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(Vatican Radio) Thousands of young people from all over the world are in Krakow, Poland this week taking part in the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations.The 6-day WYD gathering offers the opportunity for young people to deepen their own Catholic faith and to grow in confidence about witnessing faith in contemporary society.Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane spoke to Bishop Mark O’Toole from the Diocese of Plymouth, to discuss the importance of WYD in terms of evangelization and catechesis and what he hopes young people will gain from the experience.Listen: Bishop O’Toole says “World Youth Day is at the heart of evangelization”. Millions of people who have experienced World Youth Day have grown in confidence in their faith, no matter what their cultural context, with many discovering a “new sense of purpose and vocation in reaching out to others”.Talking about the significance of WYD in this Year of Mercy, Bishop O’Toole said that it i...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday morning paid an emotional visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum, the site of a Nazi concentration and extermination camp where more than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were put to death during the Second World War.Prior to his visit to the camp, the Pope decided he would not give a speech, saying he preferred to enter alone, in silent prayer. “I would like to go to that place of horror without speeches, without crowds -- only the few people necessary,” he explained. “Alone, enter, pray. And may the Lord give me the grace to cry.”Lydia O’Kane is in Poland with Pope Francis, and sends this report: For the Pope, this visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was to be one of silence and prayer.The only sounds to the heard were the shutters of the ever present cameras as a solemn Pope Francis walked alone through the infamous gate that reads “Arbeit macht frei” &nda...
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that South Sudan stands on the brink of an abyss. Ban Ki-moon made the remarks during a United Nations open debate on peacebuilding in Africa.“As we meet, South Sudan remains precariously poised on the brink of an abyss. The promises of the new State for peace, justice and opportunity have been squandered. I am appalled by the scale of sexual violence documented by our Human Rights teams. We demand accountability for all atrocities and that the leaders of South Sudan commit to the peace process,” the UN Chief said in remarks at the gathering. UN rights officials are reporting at least 120 cases of rape over the past three weeks around Juba in South Sudan.Recently Oxfam South Sudan also spoke of its concerns regarding the troubled nation. The organisation said the country is facing an acute humanitarian crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity due to the on-going conflict that has persisted ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday appointed Father Fintan Monahan as the new Bishop of Killaloe in Ireland. Aged 49, the Bishop-elect is currently serving as Diocesan Secretary in the Archdiocese of Tuam.In a separate development, Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignations of Martin Drennan, Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Bishop Seamus Freeman of Ossory, both of Ireland. The two men stepped down in accordance with Article 401§2 of the Code of Canon Law. Please see below an overview of the life and ministry of Bishop-elect Monahan:• Fintan Monahan was born in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on 23 January 1967. His parents are Tom and Peg Monahan and he has one brother, Seán, and one sister, Caitríona, who is married to Dominic. From 1980-1996 the family lived in Carraroe, Co Galway where his father was principal teacher at Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin, An C...
Chair of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and the Bishop of Homabay, Philip Anyolo has said injustices, corruption, violence, acts of terror and destruction of property and the current wave of arson and unrest in some Kenyan schools are problems fuelled by a lack of moral values.Bishop Anyolo was speaking at the closing ceremonies of a workshop for major seminary rectors and other seminary formators. The workshop that took place at the Resurrection Garden in Nairobi ended this week.The Homabay Ordinary called on formators to teach upcoming priests chastity, self-restraint, charity, diligence, forgiveness, kindness and humility so that they would, in turn, radiate the best of these virtues to the faithful who would be entrusted to them for pastoral care.Speaking at the same occasion, Rome-based Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, Fr. Fernando Domingues called on the formators gathered to always give of their best to seminarians...
Christians in India have lauded an Indian Dalit Christian for winning the Ramon Magsaysay award for his 32-year crusade to eliminate manual scavenging. Bezwada Wilson, a member of the Church of South India from Karnataka state, was announced on July 27 as one of the six recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award. Wilson recruited volunteers and worked with Dalit activists to organize a people's movement called Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) that has filed cases and liberated hundreds of thousands from manually removing human excrement from dry latrines. The Safai Karamchari Andolan that Wilson founded in 1994, has grown into a network of 7,000 members in 500 districts across the country. Despite the Indian government banning the job in 2013, the practice continues as hundreds of thousands of people have no other source of income.The Ramon Magsaysay Award, established in 1957 in commemoration of the third Philippine president, is conside...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed young people gathered in Krakow for World Youth Day, in an official ceremony on Thursday evening.Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane, who is in Poland with Pope Francis, spoke with Bishop John Keenan-Paisley, who has travelled from Scotland with a group of young pilgrims, immediately after the ceremony to gauge the reaction to the Pope’s words.Listen: Bishop Keenan referred to Pope Francis’ “beautiful words”, which encouraged young people to celebrate their faith, particularly in this jubilee year of mercy. He inspired them to believe that they can change the world for the better, instilling in them a “great joy and trust” and giving them the confidence and courage to make a difference.Pope Francis is the leader that young people can follow, says Bishop Keenan. His words were “a genuine dialogue” with the young pilgrims who gathered in Krakow, who responded to the Pope’s call to be str...
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 ...
PARIS (AP) -- Experts at a zoo in the Moroccan capital of Rabat are trying to understand why an elephant hurled a stone in the direction of visitors, killing a 7-year-old girl....
DALLAS (AP) -- A police officer in the small Texas town where Sandra Bland was pulled over and jailed says the county's top prosecutors threatened to end his career if he came forward with what he says is evidence of wrongdoing, an accusation the prosecutors deny....
