Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Authorities say they have rescued another 40 people from floodwaters in a Texas county near Houston even though rain has stopped in most of the state....
(Vatican Radio) At least 700 forced migrants may have died at sea this past week in the crossing from Libya to Italy.About 14,000 have been rescued since last Monday, and there have been at least three confirmed instances of boats sinking. But the number of dead can only be estimated based on survivor testimony, which is still being collected.Migrants interviewed over the weekend in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told of a large fishing boat that overturned and sank on Thursday with many women and children on board.The forced migrants - fleeing wars, persecution and poverty - often do not know how to swim and do not have life jackets. They pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to make the crossing from Libya to Italy which is proving to be the most dangerous border passage for migrants in the world.Jesuit Father Tom Smolich, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service International, told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni that the fact that people are drowning at sea as they att...
According to the Holy See’s representative to South Korea, the natural expression of Christian faith is found in acts of charity and service to others. True Christian love is "love in action" especially when people concretely help answer the needs of others in matters physical, emotional, or spiritual, said Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, the Apostolic Nuncio to Korea. "Christian love has to be put into practice," the Filipino archbishop said in uring his homily at a Mass for the 12th “Love in Action School” at the Church-run Kkottongnae social welfare institute in Eumseong, Choongbuk province. "We have to give ourselves for others in love in action" in a "selfish world" that insists on the progress and need of one’s comfort, reported the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. "This is the purpose of the Year of Mercy — God has been merciful to us &mda...
A Pakistani health official says that for the first time in the country's history, all the previous month's environmental samples for polio have tested negative - a sign of progress in the campaign to eradicate the virus in Pakistan. Dr. Rana Safdar, the head of the National Emergency Operation Center, said on Monday that a total of 40 samples were collected from 14 cities in mid-April under the supervision of the WHO, the World Health Organization. The negative samples, he says, show that the virus could eventually be eradicated through continued immunization campaigns. Safdar says new campaigns have been planned in vulnerable areas starting in July after the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.Polio invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours - and WHO's repeated warning is that as long as any polio virus is circulating, people are at risk. But the world is now on the brink of wiping out polio forev...
Vatican City, May 30, 2016 / 06:32 am (CNA).- When Pope emeritus Benedict XVI resigned as pontiff three years ago, he added a new dimension to the papacy, said his personal secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein.Archbishop Ganswein remains prefect of the Pontifical Household. He works closely with both Benedict and Pope Francis.The archbishop spoke about Benedict’s pontificate and its wake at a May 20 book presentation of “Oltre la crisi della Chiesa” (Beyond the Church’s Crisis) by Father Roberto Regoli, an historian and professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University. The book aims to be the first history-based evaluation of Benedict XVI’s pontificate.Archbishop Ganswein stressed that there is only one legitimate Pope – Francis. However, for the last three years, Catholics have lived “with two living successors of Peter among us.” He said Benedict and Francis “are not in competition with each other, though they have an extraordin...
Vatican City, May 30, 2016 / 08:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday, Pope Francis praised Hollywood actors George Clooney, Salma Hayek, and Richard Gere at a conference promoting a Vatican education initiative that helps poor communities.Speaking in the Paul VI's Synod Hall, the Pope reminded the celebrities of their responsibility to “help the world recover the language of gestures.”During the gathering, the actors received the “Olive Medal” of peace, which were presented by the Scholas Occurentes initiative, who organized the Vatican conference.Touching on a separate topic altogether, Francis said he does not intend to step down from the papacy, as Benedict XVI did when he became the first pope to resign in centuries.“I never thought of quitting being pope, or of leaving because of the many responsibilities,” the pontiff said during a Q&A session.The Argentine-founded Scholas Occurentes is an education initiative which aims to promote &ldq...
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A top U.S. coach is in the Gaza Strip to help set up the territory's first female wheelchair basketball team....
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Animal rights activists plan a Memorial Day vigil for the gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo after a 4-year-old boy slipped into an exhibit and a special zoo response team concluded his life was in danger....
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and sex crimes during his time in power, Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam said Monday, ending the trial that began in July 2015....
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- President Barack Obama laid a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknowns to honor members of the military who died serving their country....
