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November 19, 2016
REGINA – Somewhere along the path to writing a self-help book, Henry Ripplinger found himself meandering down a different trail only to emerge as a best-selling Catholic novelist.
MOMOSTENANGO, Guatemala – As a 12-year-old working as a farm laborer, Elvia Abac vowed that when she grew up, her children would never go hungry the way she was.
VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church's 17 new cardinals must dedicate their lives to being ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world – and sometimes a church – often marked by hostility and division, Pope Francis said.
November 20, 2016
ANTEZANA DE FORONDA, Spain – The Iglesia de San Miguel is the pride of this tiny town in Spain’s Basque Country. Yet the 16th-century church, with its spectacular wooden carvings and baroque altarpiece, had fallen on hard times.
VATICAN CITY – Visiting young women rescued from forced prostitution and meeting with a mother inconsolable over the loss of one of her newborn triplets are images from the Year of Mercy that Pope Francis said remain impressed on his heart.
DAMASCUS – Fr. Alejandro León is a Salesian missionary who has lived more than 13 years in the Middle East, and in Syria since 2011 – precisely when its civil war began. He has said that being there during the war is “ a sign of mercy and the love of God,” even though it involves risking his own life and often being close to death.
November 21, 2016
VATICAN CITY – Initiatives undertaken during the special Year of Mercy must continue, including granting absolution to those who confess to having an abortion, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis, in his homily at the Consistory which took place in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, reflected on the Lord’s “Sermon on the Plain,” found in the Gospel of St Luke.
Below are the full text of Pope Francis' homily from Christ the King Sunday Mass:
LONDON – Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said some British media were stirring up xenophobic sentiments against migrants and refugees.
Roman Catholic bishops in Rwanda have issued an apology for the role played by individual clergy and church members in the 1994 genocide in which nearly 1 million ethnic Tutsis and Hutus were killed.
WASHINGTON – The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities has called for increased efforts and "renewed vigor" to stop legalized physician-assisted suicide after the practice was approved by voters in Colorado and the District of Columbia City Council.
November 22, 2016
VATICAN CITY – On Tuesday the Vatican announced the themes for the next three World Youth Day encounters, which are focused on Mary and form the basis of a spiritual journey culminating in the next global encounter in Panama in 2019.
MOSUL, IRAQ – Two years after the sound of church bells was replaced by the sound of explosives in Bashiqa, Iraq, just north of Mosul, Christians are again celebrating Mass after forcing the Islamic State out of their homeland.
INDIANAPOLIS – Critics say an Indiana mayor's decision to rename the city's Good Friday holiday in the name of inclusivity ended up marginalizing Christians.
Pope Francis said death is not to be feared if we are faithful to the Lord but warned against being trapped into basing our lives around superficial things that are not transcendent as though we never had to die. He was speaking at his Mass celebrated on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.
TOKYO – A strong subsea earthquake triggered a tsunami alert along Japan's northeastern Pacific coast at dawn Nov. 22, sending residents running for high ground and unleashing a brief nuclear drama in an unwelcome reminder of the disaster in the same area five years ago.
NEW YORK – Like time travellers from the Golden Age of Hollywood studio films, the characters played by Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in "Allied" (Paramount) don't allow a little event like World War II to muss their elegant coifs.
WASHINGTON – The United Nations is preparing to embark on talks to ban nuclear weapons.
November 23, 2016
OTTAWA – Canada’s Catholic Bishops have joined with an interfaith coalition to endorse a private member’s bill that lays the foundation for a national palliative care strategy.