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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new report on Guantanamo detainees tells the stories of former al-Qaida bomb makers and bodyguards as well as low-level militant cooks and medics who have been transferred or cleared for release - despite fears they are at risk of returning to battle and many after being held without charge for more than 14 years at the military prison the president wants to close....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday during the General Audience said God is telling everyone to “Rise up,” and that the Holy Door of the Jubilee is the door where the pain of humanity and the compassion of God meet.The Holy Father was recounting the story of the Widow whom Jesus met at the city gate of Nain, which the Pope compared to the Holy Door. She was leaving the city in the funeral procession of her son, whom Jesus raised from the dead with the words “Rise up!”“The passage of Luke's Gospel we have heard presents us with a truly great miracle of Jesus, the resurrection of a young boy,” – Pope Francis said – “Yet, the heart of this story is not a miracle, but Jesus' tenderness towards the mother of this boy. Here, mercy takes the name of great compassion towards a woman who had lost her husband and now travels to the cemetery with her only son. The great pain of this mother moves Jesus and causes the miracle ...
The Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) has made a last-minute plea urging Zambians to desist from violence as they go to the polls. In a statement released, in Lusaka ahead of voting Thursday, Lusaka’s Archbishop and President of ZCCB, Telesphore-George Mpundu, encouraged Zambians to turn out in numbers and vote for a President that they consider professionally competent on political, economic and social programmes.The election is seen as too tight to call between the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party led by President Edgar Lungu and the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) led by Hakainde Hichilema. There has been an unprecedented climate of violence and intimidation between the two rival political parties which could affect voter turn-out.Zambian voters for the first time will each have a handful of ballot papers as they are asked to elect a president, vice president, members of parliament, councillors and give a yes or no vote to an amendment ...
Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of the Catholic Diocese of Yei in South Sudan has called on the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGNU) to reach out to bodies representing the international community in resolving the nation’s challenges.Addressing the faithful during Holy Mass at Christ the King Cathedral in Yei on last Sunday, Bishop Tombe encouraged South Sudan’s political leadership to collaborate with bodies such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) in addressing the country’s protracted conflict.According to a report by Easter Radio of the Catholic Radio Network (CRN), Bishop Tombe cautioned international partners against the tendency to “force peace” but instead help “the nation in resolving the crisis” and giving “citizens hope for peace and safety.”(Father Don Bosco Onyalla, CANAA in Nairobi)Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
Three Iraqi deacons were ordained to the priesthood in a refugee camp in Erbil on August 5 and one in Baghdad in July.Momika, Emad, Petros and another seminarian named Paul were all forced to flee Qaraqosh when ISIS attacked in 2014.Before being forced to leave, Momika and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.Since the Qaraqosh seminary was closed following the 2014 attack, the then-seminarians were sent to finish their studies at the Al-Sharfa Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon. After completing their studies in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq for their deaconate ordination, which took place March 19.Since then, Paul decided to serve in Baghdad, and was ordained there roughly 20 days ago, while Fr. Momika and the others were ordained in Erbil.Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe of Mosul ordained the priests for the Syriac C...
Rome, Italy, Aug 10, 2016 / 06:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic charity is launching a campaign to support the studies of 1,000 seminarians around the world in honor of a French priest who was killed by ISIS sympathizers while celebrating Mass two weeks ago.The Italian chapter of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need announced the campaign, which will help fund the education of future priests in 21 dioceses around the world. “Support for the formation of new priests is a concrete response to fundamentalism, because especially in countries where the extremist threat is the greatest, the ministers of God must possess the appropriate tools to promote dialogue and contribute to a peaceful coexistence between all the religious groups, putting an end to the conflicts,” said Alessandro Monteduro, director of the group in Italy.The campaign comes in response to the July 26 murder of Father Jacques Hamel, an 84-year-old priest who was killed while celebratin...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Stephanie Lecocq, EPABy Dale GavlakAINKAWA,Iraq (CNS) -- Iraqi Christians appear divided about whether they will be ableto return home after Islamic State militants are flushed out of thebattle-scarred Ninevah Plains region. They say their safety must be guaranteedat all costs. "Ifthe liberation of the Ninevah Plains region is successful, infrastructure isrebuilt and there is security, I would want to be among the first toreturn," said Fadi Yousif, who teaches displaced children in the Ashti IIcamp for displaced Christians in Ainkawa, near Irbil. "It's my home. Ilove that place. But what is absolutely essential is that we have real securitythere."Housedin an unfinished concrete building, Yousif and other displaced people live incontainers that take the place of homes lost to the Islamic State. He said hishome region would be a different place from what he remembers due to thedispersal of friends and family abroad because of the long wait to rid the areaof the Islam...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, ReutersBy Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God's mercy is infectious and must beshared with others, Pope Francis said.Mercy is "a journey that departs from the heart toarrive at the hands," the pope said Aug. 10 at his weekly generalaudience.In his main audience talk, Pope Francis focused on theGospel story of Jesus raising from the dead the son of the widow of Nain,giving renewed hope not just to the woman and her son, but to all."The powerful word of Jesus can make us rise again and takesus, too, from death to life," the pope said. "His word revives us,gives hope, refreshes weary hearts and opens us to a vision of the world and oflife that goes beyond suffering and death."Pope Francis ended his main talk by insisting that"Jesus watches you, heals you with his mercy and says, 'Arise,' and yourheart is new.""And what do I do now with this new heart healed byJesus?" he asked. "I do the works of mercy with my hands and I try tohelp, to heal the many who a...
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Rowers packed up their oars for the day while cyclists hit slippery roads on skinny time-trial bikes unsuited to harsh weather conditions as sun-drenched Rio turned blustery, wet and gray on Wednesday....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Delta fliers faced delays, cancellations and more headaches Wednesday as the Atlanta-based airline struggled with its computer systems for the third straight day....
