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April 23, 2017
Five hundred years of division in the Western Christian tradition has yielded 50 years of striving for unity — and some of the best theology of our times, Regina Archbishop Don Bolen said at the launch of a new book of essays on ecumenism.
WASHINGTON – A new study categorizes what kinds of responses emerge when Christians around the world are persecuted, noting that, most often, Christians choose a strategy of survival.
The author of a new book about the men who killed Archbishop Oscar Romero while celebrating Mass 37 years ago says the subject is still dangerous to talk about.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Every time Jose Camara thinks his ministry is completed, somebody else needs a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to spread the devotion.
VATICAN CITY – When it comes to Marian apparitions, the Catholic Church takes a prudent approach that focuses more on the message than the miracle.
VATICAN CITY – While conversion and prayer are at the heart of Mary's messages at Fatima, Portugal, the miracles and unexplained phenomenon that accompanied the events 100 years ago continue to intrigue believers and nonbelievers alike.
April 24, 2017
Pope Francis on Saturday paid tribute to modern day martyrs whom he said “are the living blood of the Church."
Never forget that our faith is concrete, and rejects compromises and idealizations. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
VATICAN CITY – On Divine Mercy Sunday Pope Francis said mercy is essential in living the Christian life, because it not only allows us to understand ourselves and God better, but it also prompts us to recognize and help those in need.
VATICAN CITY – Catholics and Buddhists must strengthen efforts to reject violence in all of its forms as well as to urge and educate people in a life of nonviolence, said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
ROME – The Christian church today needs believers who witness each day to the power of God's love, but it also needs the heroic witness of those who stand up to hatred even when it means giving up their lives, Pope Francis said.
MOSCOW, Russia – The Jehovah's Witnesses have been banned as an extremist group in a Thursday Supreme Court decision that observers feared signalled a further step back for religious liberty.
REGINA – A judgment in a 12-year-old court case has sent shock waves through Saskatchewan’s Catholic education community and left Regina Archbishop Donald Bolen “disheartened.”
VATICAN CITY – Despite the ongoing risk of terrorism, Pope Francis planned to travel to Egypt as a sign of being close to the people there, said Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman.
PARIS – A few hours after the announcement of the winners of the first round of the French presidential election, the French bishops' conference published a reflection on voting in the final round.
April 25, 2017
LIMA, Peru – Archbishop José Antonio Eguren of Piura and Tumbes, Peru visited the inhabitants of one of the areas most affected by the recent floods in northern Peru, who asked him to help them get some Bibles.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Proposals to legalize euthanasia in the Australian state of Victoria are based on “misplaced compassion,” the local bishops said.
The Gospel must be proclaimed with humility, overcoming the temptation of pride. That was the exhortation of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, on the feast of St Mark the Evangelist. Among those taking part in the Mass were the Cardinal counsellors of the C-9.
VATICAN CITY – An Italian association that runs and maintains a Roman beach for disabled people received an unexpected donation from Pope Francis.
VATICAN CITY – Praying that God would protect Egypt from all evil, Pope Francis told the nation's people that a world torn apart by indiscriminate violence needs courageous builders of peace, dialogue and justice.