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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has arrived in Poland at the start of a five-day apostolic journey.It’s his 15th pastoral visit abroad and features many highlights including participation in the 31st World Youth Day taking place in Krakow, where he will lead a ‘Via Crucis’,celebrate the closing Mass and meet with some of the tens of thousands of young people from across the globe in various occasions.During his visit the Pope will also visit the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, he will celebrate Holy Mass at the nation's holiest shrine at Jasna Gora and he will pray at the Shrine of Divine Mercy.After landing in Krakow this afternoon Pope Francis addressed the country’s political leaders and urged them to welcome migrants fleeing from wars and hunger.Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane is in Poland reporting on the Pope’s visit. She speaks about his first steps on Polish soil and about the reception he is receiving…Li...
(Vatican Radio) Imprisoned ex Leader of Peru Alberto Fujimori isn`t going to get a happy seventy eighth birthday, as his latest request for a Presidential pardon has been rejected. Listen to the report by James Blears: Outgoing President Ollanta Humala is refusing to pardon ex President Alberto Fujimori, who`s serving a twenty five year prison term, after being convicted of human rights violations. He`d also denied a request for this in 2013. This coming Thursday incoming President Pablo Kuczynski will be inaugurated. That day is also Fujimori`s seventy eighth birthday, and although the new President won`t help him to blow out the candles, he is offering a flicker and glimmer of hope, but suggesting it could be house arrest instead of behind bars in jail. Fujimori`s daughter Keiko was the runner up in the June 5th Presidential Election. The President is the only one who can grant pardons and clemency. Some admire Alberto Fujimori`s Presidency ...
Vatican City, Jul 27, 2016 / 09:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On the flight to Poland for World Youth Day, Pope Francis on Wednesday responded to recent violence across the globe by saying that the world is at war.“When I speak of war, I talk about it seriously, but it’s not a war of religion. It’s a war for money, for resources, for nature, for dominion. This is the war,” Pope Francis told journalists on his July 27 flight from Rome to Krakow.“Could one think of a religious war? No. All religions want peace. Others want war,” he said. “Is that clear?”Francis addressed the 70 journalists on board the papal plane when, as usual, he came to the back to greet them each individually and thank them for their work.However, before going down the rows of eager writers and photographers on board, Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ, who will retire as Vatican spokesman after the trip, asked the Pope to offer some words on the “emotional days” at han...
Krakow, Poland, Jul 27, 2016 / 10:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After landing in Krakow on Wednesday, Pope Francis told Polish leaders to take a look at their history and use it as an inspiration to take the good and leave the bad behind, including when it comes to modern-day issues such as migration.“Memory is the hallmark of the Polish people,” the Pope told national leaders after his arrival to Krakow July 27.He said he was always impressed by Pope St. John Paul II, a Polish native, due to his “vivid sense of history. Whenever he spoke about a people, he started from its history, in order to bring out its wealth of humanity and spirituality.”To have an awareness of one’s own identity that is free of any “pretensions to superiority” is something “indispensable for establishing a national community on the foundation of its human, social, political, economic and religious heritage,” he said.Francis noted how in the everyday life of eac...
Paris, France, Jul 27, 2016 / 11:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Sister Danielle, one of the religious who was held hostage by ISIS at a church in France, was able to escape in a moment of inattention by the terrorists and alert the police.However, they were not able to arrive in time to save the life of 84-year-old Father Jacques Hamel.Speaking to RMC Radio, the sister related the incident that led to the death of the first priest at the hands of ISIS in Europe and which left another person severely wounded.“I didn't think they were going to come after Jacques. It was still dawn. He was standing in front of the altar, they made him get down on his knees and then he started to resist. When we saw the knife in the right hand I said to myself, 'well, something's really going to happen there,'” she said. Sister Danielle said that even though the other nun and the faithful present were shouting to the terrorists to stop, they went ahead.“They were shouting...
Rome, Italy, Jul 27, 2016 / 11:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As thousands of youth gather in Krakow this week for World Youth Day with Pope Francis, hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Texas who couldn't make it got a special message from the pontiff.“Dear youth of the diocese of Brownsville…I want to be close to you. I want to tell you to always look forward, always look to the horizon. Don’t let life put walls in front of you, always look to the horizon,” the Pope said in a July 26 video message to the Texan youth.“Always have the courage to want more, more and more...but courageously, while not forgetting to look back at the heritage that you have received from your ancestors, from your grandparents, from your parents; the legacy of your faith, this faith which now you have in your hands as you look forward.”On Tuesday the diocese of Brownsville hosted a diocesan-wide event called the World Youth Encounter, set to coincide with the official J...
Washington D.C., Jul 27, 2016 / 12:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine has reportedly changed his mind on a long-standing policy preventing government funding of most abortions, less than three weeks after affirming his support for the measure.The reported change has led critics to charge that the Democratic Party is intolerant of those within its ranks who hold pro-life views – even moderate ones.For 30 years, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited certain taxpayer funds – generally those through the Department of Health and Human Services – from going toward abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is deemed to be at stake.The amendment has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support and has been renewed every year since 1976 in annual appropriations bills, regardless of which party was in power at the time.For the first time, however, the Democratic platform this year explicitly called for a repeal of t...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Junno Arocho EstevesKRAKOW, Poland(CNS) -- Poland's memory and identity are the two catalysts that will lead thecountry forward and turn hopeless situations -- such as those facing migrants-- into opportunities for future generations, Pope Francis said. Cloudyskies and a light drizzle did little to dampen the spirits of pilgrimscheering loudly as the pope's plane landed in Krakow July 27. The arrivalceremony at Krakow's John Paul II International Airport was marked by thepresence of hundreds of Polish men and women, dressed in traditional clothesand dancing. Steppingdown from his plane and before he departed for Wawel Castle, Pope Francis wasgreeted by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Polish President Andrzej Dudaand first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda.Addressingcivil authorities and members of the country's diplomatic corps, the pope notedthat "memory is the hallmark of the Polish people;" a notable characteristicof his predecessor, St. John Paul II. He ...
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Lin-Manuel Miranda jokingly compared himself to a hard-to-catch Pokemon as fans pursued him with cellphones on Wednesday during a visit to his parents' native Puerto Rico shortly after the end of his run on the Broadway hit "Hamilton."...
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin hit out at "discrimination" against the country's banned track and field athletes at a Kremlin send-off ceremony Wednesday for its depleted Olympic team....
