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September 26, 2014
AMMAN, Jordan - Ask Syrian refugees sheltering in neighbouring Jordan about the advent of U.S.-led strikes against Islamic State militants in their homeland, and the reactions will be mixed.
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican formally criticized a UN committee's "grave misunderstanding" of state sovereignty and reiterated its concerns over "controversial new expressions" that threaten the unborn and religious freedom.
Have you ever noticed how we spontaneously react to a perceived threat? Our primal instincts tend to take over and we instantly freeze and begin to shut all the doors opening to warmth, gentleness and empathy inside us.
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Oct. 5 (Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43) The prophets of Israel had an array of instruments at their disposal in their struggle to reform the nation. Symbolic behaviour — a form of street theatre — was one such technique, and it was very effective in the hands of someone like Jeremiah.
September 27, 2014
Bishop Anthony Francis Sharma loves his title as emeritus bishop of Nepal. He loves it because it allows him to make a little joke at his own expense.
WASHINGTON - Study after study has confirmed that those who are involved in religion and those who are married are healthier, physically and mentally happier and live longer than those who are not.
September 28, 2014
The Church is gathering many of the world’s bishops in October to start talking about how the Christian life is really lived. They will meet in the Vatican at an extraordinary Synod of Bishops convened by Pope Francis to start to address the pastoral challenges of family life.
There’s not a lot of wiggle room in what Jesus had to say about divorce in the Gospel of Mark.
In advance of the Synod on the Family, four Canadian bishops spoke at the recent bishops’ plenary meeting in Beaupré, Que., about marriage and family challenges in their respective dioceses. Using the Synod’s working document Instrumentum Laboris as their guide, they provided an insightful look at how the issue takes many shapes in the Canadian Church. Below are snapshots of their comments.
Dr. Mona-Lee Feehan, author of the recently released marriage preparation book What God Has Joined: Preparing for Marriage in the Catholic Church, published by Novalis, is a faculty member at St. Stephen’s College in Edmonton. With marriage to be such an important topic at the Synod on the family, she was recently interviewed about her ministry and offered advice for new couples.
OTTAWA - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has joined several other prominent cardinals who have stated that the Church teaching on marriage and divorce cannot be changed.
September 29, 2014
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican denied Pope Francis had dismissed a controversial Paraguayan bishop because of his mishandling of sex abuse accusations, attributing the decision instead to other failings of governance and friction with fellow bishops.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis warned against the abandonment and neglect of the elderly, calling it a "hidden euthanasia" rooted in today's "poisonous" culture of disposal and an economic system of greed.
VATICAN CITY - As the family gets special focus in two upcoming synods and an international gathering in Philadelphia next year, Pope Francis is highlighting the beauty and value of the family in his message for World Communications Day.
HOVE, England - An English Catholic bishop has resigned after admitting that he has been "unfaithful to his promises as a Catholic priest."
MADRID - A Spanish bishop who worked as an engineer before becoming first prelate of the Opus Dei movement has been beatified in his native Madrid.
September 30, 2014
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - After telling parishioners and students in the religious education program at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Parish about what is happening in Syria, Father Rodrigo Miranda was impressed that a 13-year-old girl was one of the first to respond.
Religious leaders agree the Islamic State — also known as ISIL or ISIS — must be stopped. Their struggle is how best to do it.
VATICAN CITY - The biggest threat facing the Vatican isn't a bomb or bullet from the outside, but the insidious work of mischief-makers within, who plant discord and resentment, Pope Francis told the Vatican's security force.
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N.'s framework provides the "only viable way" of dealing with the global nature of modern terrorism "which knows no borders," the Vatican's secretary of state told the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 29.