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September 11, 2015
For 20 years, the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul have lined a small corner in front of Kingston’s City Hall to stand in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable in society.
Pope Francis says that we must learn to not judge others or we all risk becoming hypocrites including the Pope himself. At the same time, he said, we need to have the courage to acknowledge our own faults in order to become merciful towards others. The Pope’s comments came during his homily on Friday (11th September) at the morning Mass in the Santa Marta residence.
AfricaFeature091015 [images/modules/feature/2015/AfricaFeature091015.jpg] Read our three-part special report from Africa here: PART 1 - AFRICA'S FORGOTTEN REFUGEES - 21st century being shaped by the plight of refugees - Canadian Jesuit's work embodies vision of Pedro Arrupe - Refugees play the waiting game PART 2 - FEEDING THE HUNGRY - Nomadic African life dies of thirst - D&P goes back to the basics - Horn of Africa facing worst drought in 60 years PART 3 - THE CHURCH - Africa takes its place in universal Church - Ethiopians yearn for religious experience
A year ago, my friend invited me to an all-night adoration event and I asked, “What’s that?” I had never heard of eucharistic adoration before.
OTTAWA - When Canada’s Catholic bishops gather for their annual plenary Sept. 14-17, a lengthy period of restructuring will come to an end with a change in how the conference is financed.
MANCHESTER, England - The European Union must adopt a common asylum policy "without delay" because it is unacceptable for refugees to "drown and suffocate" at the fringes of the bloc, said the European bishops.
TORONTO - Cardinal Thomas Collins is taking his Lectio divina series across the Greater Toronto Area this year.
September 12, 2015
BEIT JALLA, West Bank - Since hundreds of olive trees were uprooted to make room for a separation barrier through the Cremisan Valley adjacent to this largely Christian village, Fr. Aktham Hijazin, Annunciation parish priest, has been celebrating Mass daily behind red-and-white police tape.
DOLLO ADO, ETHIOPIA - Fifty-one year old Somali refugee Abdi Mahdi is one of about 25 students taking an English class offered by the Jesuit Refugee Service in the Kobe refugee camp, about three kilometres from the border between Ethiopia and Somalia.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - The Jesuit Refugee Service in Africa had its baptism of fire in Ethiopia trying to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of starving Ethiopians. Almost as soon as the JRS was founded in Ethiopia, the 1984 famine galvanized world attention, inspired the Band Aid mega-concerts and put the Jesuits to work. The Jesuit who led the JRS in Ethiopia, who tangled with communist government ministers, found 10-tonne trucks to deliver food, put medical care in place, is Canadian.
September 13, 2015
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Yeshi Wubet carries a scrap of hope around in her purse, folded and unfolded to the point of fragility. It’s a letter from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Addis Ababa dated July 7, 2014 and signed by Assistant Representative (Protection) Milagros Leynes.
When Pope Francis visits the United States this month, most Americans will welcome him as a plainspoken champion of the voiceless, whose openness to change has brought new energy to the Catholic Church.
September 14, 2015
Seventy supporters of religion-based hiring discrimination urged President Obama Thursday (Sept. 10) to continue to permit government-funded faith groups to employ people with like beliefs.
CANTERBURY, England - British parliamentarians on Friday (Sept. 11) soundly rejected a right-to-die bill that would have allowed people with less than six months to live to end their life legally.
If we want to move forward “on the path of Christian life" we must fall, just as Jesus did when he carried the Cross.
VATICAN CITY - Fifty inmates from a Rome jail were given a private tour of the Vatican Museums on Sunday (Sept. 13), setting the tone for Pope Francis’ visit to a U.S. prison later this month and emphasizing his concern for people on the margins.
CERGY-PONTOISE, France - When the first wave of Syrians and Iraqis arrived at this northwestern Paris suburb, Nabil Seghari signed up to volunteer with the Catholic charity spearheading the welcome efforts.
September 15, 2015
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South African Benedict Daswa, who was bludgeoned to death 25 years ago for resisting witchcraft, now has the title of blessed.
Pope Francis says the Church is a mother and must have that loving and tender maternal feeling and human warmth as otherwise all that remains is rigidity and discipline. That was the message at the heart of the Pope’s homily on Tuesday (15th September) at the Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta Residence. Tuesday’s Mass was also attended by the C-9 Cardinals who are meeting in the Vatican this week.
VATICAN CITY - More than 360 participants, including 18 married couples from around the world, were expected to attend October's Synod of Bishops on the family.