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(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.
(Vatican Radio) Millions of Vatican Radio listeners knew this voice and the man behind the voice: “This is Gordon Martin for Vatican Radio in Geneva”Listen to the report by Christian Peschken: On Wednesday, here at the UN Geneva we, his colleagues where saddened to learn from his wife, that Gordon had passed away the day earlier on Tuesday July 26, at 9PM in his Geneva home, following a heart attack. The President of the United Nations Correspondent Association ACANU , Jan Dirk Herbermann:“Gordon Martin was certainly one of our most esteemed colleagues; he was famous for his anecdotes, for his jokes, for his very good sense of humour. This is certainly a great loss for the Geneva press corps. He was also a personal friend as it is always sad to lose personal friends and esteemed colleagues like Gordon” he said. UN Geneva Director General Michael Moller in his official commemorative statement this morning acknowledged Gordon Mar...
Krakow, Poland, Jul 28, 2016 / 03:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pilgrims from across the globe travel to World Youth Day by plane, train and automobile. But not Victor Jacquemont, Antoine Lescuyer, and Humbert Canot.The three young men, all in their early twenties, traveled from Paris to Krakow by biking 1,134 miles.Their 18-day journey – starting on July 4 – took them across France, Germany, Czech Republic, and Prague.The men told CNA they had a small tent in tow but also asked for “hospitality” from local churches and met many people along the way.Originally from Cergy, a suburb of Paris, the men said the idea was to bike from their school’s chapel to the international youth gathering in Poland. The three attend ESSEC, an international business school in Europe.One of the reasons they chose to bike was because, “it’s not just a trip. It was kind of a pilgrimage,” Canot said.He explained that they wanted to make some effort, “some phy...
Czestochowa, Poland, Jul 28, 2016 / 04:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Those who embrace their own littleness become the “spokespersons” of God, Pope Francis said during Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, celebrating the 1050 anniversary of Poland becoming a Christian nation. It was the first major event of the Pope's trip to the country for the 31st World Youth Day.“To be attracted by power, by grandeur, by appearances, is tragically human,” the pontiff said in his homily. “But to give oneself to others, eliminating distances, dwelling in littleness and living the reality of one’s everyday life: this is exquisitely divine.”“The little ones speak (God's) own language, that of the humble love that brings freedom,” he said. “So he calls the simple and receptive to be his spokespersons; he entrusts to them the revelation of his name and the secrets of his heart.”According to official estimates, some 500,000 p...
MARATHON, Fla. (AP) -- Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is OK after being bitten on the arm by a shark while catching lobster off the Florida Keys....
