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BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union leaders spelled out stark conditions for a new relationship with a departing Britain on Wednesday, warning that if British business wants to keep access to Europe's single market, the country must accept European workers, too....
ISTANBUL (AP) -- Suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs killed 41 people and wounded hundreds at Istanbul's busy Ataturk Airport, apparently targeting Turkey's crucial tourism industry. The government blamed the attack on Islamic State extremists but there was no immediate confirmation from the group....
(Vatican Radio) In his homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis focused on the themes of “closing” and “opening” in the lives of the two patrons of Rome.The Church must avoid the risk of closing in on itself out of persecution and fear, the Pope said. At the same time, she must be able to see “the small openings through which God can work.” Prayer, he said, “enables grace to open a way out from closure to openness, from fear to courage, from sadness to joy. And we can add: from division to unity.”Read the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared homily for the Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul:Homily of His Holiness Pope FrancisSolemnity of Saints Peter and Paul29 June 2016The word of God in today’s liturgy presents a clear central contrast between closing and opening. Together with this image we can consider the symbol of the keys that Jesus promises to Simon Peter so that he can open the entr...
Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed a new bishop to the Diocese of Malang in Indonesia. Carmelite priest Fr. Henricus Pidyarto Gunawan, the Rector of the Philosophical and Theological Higher Institute ‘Widya Sasana’ in Malang is the new Bishop of Malang. He takes over from 77-year old Carmelite Bishop Herman Joseph Sahadat Pandoyoputro, who has retired. Fr. Gunawan, 61, was born on July 13, 1955 in Malang. After his training at the minor seminay he pursued his philosophical studies at the Philosophical and Theological Higher Institute ‘Widya Sasana’ of Malang. He made his solemn profession as a Carmelite on Jan. 18, 1981, and was ordained to the priesthood the following year on Feb. 7 in Malang. Sent to Rome for higher studies, he obtained a licentiate in Sacred Scriptures in 1986 from the Jesuit-run Pontifical Biblical Institute, and a doctorate in Biblical Theology in 1990 from the Pontifical University of Saint ...
(Vatican Radio) Veronica Scarisbrick asks scripture scholar Mark Benedict Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia, to shed light on on the figures of Saints Peter and Paul on the day ( the 29th of June) that the Church remembers them in a special way each year.Listen to Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia, Mark Benedict Coleridge in a programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick: Archbishop Coleridge explains how Saints Peter and Paul fought mightily in their lifetime but eventually their stories converged and their paths crossed in the most decisive way. Both these apostles, he goes on to say, were among the Christian leaders in Rome to be swept away in the tide of blood that came with the persecution of the Emperor Nero. Both suffered a martyr's death, Paul was beheaded, Peter crucified. And in the moment of their death they found their way so completely and so profoundly to Jesus crucified and Risen that they found their way to one another
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday called for a moment of silent prayer for all those affected by a suicide attack in Istanbul’s international airport which killed dozens of people and injured some 150 others.“Yesterday evening, in Istanbul, a brutal terrorist attack was committed, which has killed and injured many people,” the Pope said during his 29 June Angelus address after celebrating Mass for the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.“We pray for the victims, for their families, and for the beloved people of Turkey. May the Lord convert the hearts of the violent, and sustain our feet on the way of peace.”The Pope invited everyone in St Peter’s Square to take a moment of silent prayer, before leading the crowds in the recitation of the Hail Mary.At least 36 people were killed Tuesday when suicide bombers struck the Ataturk Airport, and around 147 people were wounded.Officials say they believe Islamic State militants are behind the June ...
Is 66:10-14c; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20There is a story of a chaplain who was serving on the battlefield. He came across a young man who was lying in a shell hole, seriously wounded. "Would you like me to read something from this book, the Bible?" he asked. "I'm so thirsty, I'd rather have a drink of water." The soldier said. Hurrying away, the chaplain soon brought the water. Then the wounded man said, "Could you put something under my head?" The chaplain took off his overcoat, rolled it up and gently placed it under the man's head for a pillow. "Now," said the suffering man, "if I just had something over me -I'm cold." The chaplain immediately removed his jacket and put it over the wounded man to keep him warm. Then the soldier looked the chaplain straight in the eye and said, "If there is anything in that book that makes a man do for another all that you have done for me, then please read it, because I...
(Vatican Radio) The Church of Rome was founded on the faith of Saints Peter and Paul , the two Apostles from the Holy Land whose feast day is celebrated 29 June: that’s what Pope Francis recalled during his midday Angelus address on this Rome holiday. The entire universal Church, he said, considers the two patron saints of Rome “two pillars and two great lights which shine not only in the Rome sky, but in the hearts of believers of the Orient and the West.”In his catechesis, Pope Francis pointed out that the two apostles were very different: Peter, a humble fisherman and Paul, sophisticated and highly educated. The courageous decision of the two Near Eastern saints to embark on a difficult and dangerous journey to Rome gave this territory the Christian spiritual and cultural patrimony that has formed its very foundation, the Pope affirmed.Both came to Rome to give witness to the Gospel among people and they sealed their mission of faith an...
(Vatican Radio) On Wednesday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, during which he said prayer is the “way out” when we become closed in on ourselves.Pope Francis centred his June 29 homily on the day’s Gospel reading, and reflected on the themes of being opened and closed, as demonstrated by the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.Drawing from examples from the life of Peter, such as when he was imprisoned, the Holy Father said “prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and fear.”“Prayer, as humble entrustment to God and his holy will, is always the way out of our becoming 'closed', as individuals and as a community.”Likewise, this theme of going out in service of the Gospel is seen in the writings of St Paul.“Paul’s life was utterly projected forward, in bringing Christ to tho...
Vatican City, Jun 29, 2016 / 03:15 am (CNA/Europa Press).- On Wednesday Pope Francis gave 25 new archbishops the pallium, encouraging them to remain strong in prayer, which he said helps in staying open to God’s surprises, rather than closing in on oneself.“Prayer enables grace to open a way out from closure to openness, from fear to courage, from sadness to joy. And we can add: from division to unity,” Pope Francis said June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.He pointed to the “clear contrast” between opening and closing in the day’s readings, beginning with three examples of “closing” found in the first reading from Acts.The first appears when Peter is locked in prison, then the community gathers behind “closed doors,” and finally Peter knocks at the “closed door” of a woman named Mary, the mother of John called Mark, after being set free.In each of these moments, “prayer appears as the main way ...
