Category: news

Vatican City, Feb 19, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- In the United States, Eastern Catholics face many of the same challenges as Latin rite Catholics, but the Eastern Catholic Churches are particularly concerned about growing anti-immigrant rhetoric and the plight of Christians overseas, a Ukrainian Catholic archbishop said Wednesday. The U.S.-based Eastern Catholic bishops are in Rome for their ad limina visit to the Vatican and to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul Feb. 17-21. “I see [the ad limina visit] as a chance for discussion, but it’s…

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Pittsburgh, Pa., Jan 9, 2020 / 11:58 am (CNA).- A judge in Pennsylvania is allowing a lawsuit to move forward arguing that the Diocese of Pittsburgh has creating a public nuisance by failing to properly report and disclose information on sexual abuse of children. The lawsuit is filed by both abuse victims and parents of children in the Catholic Church. Their attorney, Benjamin Sweet, said the ruling is unprecedented in supporting a suit filed by individuals who are not alleging abuse against themselves or a family member. “This is the…

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Washington D.C., Jan 8, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Law enforcement officials have conducted interviews with several senior figures at the Papal Foundation, a U.S. based charity which supports the charitable works of the Holy Father. Officers from the FBI have spoken to at least three foundation staff members over last several months, with enquiries focused on the role of Theodore McCarrick, who served as a board member until his removal from the College of Cardinals in 2018, following charges of sexual abuse of minors. Last year, McCarrick was laicized…

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Tehran, Iran, Jan 7, 2020 / 11:25 am (CNA).- As tensions escalate between Iran and the United States following the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the pope’s diplomat in Tehran is appealing for dialogue. Archbishop Leo Boccardi has served as apostolic nuncio to Iran since 2013. Speaking to EWTN News from Tehran, Boccardi said he has been keeping the Vatican updated on the situation on the ground in Tehran with regular dispatches to the Secretariat of State. “I believe that the words of the Holy Father have been an invitation to…

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New Delhi, India, Jan 6, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- Church officials in India have said the nations will not host the 2021 Asian Youth Day as planned, ucanews reported Monday. “Our country was given the responsibility of hosting Asian Youth Day … After consultations with higher authorities, it was decided that it was better to call off the event as the present scenario does not allow us to hold the program,” Bishop Nazarene Soosai of Kottar, head of the Indian bishops' youth commission, told ucanews Jan. 6. India's ruling…

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Vatican City, Jan 5, 2020 / 04:41 am (CNA).- The Gospel is more than a nice story – it is the concrete revelation of God’s plan for the world and calls people to holiness, Pope Francis said Sunday. The first chapter of the Gospel of John “tells us that the Gospel of Christ is not a fairy tale, a myth, an edifying story, no, the Gospel of Christ is the full revelation of the God’s plan, God’s plan for man and the world,” the pope said Jan. 5, in his…

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Managua, Nicaragua, Jan 4, 2020 / 05:53 am (CNA).- As political tensions continue in Nicaragua, the archbishop of Managua stressed that for peace to be achieved, people need to look past their differences and foster dialogue without exclusion or manipulation. “Only by choosing the path of respect will it be possible to break the spiral of vengeance,” said Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes on the World Day of Peace, celebrated Jan. 1. “Peace as the object of our hope is a precious good to which all humanity aspires,” he said. “War often…

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Washington D.C., Jan 3, 2020 / 10:43 am (CNA).- Anticipating its observance of National Migration Week, the US bishops' conference said Thursday that it stands in solidarity with immigrants and refugees. National Migration Week is observed this year Jan. 5-11, with the theme “Promoting a Church and a World for All.” “As a founding principle of our country, we have always welcomed immigrant and refugee populations, and through the social services and good works of the Church, we have accompanied our brothers and sisters in integrating to daily American life,”…

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Maiduguri, Nigeria, Jan 2, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- African Church leaders have responded to the reported Dec. 26 execution of 11 Nigerian Christians by a terrorist group affiliated with the Isamic State. “We woke up a day after Christmas to the horrible news of the gruesome decapitation of Christian hostages by the Islamic State terrorists,” Fr. Benjamin Achi told ACI Africa Dec. 28. Achi is director of communications in Nigeria’s Diocese of Enugu, where abductions targeting priests have been on the rise in recent months. The priest’s comments referred…

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Vancouver, Canada, Dec 27, 2019 / 11:19 am (CNA).- For most people in the 21st century, piracy probably conjures up images of illegal downloads from Limewire before it does thoughts of trouble-making sea-farers. But real piracy – marine miscreants who hijack boats and steal goods and take captives – is still a threat for sailors and ship crews today. “Piracy is a terrifying experience for seafarers,” Deacon Dileep Athaide, a chaplain with the Apostleship of the Sea, told Agnieszka Ruck for The B.C. Catholic. The Apostleship of the Sea is…

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