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April 8, 2018
VATICAN – Pope Francis condemned the use of chemical weapons after a deadly attack killed dozens of innocent men, women and children in Syria.
VATICAN – Feeling ashamed of one's sins does not mean wallowing in guilt, rather it is the gateway all men and women can use to experience firsthand God's tender mercy and forgiveness, Pope Francis said.
April 9, 2018
VATICAN – God calls all Christians to be saints – not plastic statues of saints, but real people who make time for prayer and who show loving care for others in the simplest gestures, Pope Francis said in his new document on holiness.
Crying, hugging and shaking their heads in disbelief, the people of Humboldt, Sask. gathered at the local hockey arena April 8 for an inter-faith service to mourn 15 people who died after the bus carrying the town’s junior hockey team collided with a truck.
VATICAN – The Catholic Church wants to listen to young people and know where they are coming from, but young Catholics must be ready to listen to Jesus and discover where he wants to lead them, Pope Francis said.
VATICAN – Naturally in a document on the Christian call to holiness, Pope Francis cited a heavenly host of saints – including some whose sainthood causes are ongoing and some who probably will never be canonized.
Fifty years ago this month, Pierre Elliott Trudeau took the reins of prime minister, eventually serving more than 15 years at the post and shaping much of today’s Canada (not to mention fathering today’s PM, Justin). From The Catholic Register Archive, in the April 20, 1968 issue, here is a perspective on the man just weeks after he was elected leader of the Liberal Party:
April 10, 2018
MEXICO – The Mexican bishops' conference criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and issued a strong defense of migrants, saying the Catholic Church could not stand by "in the face of suffering by our brother migrants as they seek better conditions by crossing the border to work and contribute to the common good."
VATICAN – Priests must give hope to men and women seeking forgiveness, encouraging them in their struggle away from the slippery slope of sin, Pope Francis said.
GREENSBURG, Pa. – Father Medil Sacay Aseo, 63, a priest from the Philippines who is serving in the Diocese of Greensburg's International Priests Program, has been appointed bishop of the Diocese of Tagum in the Philippines by Pope Francis.
Correction: A previous version of the story stated Matt Pascuzzo said the attestation came as a result of anti-abortion campaigners who used the jobs funding to aggressively campaign for criminal code sanctions on abortion. Pascuzzo did not make the statement. Agencies rejected for Canada Summer Jobs grants because they won’t tick the pro-abortion attestation box are scrambling to come up with private funds to cover the summertime services they provide to the poor.
Prince Albert Bishop Albert Thevenot will host a prayer vigil in his diocese April 17 to remember the Indigenous people who have gone missing and their families who have been left behind.
Fr. Joseph Salihu witnessed terrorist attacks while growing up in northern Nigeria.
OTTAWA – Canada’s bishops may face an unprecedented call from Parliament to formally ask Pope Francis to apologize on Canadian soil for the Church’s role in operating residential schools.
Catholic parishes, ministries, religious orders and institutions stand ready to help should Ottawa heed Bob Rae’s advice on the Rohingya crisis.
For the first time in 500 years, Lutherans in Sweden are welcoming Catholics to celebrate Masses in Lund cathedral. The historic cathedral, formerly the site of bitter religious feuding, has become a site of interfaith friendship since Pope Francis held a service there in 2016.
April 11, 2018
VATICAN – Parents who prefer not to baptize their children in the hopes that they will "understand and ask for baptism" as adults lack faith that the Holy Spirit will act in their child's life, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis has once again expanded the Catholic definition of being pro-life.
In his report on the crisis in Myanmar, Canada’s special envoy to the region fell short of labelling Rohingya persecution a genocide. But that detail should not stop Canada from acting as if it is one.
ROME – Today's women religious belong to "a long line of courageous women" whose faith in God and love for humanity led them to put their lives at risk, said Sister Patricia Murray, an Irish member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.