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(Vatican Radio) From the window of the Archbishop’s residence on Friday evening, Pope Francis recalled this day as one of pain. “Friday, he said, is the day when we remember the death of Jesus and with the young people we prayed the Way of the Cross: the suffering and death of Jesus for all of us.”So many people, the Pope noted, “so many people are suffering: the sick; those who are at war; the homeless; the hungry; those who are doubtful in life, who do not feel happiness,”… In the afternoon, he continued, “I went to the children’s hospital. There too, Jesus suffers in so many sick children: I always ask myself that question, "Why do children suffer?". It's a mystery. There are no answers to these questions ...”Recalling his morning at Auschwitz-Birkenau, he said, “how much pain, how much cruelty! Is it possible that we men, created in the likeness of God, we are able to do these things?Then he added,...
Philadelphia, Pa., Jul 28, 2016 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court let stand July 26 a ruling that prosecutors in a Philadelphia priest’s trial used prejudicial evidence related to clergy sex abuse.Philadelphia’s district attorney must now decide whether to re-try Monsignor William J. Lynn.The priest was not accused of sexually abusing children. However, he was convicted on one felony count of child endangerment for failing to protect children from an abusive priest, and was sentenced to three to six years in prison.Msgr. Lynn, now 65 years old, had served as the Philadelphia archdiocese’s Secretary for Clergy from 1992 to 2004. As such, he was responsible for investigating priests accused of abuse.He was the first Catholic official convicted for a supervisory role over priests accused of abusing children.That trial could be revisited, or the priest could be released for good.In December 2015 the Superior Court had ordered a new trial for M...
New York City, N.Y., Jul 29, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Mike Piazza, the newest inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has given a shout-out to Pope Benedict XVI and his mother Veronica.“She gave me the gift of my Catholic faith, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope,” Piazza said in his induction speech Sunday.“Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’ Mom, you raised five boys, and you were always there for me.”Piazza, 47, played catcher for the New York Mets and other teams. He hit 427 home runs in his professional career. He began his professional baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and played with the Mets from 1998-2005. He was a 12-time All Star player and a 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He retired in 2007.He is only the second Hall of Fame player to be inducted as a Met.Piazza had attended 7:30 Mass at Cooperstown’s Our ...
Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 10:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The day after a priest was brutally murdered in France, a panel at World Youth Day in Poland discussed the importance of religious freedom worldwide.The panel left an Iraqi archbishop deeply impressed at how Catholic youth from around the world \are not only aware of the persecution of Christians – particularly in the Middle East – at the hands of ISIS, but are anxious to demonstrate their solidarity.Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, was greeted with one standing ovation after another as he spoke to thousands of young people at World Youth Day (WYD) about the targeting of Christians in his country.World Youth Day is a weeklong gathering of young Catholics from around the world that will conclude on Sunday with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.The panel discussion took place Tuesday at Tauron Arena Kraków, the site for English-speaking pilgrims to World Youth Day. The arena has been dubbed "Mercy...
Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 11:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent a video message to Cuban youth unable to attend World Youth Day on Friday, encouraging them to have hope and to bring the Gospel to life.“Young Cubans: open yourselves to great things! Do not be afraid,” the Pope said July 29 in his message to the some 1,400 youth who are gathered in Havana for a celebration that coincides with World Youth Day.“Dream that with you, the world can be different! Dream that Cuba, with you, can be different, and better every day. Do not give up! In this endeavour it is important that you open your heart and mind to the hope that Jesus gives.”The Church in Cuba has organized a gathering for those who could not travel to Krakow for the encounter with Pope Francis, adopting the same themes and providing catecheses, the Way of the Cross, and opportunities to pass through a Holy Door and gain the plenary indulgence offered for the Jubilee of Mercy.“With g...
Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 11:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Way of the Cross shows Christ's embrace of everyone who hungers, suffers, and dies – and the imperative for Christians to do works of mercy. Those were Pope Francis’ words for young people at World Youth Day in Krakow on Friday.“Jesus himself chose to identify with these our brothers and sisters enduring pain and anguish by agreeing to tread the ‘way of sorrows’ that led to Calvary,” the Pope said July 29. “By dying on the cross, he surrendered himself into to the hands of the Father, taking upon himself and in himself, with self-sacrificing love, the physical, moral and spiritual wounds of all humanity.”“By embracing the wood of the cross, Jesus embraced the nakedness, the hunger and thirst, the loneliness, pain and death of men and women of all times,” he continued.The Pope spoke to thousands of young people gathered in a field in Krakow’s Blonia Park...
Rome, Italy, Jul 29, 2016 / 12:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sat quietly in one of Auschwitz's most ominous prison cells, praying in what had been the inhumane living space of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest martyred during the Holocaust.St. Maximilian was one of over a million people estimated to have died in the Auschwitz concentration camps, where the Pope paid a visit on July 29 during his trip to Poland. This August marks the 75th anniversary of his death.Although the majority of those incarcerated in the death camps were Jews, targeted by the Nazi regime for extermination, many of the victims were Catholics, including priests and religious sisters. St. Maximilian, a Franciscan friar, died in 1941 after asking to take the place of another prisoner who was destined for execution. The following year, Edith Stein, the German Jewish philosopher turned Catholic Carmelite nun, was also killed at Auschwitz, most likely in the gas chambers upon her arrival. The...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Elizabeth EvansBy Elizabeth Eisenstadt EvansPHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- At a timewhen the official party platform advocates for removing current legislativerestrictions on obtaining abortions, pro-life Democrats came to Philadelphiawith a counter message: You can't win big without us.Democratic candidate HillaryClinton has called for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federalfunding for most abortions and continues to be included in many federalappropriations bills for abortions. Her stance has been endorsed in the partyplatform, which also calls for eliminating the Helms Amendment, which prohibitsU.S. foreign aid from being used to fund abortion-related activities.But Kristen Day, executive directorof Democrats for Life of America, notes that since 2008, when President BarackObama launched his first term, the party has lost 11 governorships, 30 statechambers, 69 house seats, 13 seats in the U.S. Senate and 912 seats in statelegislatures.While the pro-life Democr...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesKRAKOW,Poland (CNS) -- By embracing the hunger, thirst and loneliness of others, youngpeople can touch Jesus' cross and experience the light of the resurrection,Pope Francis said. Itwas Jesus who chose to identify with people who suffer pain and anguish,especially those fleeing violence and persecution, by "agreeing to treadthe way of sorrows that led to Calvary," the pope told young men and womenJuly 29 participating in the Way of the Cross at World Youth Day in Krakow. Thereflection on Jesus' passion and death capped an emotional day that included avisit to the Auschwitz concentration camp and a stop at children's hospital inKrakow before his arrival at Blonia Park. Police stood shoulder-to-shoulder atsome crossing points into the park and would not let people pass, sending themto other entry points on the grounds. Thousands of people still were streamingto the service from the crowded streets 30 minutes into the service.Dancers,acroba...
FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Six current or former state employees were charged Friday with misconduct and other crimes in the Flint water crisis, bringing to nine the number of public officials facing prosecution over the lead contamination that alarmed parents across the country....
