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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father focused on three attitudes that are characteristic of the Christian: “standing” before God in “silence” to hear His voice and readiness to “go out” into the world to proclaim what one has heard to others. The Pope also warned against the danger of paralyzing fear in Christian life, no matter where one is in one’s journey with God and regardless of one’s state of life in the Church:Standing upright and walkingTo explore this issue, and how to escape the tunnel of fear, the Pope focused on the the prophet Elijah, from whose book the First Reading of the Day was taken. The Holy Father recalled how Elijah was victorious, how he “fought so much for the faith,” and defeated hundreds of idolaters on Mount Carmel. Then, he reaches a breaking point:...
(Vatican Radio) It was announced on Friday Pope Francis has decided to raise the celebration of the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to the dignity of a liturgical Feast.In the modern Church calendar, saints may be commemorated with a memorial (optional or obligatory), feast, or solemnity.The decree was signed on 3 June 2016, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. In a letter announcing the change, the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Arthur Roche, writes the decision means one “should reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the New Evangelization, and the greatness of the mystery of Divine Mercy.”Archbishop Roche drew attention to the fact Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the Resurrection, and is the one who announced the event to the Apostles.“Saint Mary Magdalene is an example of true and authentic evangelization; she is an evangelist who announces the joyful central message of Easter,&rdq...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis told leaders of the Reformed Churches on Friday that there is an urgent need for an ecumenism capable of promoting “a shared mission of evangelization and service”. Unless people find in the Church a spirituality offering healing and liberation, he said, they will end up being taken in by solutions which “neither make life truly human, nor give glory to God”.Philippa Hitchen reports: In his meeting with the delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Pope said we must be grateful to God for our rediscovered brotherhood. Quoting from his predecessor, Saint John Paul II, he said this is not the consequence of a big-hearted philanthropy or “a vague family spirit”, but rather it is rooted in recognition of “the oneness of Baptism” which compels us to strive to “grow together in order to better serve the Lord”.Speaking in Spanish, Pope Francis noted especially the recent con...
Chicago, Ill., Jun 10, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Dawn Eden Goldstein isn’t trying to be a priest.She even argued in a New York Times debate that women should not become ordained deacons.But that didn’t stop her from becoming the first woman ever to earn her doctorate in sacred theology alongside an all-male, all-seminarian class at Mundelein seminary in Illinois.Even though Goldstein technically graduated from the University of St. Mary of the Lake, she was in the same classes and ate at the same dining hall and frequented the same libraries as the 220 men at Mundelein studying to be priests.Her new degree, the highest pontifical degree one can receive from the Catholic Church, qualifies her to teach on faculty at either a seminary or university, at a time when the Holy See is seeking to encourage a greater presence of lay women professors in seminaries.“The Holy See for some time has been saying that women need to be involved in seminary formation,” ...
Vatican City, Jun 10, 2016 / 05:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After putting a freeze on their contract with external auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers in April, the Vatican has announced a new agreement with the company, who will now serve as an aide to the Holy See’s own internal auditing entity.A June 10 statement from the Vatican said that the Holy See and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) “have entered into a new agreement” which allows for “a broader collaboration with PwC that is adaptable to the Holy See’s needs.”PwC, the statement read, “will play an assisting role and will also be available to those (departments) that wish to avail themselves of its support and consulting services.”The statement also recognized that by law, the task of performing the Vatican’s financial audits belongs “to the Office of the Auditor General (URG), as is normally the case for every sovereign state.”The Auditor General is a new office establis...
MARSEILLE, France (AP) -- As cleaners hosed down sidewalks and swept up broken glass early Friday, the manager of an Irish bar near where soccer supporters from England fought overnight with locals in Marseille's historic center said youths from the city's gritty suburbs provoked the clashes....
BEIRUT (AP) -- An international aid convoy delivered desperately needed food aid to the opposition-held, war devastated Damascus suburb of Daraya for the first time in nearly four years, but opposition activists said distribution of the aid was held up amid heavy bombardment from the air by government forces Friday....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For over two decades, all Maria Mancia had of her son was a single photo, a slightly blurry image of a boy, 18 months old, staring unsmiling into the camera....
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio (AP) -- A suspect is in custody in a shooting at an Ohio apartment complex that left a sheriff's deputy and another person wounded, officials said early Friday....
(Vatican Radio) On Thursday in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held to present the Jubilee of the sick and disabled (10 to 12 June). The panel was composed of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, Bishop José Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Msgr. Graham Bell, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same dicastery.The Jubilee was scheduled to begin on Friday with a pilgrimage from Castel Sant'Angelo to the Holy Door. Later, at 5 p.m., in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, there will be a catechesis addressed to all and in particular to the deaf and blind, given by the Redemptorist Fr. Cyril Axelrod, also deaf and blind and known throughout the world, especially in China, the United Kingdom and South Africa, for his full commitment to disability issues. The catechesis will be made available in International Sign Language (ISL), in Italian sign language and in tactile sign language.On Satu...
