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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Hours of testimonials have led to this. Now, it's time for Hillary Clinton to make her own case....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday morning made a brief visit to the Convent of the Sisters of the Presentation in Krakow, Poland.During the visit, the Holy Father met with the sisters of the convent, and some students from the school associated with the facility.While there, he signed the guest book with a message for the Sisters: “With gratitude for your generous service, I give you my blessing and encourage you in your educational apostolate. Cultivate with love the seeds of goodness, beauty and truth that God sows in every new generation.”After his visit, he left for the airport, from where he traveled to Czestochowa by helicopter.
(Vatican Radio) As Pope Francis continues his papal visit to Poland, he answered the questions of three young people on Wednesday evening, who are participating in World Youth Day.The first girl recounted how by chance she had not been on the train which was involved in the horrific crash earlier this month. She asked Pope Francis how she can return to normality and overcome the fear she now feels.Pope Francis said that this was not a physical wound but a wound of the soul; fear. He explained that life is full of scars and pain, but the young can learn to become wise. He expressed the importance of learning to live with both the beautiful and the ugly both with courage and with pain. Live with joy as it carries you forward and saves you from living in fear.The second girl explained how she had arrived in Italy six years ago with a very basic understanding of Italian. She became a victim of bullying which pushed her to the point of trying to commit suicide. Although she has c...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday morning celebrated Mass at the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland, to mark the 1050th anniversary of the ‘Baptism of Poland.’The full text of his homily is below Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis1050th Anniversary of the Baptism of Poland Czestochowa, 28 July 2016 From the readings of this Liturgy a divine thread emerges, one that passes through human history and weaves the history of salvation. The apostle Paul tells us of God’s great plan: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of a woman” (Gal 4:4). But history tells us that when this “fullness of time” came, when God became man, humanity was not especially well-disposed, nor was there even a period of stability and peace: there was no “Golden Age”. T...
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father has appointed Mons. Stephen Chirappanath, of the clergy of the eparchy of Irinjalakuda, as the Apostolic Visitor for the Syro-Malabar faithful living in Europe, elevating him to the episcopate and assigning him the Titular see of Slebte.Msgr. Stephen Chirappanath was born December 26, 1961 at Puthenchira. After his philosophical and theological studies at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, he obtained a doctorate in moral theology at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome. He speaks Malayalam, English, Italian and German.He was ordained a priest on December 26, 1987 and has also held the following positions: Priest in Padua Nagar; Tribunal ; Director of the Centers for Drug Rehabilitation; Rector of St. Paul's Minor Seminary, Irinjalakuda; Professor, and then Vice Rector of St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary in Vadavathoor. Since 2011 he is the procurator to the Major Archbishop in Rome and the coordinator for the Syro Malabar faithful in Italy, off...
The Holy Father on Thursday, has erected the Eparchy of Great Britain of the Syro-Malabar Church based in Preston and has appointed Dr. Fr. Joseph (Benny Mathew) Srampickal, a member of the clergy of the Eparchy of Palai, until now Vice-Rector of the Collegio De Propaganda Fide in Rome, as the first bishop of the Eparchy.Msgr. Joseph (Benny Mathew) Srampickal was born on May 30, 1967 in Poovarany, in the Eparchy of Palai. He entered the minor seminary and he studied philosophy at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, and theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in biblical theology. He continued his studies at Oxford (England). He knows: Malayalam, English, Italian and German.Ordained a priest on August 12, 2000, he has held the following positions: Professor at the minor seminary and Ephrem Formation Centre of Pala; Director of the Mar Sleeva Nursing College, Cherpumkal; Director of the Evangelization Programme; Secretary of th...
(Vatican Radio) In an interview with Vatican Radio on the first day of the Pope’s Apostolic Voyage to Poland, Greg Burke, the deputy director of the Holy See Press Office, said Pope Francis has “a lot of the parish priest in him.”Burke said the Pope’s meeting with Poland’s Bishops was kept private to maintain the atmosphere of “a family gathering,” offering the Holy Father to speak freely, in confidence, with the leaders of the local Church. But, he continued, “most of what the Pope says” in meetings with local Bishops revolves around common themes of Francis’ papacy. “It’s about being a pastor, being a father. One of the main things he talked about is being close to your people,” a theme he returned to more than once. Burke said the Pope is at his best when he speaks “off-the-cuff” – “It was very uplifting.”Burke also noted that “two-pronged” nature of the Pope&...
(VATICAN RADIO) More than 2,000 refugees are arriving in Northern Uganda daily after fleeing the on-going threat of violence in war-torn South Sudan. 90% of the people crossing are women and children, including vulnerable mothers with newborn babies. Thousands are being relocated to camps and reception centres, and the number of new arrivals is expected to rise in the coming days.Katie Ascough spoke with Justine Abenaitwe, Save the Children’s Ugandan Humanitarian Manager, who is currently working on the field, to find out more about what Save the Children is doing to help these refugee children.Listen: Save the Children is deeply concerned about the increasing number of unaccompanied and separated children who have made the journey alone and are susceptible to neglect or abuse. Even without the risk of being killed in the conflict, South Sudan is statistically the worst place in the world to be a child; half of them are not in school.Most refugees are coming from East...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis makes a somber visit on Friday to the site of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau where 1.1 million people were murdered, nearly all of them Jews. The Director of the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, Piotr Cywinski, said the Pope’s visit to this “terrible” but very important place was highly significant, especially in our present world marked by so much conflict and crises. By looking and learning from the past, he said, we can better understand the dangers of “populism, anti-semitism and all kinds of zenophobia" that we see in our times. Cywinski was interviewed by our correspondent, Lydia O'Kane. Listen to the interview with Piotr Cywinski, Director of the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum: With his visit on Friday to the former Nazi death camp, Pope Francis becomes the third Pope to visit the site after his predecessors, Saint John Paul II, a Pole and Benedict XVI, a German. During his visit, the Po...
(Vatican Radio) Young pilgrims from 187 different countries are in Poland this week to see Pope Francis and to take part in the World Youth Day celebrations. Lydia O’Kane caught up with some of them to find out what drives people from so many different backgrounds to come together for this six day event.Listen to Lydia’s conversation with Julia, a Dominican sister from southern India, Jim, a youth group chaperon from Minneapolis in the United States, and Sommer, one of a large group of young people from all over Jordan.
