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Catholic Church leaders in South Africa have called for an end to pre-election violence and criticised politicians for fuelling it.In a 27th June statement by Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who chairs the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference justice and peace commission, the Church leaders said they are disappointed that politicians have not been “visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political assassinations.”At least three people have been killed in recent violence in the Tshwane area around South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, triggered by the ruling party’s choice of a mayoral candidate for municipal elections, scheduled for the 3rd August.After criticizing politicians who are mobilising especially unemployed youth to engage in the violence, Bishop Gabuza, on behalf of the conference urged young South Africans “not to allow themselves to be used by politicians who show signs that their pri...
Pope Francis on Wednesday (29th June) appointed Salesian Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi, as Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa in Ethiopia and at the same time assigned him the titular see of Ambia.Fr. Bergamaschi was born at San Donato Milanese in the Province of Milan, Italy on 17 December 1954. He made the first religious profession in the Salesians of Don Bosco Congregation on 8 September 1975 and the final profession in 1981.After his studies in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest on the 2 October 1982 in Brescia Italy, by Bishop Armido Gasparini, the first Vicar Apostolic of Awasa.Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi started his work as a Salesian missionary in Dilla, Ethiopia after his ordination in 1982 and has served in various capacities in several dioceses or eparchies in Ethiopia.
Chanthaburi, Thailand, Jun 29, 2016 / 06:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Hundreds of sick and physically challenged people marked the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy in Thailand with a special procession through the Holy Door of the cathedral in the Diocese of Chanthaburi.“As human persons our lives have limitations of sin. Some of our other physical limitations are illnesses, disabilities due to accidents and old age, for we are weak,” said Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri of Chanthaburi. “God helps us to look beyond our limitations, and the mercy of God will fill us with joy and grace in what we are lacking.”Presiding at the Mass, Bishop Silvio in his homily encouraged the faithful with the theme from St. Paul: “When I am weak I am strong.”Hundreds of sick people, those with physical disabilities, orphaned children and aged persons came from the many parishes of the diocese to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the June 12 event. The d...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prayer is a key that opens the doorto God, unlocks selfish, fearful hearts and leads people from sadness to joyand from division to unity, Pope Francis said on the feast of Sts. Peter andPaul.Prayer is "the main way out: the way out for thecommunity that risks closing up inside itself because of persecution andfear," he said during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.Prayer -- entrusting oneself humbly to God and his will-- "is always the way out of our personal and community's closures,"he said.Twenty-five archbishops appointed over the course of thepast year were invited to come to Rome to concelebrate the feast day Mass withPope Francis. They came from 15 countries.Among those invited to concelebrate were ArchbishopsBernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Francisco MorenoBarron of Tijuana, Mexico; Juan Garcia Rodriguez of Havana; and KennethRichards of Kingston, Jamaica. Of the new archbishops, 11 were from theAm...
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The superior general of thetraditionalist Society of St. Pius X said Pope Francis, rather than denouncingerrors in Catholic doctrine, has "encouraged" them."The Society of St. Pius X prays and does penance forthe pope, that he might have the strength to proclaim Catholic faith and moralsin their entirety," said a statement published June 29, the feast of Sts.Peter and Paul, patron saints of the church of Rome.BishopBernard Fellay, superiorgeneral of the society, issued the statement after a meeting June 25-28of the group's leaders.The society has been in talks with the Vatican in a searchfor a way to reintegrate it and its members fully into the life of the CatholicChurch. Bishop Fellay met personally with Pope Francis in April, which seemedto signal that progress was being made.Talks with the group began under St. John Paul II andcontinued throughout the papacy of now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.St. John Paul had excommunicated Bishop Fellay and ...
ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. (AP) -- As the summer wildfire season heats up in the West, a growing network of online cameras installed on forested mountaintops is changing the way crews fight fires by allowing early detection that triggers quicker, cheaper and more tactical suppression....
CHICAGO (AP) -- When a federal judge concluded that a lawyer employed by the city of Chicago concealed audio evidence in a civil trial, the court issued a sharp rebuke, saying the recordings showed police lied about the events that led officers to shoot and kill a black motorist....
New laws targeting abortion are set to take effect Friday in about one-fifth of the states, initiating another wave of restrictions just days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas measure that led several clinics to close....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new multi-nation survey finds that confidence in Donald Trump's ability to manage foreign policy should he become U.S. president is rock-bottom in a host of countries in Europe and Asia....
