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September 23, 2013
Last August, Antonio Spadaro, S.J., gained an exclusive interview with Pope Francis for American Magazine. The interview, “A Big Heart Open to God,” was published on Sept. 19 and covers three separate conversations in Rome.
KARACHI, Pakistan - The president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference called the suicide bomb attack Sept. 22 at All Saints' Church in Peshawar a "shameful act of cowardice," adding that all Christian educational institutions in the country would be closed Sept. 23-25 in mourning and protest.
September 24, 2013
SAINTE-ADÈLE, Que. - Canada’s Catholic bishops have responded to Pope Francis’ call to minister to those on the periphery of society while making efforts to ensure the Church herself is not marginalized, said the bishops' conference's outgoing president.
TORONTO - Inside the Paulist Ministry Centre on the International Day of Peace Sept. 21, three panellists discussed their respective organization and organically concluded that a relationship between the environment and peace exists.
VATICAN CITY - In a letter to an atheist Italian mathematician, retired Pope Benedict XVI defended his own handling of allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and politely criticized the logician's total reliance on scientific facts for meaning.
September 25, 2013
Following the release of America Magazine’s interview with Pope Francis Sept. 19 social media exploded with questions, comments and opinions. Is the Pope setting new rules? Are we in for big changes? What does this mean for Catholics?
SAINTE-ADELE, Que. - Charity or caritas needs to begin face-to-face, at the local parish level, Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga told Canada’s bishops Sept. 24.
VATICAN CITY - Backstabbing and gossip hurt people and harm God's desire for a united human family, Pope Francis said.
September 26, 2013
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Dominican-run Providence College said the provost's decision to cancel a guest lecture supporting same-sex marriage is "not really about academic freedom, but rather goes to the meaning of being a Catholic college."
A day after at least 85 Christians were murdered at a Peshawar church, thousands of protesters spilled into Pakistan’s streets to demand justice and protection. Their cries for help followed a particularly bloody weekend for Christians who, in addition to enduring persecution in places like Syria, Iraq and Egypt, were among those targeted by Muslim terrorists in a mall massacre in Kenya that caused dozens of deaths.
Reading through Pope Francis’ fascinating 12,000-word interview in the Jesuit journal America Magazine, many thoughts and sentences leapt out, especially this one.
I learned my politics at the sharp end of life. Raised in a Jewish family in east London, as a teenager I attended counter-demonstrations against the National Front, Britain’s small but venomous fascist party. The dialogue was of a physical nature. In other words, we fought them with fists and feet, and threw bottles and bricks. They hated immigrants and Jews, we rather disagreed. I grew up however, and while I remained opposed to bigotry and hatred, I also matured, went to various universities and then in my mid-20s became a Roman Catholic.
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is flying high at the moment, chairman of the “elite eight” cardinals going to Rome next week to advise the Holy Father on necessary reforms. He was invited to address the plenary meeting of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops this week.
I recently granted an interview to a journalist who wanted to write about Internet dating. Although I am not a fan of dating web sites, I was happy to help and mentioned that I had met my husband over the Internet, although not through a dating web site. And thus I was surprised and chagrined to discover that a sub-editor had composed a caption stating that I had met my husband through a dating web site.
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Oct. 6 (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalm 95; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10) How long, O Lord? When are you going to hear our prayers? When is all of this going to stop? This has probably been the reaction of many to the world that assaults us through the media each day. It seems like an endless flood of violence, hatred, corruption, suffering and the failure of institutions. Scenes like the slaughter of children in an elementary school or the massacre of shoppers in a Kenyan shopping mall can leave us numb. There is a temptation to turn away and get lost in distractions, or to become bitter and cynical, perhaps even ceasing to believe in anything.
The famed and feisty psychologist Fritz Pearls was once asked by a well-meaning Christian if he was saved. He responded by saying, I am still trying to figure out how to be spent!
Church governance, prayer, Jesuit spirituality, preaching, hope, gender equality, art, music, novels, the Second Vatican Council, prayer — in 12,000 words Pope Francis had plenty to talk about in an exclusive interview that made international headlines.
OTTAWA - The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) has published a booklet warning that yoga, meditation, Reiki and other activities of the New Age movement are dangerous.
AMMAN, Jordan - A priest with strong interfaith ties in the Middle East said the global superpowers must find a political resolution to the Syrian civil war and humanitarian crisis but cautioned any armed intervention would result in longer-term instability.
WARSAW, Poland - Churches in Ukraine are opposing expanded freedoms for homosexuals as a precondition for closer ties with the Europe Union.