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June 10, 2016
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) June 19 (Zechariah 12:10-11; Psalm 63; Galatians 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24) Sometimes it takes an act of God to touch and move the human heart so that the tears can flow. Throughout history, up until this very day, people have often meted out countless acts of cruelty, injustice and unkindness towards one another. Leafing through history books, one could get the impression that history is written in blood. The worst part of it is the calloused and numbed consciences that seem unable or unwilling to acknowledge guilt or empathize with the pain of the victims.
VATICAN CITY – Growing acceptance of euthanasia does not indicate increased compassion, but highlights the rise of a selfish "throwaway culture" that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN CITY – After suspending an external audit led by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Vatican has signed a new contract with the auditing firm asking only that it provide assistance and consulting services.
June 11, 2016
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will send high-level observers to the pan-Orthodox council meeting in Crete as a sign of respect, support and encouragement of the Orthodox Church.
Revolution was once a bad word — even The Beatles were against it. But ever since the late Steve Jobs got hold of it and applied it to every new gadget to come off the Apple assembly line, the word has lost its threat and most of its meaning.
VATICAN CITY – Recognizing St. Mary Magdalene's role as the first to witness Christ's resurrection and as a "true and authentic evangelizer," Pope Francis raised the July 22 memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast on the Church's liturgical calendar, the Vatican announced.
GLENMOORE, Pa. – The way Sister Rita Cameron sees it, her grandchildren didn't lose a grandmother when she became a sister. They gained 106 great-aunts.
June 12, 2016
TORONTO – St. Anthony of Padua is known as the miracle worker saint. Many people ask for his intercession for the loss of material things, but also for loss of peace of mind or sense of direction. Those who seek his help are never lost, forgotten or left behind.
MONTREAL – Leon Celemencki looked at the group of young adults heading to the World Youth Day celebration in Krakow, Poland, in July, asking about their planned side trip to the notorious Nazi concentration camp known as Auschwitz.
AMMAN, Jordan – Iraqi refugee women who fled Islamic State group violence in their homeland have appealed to Pope Francis for help, sending a hand-sewn mantle and imploring him to pray for them and for peace in their country.
COORANBONG, Australia – A shiny white motor home stationed on the grounds of Catholic churches throughout the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese has become a beacon of hope and mercy among local communities.
June 13, 2016
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis offered prayers for the families of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando and expressed hope that people would find ways to identify and uproot "the causes of such terrible and absurd violence."
Pope Francis has decried the pursuit for perfect bodies, saying it leads to society hiding away the disabled to avoid offending the sensibilities of what he described as “the privileged few.”
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Bishop John Noonan urged people of faith "to turn their hearts and souls" to God and pray for the victims, the families and first responders following the worst mass shooting in U.S. history June 12.
Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich has decried the apparent targeting of gays and lesbians in the Orlando nightclub massacre and called for greater efforts on gun control, the first senior U.S. Catholic churchman to identify a likely reason the victims were singled out and raise the controversial issue of access to weapons.
BEIRUT – Syriac patriarchs, marking the two-year anniversary since the Islamic State group expelled Christians from a large part of Iraq, denounced "the ethno-religious genocide" of their people and called for the liberation of those areas.
June 14, 2016
The killings of two Hindus, one Christian and the wife of an anti-terror official in Muslim-majority Bangladesh last week have left members of minority religious communities afraid for their lives and skeptical of the government’s ability to provide security.
DETROIT – He was Mr. Hockey, but he was also Mr. Family. That’s what Fr. J.J. Mech will take away from knowing Gordie Howe, the Detroit Red Wings hockey legend who passed away June 10 at the age of 88.
MONTREAL – As Montreal prepares to celebrate its 375th anniversary in 2017, it is yet unclear how the city will honor its Catholic heritage.
Praying for our enemies can heal our hearts: that was Pope Francis’ message at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta chapel on Tuesday morning. Recalling his own childhood in Argentina, when people prayed that dictators would go to hell, the Pope recalled how Jesus himself tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.