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LONDON (AP) -- The race to succeed Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron intensified Tuesday as Britain grappled with growing signs of economic strain resulting from the country's vote to leave the European Union....
KHANKE, Iraq (AP) -- The advertisement on the Telegram app is as chilling as it is incongruous: A girl for sale is "Virgin. Beautiful. 12 years old.... Her price has reached $12,500 and she will be sold soon."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on Campaign 2016 weeks before the Republican and Democratic national conventions (all times EDT):...
(Vatican Radio) The head of the Catholic Church in Armenia says Pope Francis' recent visit to the country has helped to strengthen and confirm people in their faith. The Pope visited the Armenian capital Yerevan, the northern city of Gyumri and the ancient monastery of Khor Virap on the Turkish border from June 24th to 26th. He will return to the region for a visit to Azerbaijan and Georgia at the end of September.Among those accompanying the Pope during his stay in Armenia was Archbishop Raphael Minassian who is responsible for the Armenian Catholic Church throughout the Eastern European region. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the spiritual legacy of the visit …Listen:The Archbishop says there has already been a visible result “in the soul of the people” who heard the Pope’s message during the Mass at Gyumri and it resounded deeply within them. The heart of that message, he says, was the simplicity, spirituality and modest style that the Pope show...
(Vatican Radio) A new report has been released by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission entitled: “The Darkest Moment: The Crackdown on Human Rights in China 2013-2016”.The report, published in June, covers topics from freedom of religion to organ harvesting, and spans the presidency of Xi Jinping.Katie Ascough spoke with Ben Rodgers, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, to find out more about the main concerns in this latest report on China.Listen: “The main concerns are that over the last three years…we have seen a very significant crackdown on human rights in China across the board,” explained Ben Rodgers. This includes the rounding up of more than 300 human rights lawyers in the past year and the destruction of over 1500 crosses from churches in one province. According to Rodgers, China has seen the erosion of freedom of expression and freedom of religion, as well as other forms of dissent.When a...
The apostolic nuncio to Bangladesh has offered a memorial Mass for the victims, mostly foreigners, massacred in Friday’s terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka. In an interview to TV2000 of the Italian Catholic bishops, Archbishop George Kocherry, the nuncio or Vatican ambassador expressed his pain at the death of 20 hostages, particularly 9 Italians. “We are going through a troubling situation. We are afraid but we entrust everything in God’s hands.” “I could not listen to the Pope but he has sent the Bangladeshi Prime Minister a beautiful message, condemning the terror attack,” the archbishop said. Monday evening Archbishop Kocherry concelebrated a memorial Mass for the dead in Dhaka’s major seminary with Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka. Many local faithful as well as Italians and other nationals attended the service. The total death toll from the attack stands at ...
(Vatican Radio) Britain’s decision to leave the European Union after voting in a referendum last month has left the world reeling.The fallout from Brexit has sparked a feeling of uncertainty throughout Europe and many fear that other European countries will follow suit.Catholic aid agency, Caritas Europa, published a statement expressing its concern that “our core European values are being threatened” and it’s urging all factions of society to act together.Vatican Radio’s Georgia Gogarty spoke with Jorge Nuño Mayer, the Secretary General of Caritas Europa, to found out more about the effects Brexit will have on the work Caritas does.Listen: Mayer said that at the moment we cannot measure what the effects of Brexit will be. However he did reiterate that the main concern of Caritas Europa will be to prevent increased poverty both in Europe and Britain.He said “we want to build bridges” and “we need more dialogue”, stressin...
Caritas India is planning ways to reach out to the victims of the flash floods due to incessant rains in northern Uttarakhand state, that have claimed at least 40 lives. "We are planning to start immediate relief work," Father Frederick D'Souza, executive director of Caritas India, the social wing of the local Catholic Church, told UCANEWS. "We will provide sanitation kits, rations, clothing and solar lamps." He said that the floods have been accompanied by landslides that have damaged lives and property in the hilly state. "We are gathering people in temporary shelters like tents and church-run schools," he added.Continuous downpours are hampering rescue operations and around 5,000 people, including tourists, have been stranded due to heavy landslides following a cloudburst July 1. More landslides are feared as forecasters predict more heavy rain.An assessment carried out by Caritas India's local partners revealed that there has b...
(Vatican Radio) On Tuesday, prosecutors in the so-called ‘Vatileaks 2’ case continued the final phase of the trial which sees five people accused of obtaining and leaking confidential Vatican documents which were subsequently published in two books.In a statement, the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi, said three of the defendants – Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Nicola Maio - were present, while the two journalists – Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi – were represented by their lawyers. Tuesday’s hearing was dedicated to the defense of Msgr Vallejo Balda whose lawyer presented a closing statement in which she pleaded for full acquittal for her client of all charges regarding the disclosure of confidential documents. As a subsidiary plea, she pleaded for the acquittal of the crime of conspiracy ‘because the crime does not exist’ and, in this case, she asked for a...
Dt 30:10-14; Col 1:15-20; Lk 10:25-37Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, in his autobiography Treasure in Clay, recounts a visit he made to a leper colony in Buluba, Africa. He intended to give a silver crucifix to each of the 500 lepers residing in Buluba. The first person who came forward, however, was a man so disfigured by the ravages of leprosy that Sheen was repulsed by the sight. The man's left arm was eaten off at the elbow by the disease; so he extended his right hand. This hand, too, was unspeakably corrupted by this awful disease. Unable to bear the leper's presence, Sheen held the crucifix above the man's palm and dropped it, where it was immediately swallowed up in the decaying flesh. Instantly, Sheen was aware of his unrighteous act. He had taken the crucifix “God’s sign of identification with humanity” and refused to associate himself with one of God's children. Overcome with remorse, Sheen dug his fingers into the man's leprosy and rem...
