican Radio) As the fight intensified for control of the Syrian city of Aleppo, local doctors and humanitarian workers speak of a worsening of the already dire conditions facing medical facilities operating in the contested city. Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Order of Malta and it supports the only children’s hospital located in the rebel-held eastern side of Aleppo. Janine Lietmeyer is Malteser International’s Middle East Manager and she says the situation in their hospital and other medical facilities in Aleppo is “really, really desperate.” She was interviewed by Susy Hodges and told her how the doctors and medical workers at the children’s hospital are continuing their vital work of caring for premature babies as well as sick and wounded children despite the huge threats to their personal safety. Listen to the interview with Janine Lietmeyer of Malteser International: The area where the children&...
Aleppo, Syria, Aug 11, 2016 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As rebel factions continue to fight Syria's Assad government for control of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, Christians in the metropolis are praying and fasting for peace to come to their homes.“We don't know what's going to happen. We announced to all the priests , since yesterday, and we've also told the people, that we want to fast and pray the next 72 hours so that the will for peace always prevails and so that it wins over the will for war,” Father Ibrahim, a pastor in Aleppo, told Vatican Radio Aug. 9.Rebels in the city claim to have broken government siege of Aleppo, where some 250,000 people live in rebel-held areas. Air strikes on rebel positions in the city have intensified in recent days.Fr. Ibrahim said the situation is very difficult “because the bombardments, which are are intensified at night, continue, but there are also missiles falling on the western side of the city, where...
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Apostolic Penitentiary has nothingto do with a jail cell and everything to do with ensuring repentant sinnersexperience God's mercy.Established in the 12th century when penitential pilgrimagesto Rome began to bring thousands of faithful to the city seeking absolution oftheir sins, much of the office's work is covered by anonymity and the absolute secretof the confessional seal.But this summer the office, officially a tribunal, offered alittle glimpse into its main areas of concern when it published "Sin,Mercy, Reconciliation: A Theological-Pastoral Dictionary."The book, available only in Italian for now, features apresentation by Pope Francis, who lauds the staff's "service, which by itsnature unfolds in the most discreet silence."However, he wrote, "this ancient dicastery's numerousinitiatives to tell the world of the marvels of the mercy of God have not goneunnoticed."One of those projects is the dictionary, which, the pope said,"is based ...
