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December 10, 2016
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – In late September, Pope Francis met with the controversial president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila.
As the world focuses most of its attention on Syria, East Africa and its nine million refugees — 26 per cent of the world’s refugee population — is facing another wave of failed states, civil wars and ethnic cleansing.
December 11, 2016
VATICAN CITY – 'Tis the season for a huge assortment of holiday concerts and carols to choose from, making Advent and Christmas a unique period for reminding people of the evergreen beauty of sacred music.
CHICAGO – On a recent overcast Sunday morning in northwest Chicago, the pews of the small wood-paneled St. Ephrem Chaldean Catholic Church were filled to overflowing. Among the rows of Massgoers sat Firaz Rassam and her sisters.
LVIV, Ukraine – Olia Kareva is 46. She spent five years in jail for the crime she has not committed.
While Canada resettled more than 35,000 refugees from Syria over the last 12 months and brought refugee processing times down to eight months for privately sponsored refugees from Lebanon, refugees in Ethiopia languish more than six years in the system and Church groups are discouraged from sponsoring Africans.
December 12, 2016
Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning, focusing his remarks following the readings of the day on the need for priests to serve as authentic mediators of God’s love, rather than as intermediaries – “go-betweens” or “middle-men” – concerned only with advancing their own interests.
VATICAN CITY – During the Angelus for the third Sunday of Advent, also called Gaudete Sunday, Pope Francis made a special appeal for prayers for the people of Aleppo and Syria, and for all those affected by the recent terrorist attacks which have taken place in places such as Turkey and Egypt.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Legislature has sent two abortion bills to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.
VATICAN CITY – The day after an explosion at the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo killed 25 people, mostly women and children, Pope Francis called the head of the Church to offer prayer, and to say they are united the blood of their martyrs.
Oscar Wilde famously said “to lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
With 24 dead and as many as 21 of the 45 injured in hospital, victims of a suicide bomber at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt’s Christians are praying for the unity and peace of their nation, a Catholic pastor in Egypt’s Christian heartland told The Catholic Register.
LIVERPOOL, England – Scientists at a university in Liverpool recently unveiled what they say is the most realistic portrait ever created of St. Nicholas of Myra, the popular 4th Century bishop best known as the inspiration for the modern-day figure of Santa Claus.
OTTAWA – Canada's former ambassador of religious freedom told a Senate committee that Canada’s focus on religious freedom has “diminished” since the Office of Religious Freedom was closed in May.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to do everything possible to end the war in his country, to protect civilians and to ensure humanitarian agencies can deliver emergency aid to the people.
December 13, 2016
The spirit of clericalism is an evil that is present in the Church today, Pope Francis said, and the victim of this spirit is the people, who feel discarded and abused. That was the Pope’s message in the homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
ROME, Italy – A traveling exhibit currently set up in Rome’s St. Silvester Square highlights the difficulties – as well as the strength, resilience, and hope – of Ukrainians who have had to flee their homes due to ongoing conflict in the country’s eastern regions.
VATICAN CITY – On Saturday, Dec. 17, Pope Francis will celebrate his 80th birthday, which he will spend doing what he normally does: offering Mass and meeting with various heads of State and members of the Roman Curia.
WASHINGTON – In remote northeastern India, where Christianity is largely unknown, members of two Eastern Catholic churches are taking people on a journey of faith simply by living with them.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis expressed condolences to the members of Opus Dei following the death of Bishop Javier Echevarria, who led the prelature for over 20 years.