Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
CAIRO (AP) -- Search crews found floating human remains, luggage and seats from the doomed EgyptAir jetliner Friday but face a potentially more complex task in locating bigger pieces of wreckage and the black boxes vital to determining why the plane plunged into the Mediterranean....
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, President of Caritas Internationalis, says the way we help people caught in emergencies can be more efficient and effective by engaging local organisations, including faith-based institutions.Cardinal Tagle will speak at the Special Session on the Religious Engagement on the first day of the World Humanitarian Summit, which takes place on 23-24 May in Istanbul.In a press release ahead of the summit, Cardinal Tagle said, “We know that growing inequality, climate change, water scarcity, urbanisation, conflict for resources and the spread of extremism will put millions more in peril. We need a humanitarian system fit for purpose to address these growing needs.”“Despite local organisations, including faith-based institutions, offering extensive networks of infrastructure serving as a source of shelter, care and education, the current humanitarian system of donors too often fails to recognise them....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his condolences for the loss of EgyptAir Flight MS-804, which crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in the night between Wednesday and Thursday, claiming the lives of 66 people - 56 passengers and 10 crewmembers. Below, please find the official text of the telegram in English... *****************************His Excellency Abdel Fattah Al SisiPresident of the Arab Republic of EgyptCairoHaving learned with sadness of the tragic crash of the Egyptian passenger airliner, Pope Francis wishes to assure you of his prayers and solidarity at this difficult time and commends the souls of the deceased of various nationalities to the mercy of the Almighty. Upon the relatives of the passengers and all those involved in the search and rescue efforts, His Holiness invokes the divine blessings of strength and peace.Cardinal Pietro ParolinSecretary of State
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a framework agreement on Friday regarding matters of common interest. A communiqué from the Press Office of the Holy See explains that the agreement, consisting of a preamble and 21 articles, notes the respective independence and autonomy of the Church and the State and their good relations, and sets the legal framework for mutual relations.In particular, the document establishes the legal position of the Catholic Church in the civil sphere in the country, and so the liberty of the Church to apostolic activity and regulate matters within its competence.Various specific areas are addressed, including the institutions of Catholic education, the teaching of religion in schools, the welfare and charitable activities of the Church, pastoral care in the armed forces and prison and hospital institutions, as well as property tax and the obtaining of entry visas and residence permits for religious personnel.The...
Angola’s Bishop of Namibe Diocese, Dionysius Hisilinapo has denounced the forced evictions of indigenous communities from their rural ancestral lands by unidentified developers and business persons.Voicing the Church’s concern about the involuntary taking-over of ancestral land belonging to poor rural communities, the Bishop expressed alarm at the growing frequency.In the province of Cunene, for example, the land grabbing process is often accompanied by physical violence on hapless villagers. This is according to Isaiah Sipangeli a resident of the village of Curoca (Kuroka), one of the affected regions. Local residents see what is happening as a new form of colonisation.Father Jacinto Pio Wakussanga, a local Catholic priest and a civil society activist with the organisation, Association for Building Communities (ACC) in Huila province also condemned the incidents as unjust given the powerlessness nature of the affected communities.In response, Angola’s local gove...
Caritas, the social arm of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka has swung into action rushing aid to thousands of people affected by floodwaters and landslides that have so far left at least 58 people dead and 132 missing. Heavy rains have lashed the island nation since last weekend, flooding the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo and large parts of the country's central region. Over 400,000 people have been affected by the natural disaster and those who have been displaced are being temporally housed in 611 schools, churches, temples and other buildings, said the government. Caritas is assisting flood victims through its 13 branches. Father George Sigamoney, national director of Caritas Sri Lanka, said that much of the relief assistance is about providing urgently needed items." According to Prasanna Prasad Kumara, the administration officer of Caritas Anuradhapura said their officials were mobilized to help with the immediate needs of the...
The Diocese of Hong Kong has launched a new minibus service as another public transport option, as part of an initiative during the current Jubilee Year of Mercy. The 20 decorated minibuses run 10 routes on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. The buses are for public use and they charge a standard fee. The minibuses are painted with the images of Mother Teresa, St. John Paul II and Pope Francis. "In the second half of the jubilee year, we will bring the merciful message to society through these minibuses," Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of Hong Kong said May 14. Bishop Ha said the minibuses are a sign that: "We still have to give a helping hand to those who are in need in our daily life and introduce the merciful God to them." (Source: UCAN)
India is revising its rehabilitation scheme for forced or bonded labourers to include transgender and other marginalised people, speed up court proceedings, and increase compensation for rescued workers.Under the new policy, the government will boost the scheme's annual budget to 470 million rupees ($7 million) from 50 million rupees, according to an official statement released on May 17.The new scheme "aims to address new forms of bondage such as organised begging rings, forced prostitution and child labour, for which females, disabled and transgenders are mercilessly used," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in the statement. India abolished bonded labour in 1976, but the country is home to almost half the world's 36 million slaves, according to the Global Slavery Index produced by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. Many are from poor rural areas and are lured with the promise of good jobs, but end up sold into domestic work, prostitutio...
New York City, N.Y., May 20, 2016 / 12:02 am (CNA).- Leah Fessler considers herself a feminist.And the standard feminist narrative is that women can have, and indeed enjoy, casual sex without consequences – physical, emotional, or otherwise.But when her experience with hookup culture (and that of her friends') in college failed to live up to its empowering promises and left her emotionally empty, Fessler decided to look a little deeper.In an article written for Quartz, Fessler explains her quest to examine what it was about the prominent hookup culture, and the ill-defined, non-committal “pseudo-relationships,” at her Middlebury college campus that were making her miserable.“Far more frequent, however, were pseudo-relationships, the mutant children of meaningless sex and loving partnerships. Two students consistently hook up with one another – and typically, only each other – for weeks, months, even years,” Fessler wrote.“Yet ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/John Mc ElroyBy DUBLIN (CNS) -- ArchbishopDiarmuid Martin confirmed that Pope Francis, or his successor, will visitIreland in 2018 for the World Meeting of Families.Archbishop Martin confirmedthat when he discussed the issue of visiting Ireland with the pontiff, Pope Francissaid: "'I will come', and he said, 'if I don't come, my successor willcome.'"As well as Dublin, the popewould probably visit Northern Ireland to complete the 1979 historic pilgrimage of St John PaulII, when rising tensions in the North made a visit there impossible.The Irish Catholic saidArchbishop Martin made his remarks in an interview with the Irish Independent.The Irish Catholic said that a "well-placed Vatican source" confirmedthat "all the indications from Rome are very positive about this.""It would obviously bethe hope that the Holy Father would make a visit to Northern Ireland and,perhaps, some other parts of Ireland, since many Irish Catholics will want tohave an opportunity to attend M...
