A local Catholic expressed his hopes and concerns regarding the proposed building of a wall in the Holy Land that could result in Christian families losing their homes. Speaking on Monday, Jan. 27, with international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem hopes […]
According to a local bishop, the “brutal” crackdown on demonstrators in Ukraine is acting as a recruitment agent for the protest movement. “It is hard to imagine a more prayerful [protest] in 21st century Europe,” says Bishop Gudziak,describing the country as being engaged “in a battle for dignity.” Bishop Borys Gudziak, Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic […]
Coptic Catholic Bishops in Egypt have hailed the result of the referendum on the country’s new constitution, saying the document amounts to a crucial step towards religious freedom and other civil liberties for people of all faiths, including the country’s Christian minority. In interviews with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Bishops Kyrillos […]
The leader of Catholics in Syria has issued an urgent appeal to the faithful in Syria, and people throughout the world, to pray for the success of this week’s Geneva II peace conference to be held in Montreux, Switzerland. Damascus-based Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III has called on every Syrian Catholic, whatever their circumstances, […]
Life is not easy for Christians in Egypt, and the strain is taking its toll. Beyond the reports of churches burned and homes attacked, there is also a more subtle hardship affecting ordinary families. While not universal, mistreatment and discrimination are unfortunately all too common. “Every day we leave our house, not knowing what will […]
According to a local Catholic leader, Nigeria’s well-being holds the key to the fate of the African continent: “If Nigeria falls to Islamic extremists, all of Africa will be at risk.” Bishop Hyacinth Egbebo is the administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bomadi, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, in the heart of the country’s oil-rich but […]
As I walked through the lobby of the assisted living facility, I saw him again – the elderly gentleman whom I had greeted three hours earlier. Had he been there all morning? I wondered. I was on patient rounds in the building that day, visiting the residents that staff had identified as needing to be […]
Well, his name isn’t really Fred, but when I’m telling a real story about real people and maybe the people don’t come out sounding too good, I like to make up a pseudonym. I just think it’s the decent thing to do. I’m writing about Fred because he’s an example of really bad, I mean epically […]
Just recently, Pope Francis said that the Church should be a “field hospital.” In the Central African Republic, this is now everyday routine. Thousands of people have sought shelter in the mission stations and monasteries. The Carmelite monastery in the capital Bangui has also been turned into a refugee camp. Normally the monastery is a […]
“In Iraq there are fewer and fewer Christians. The persistent violence, fear, lack of work opportunities and the issue of safety for life and limb are forcing us to leave our country, our homes and our families,” Msgr. Shlemon Warduni reported directly on the tragedy which seems never ending. “The future for Christians in Iraq, […]
Hopes are high, ahead of the meeting of the Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East with the Pope. Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome, spoke to the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), remarking that he expects […]
By now you probably have heard that a massive typhoon hit the Philippines last Friday. Named Haiyan (or Yolanda), the typhoon is reportedly the strongest ever recorded in history, with winds of 195 miles per hour and gusts up to 235 mph. Early reports coming out of the country say that as many as 10,000 people lost […]
Horrific details are emerging of atrocities carried out in a Christian town in Syria in what is being seen as the worst act of anti-Christian persecution since the war in Syria began. Inhabitants of Sadad, near Homs, who fled the largely Syrian Orthodox town when rebels attacked last month, are now returning home to discover […]
The United Nations’ latest report on human trafficking should drive fear into our hearts and souls. But what exactly is this crime? According to the United Nations, the problem centers on the sexual exploitation of women and girls. The report was scoured in an effort to discover whether or not the United Nations was also […]
This is so horrific and evil that it almost defies reason. Officials have rescued a girl from Somalia that was brought to the UK to harvest her organs. They are sure that this is not an isolated incidence. The Telegraph has the story: The unnamed girl was brought to the UK from Somalia with the […]
The first ever hospice in Russia for children with terminal illnesses is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The project was started by the Russian Orthodox priest Aleksandr Tkachenko, who came recently to visit the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in the town of Königstein, near […]
The family founded on marriage is the “natural center of human life” and protecting children and elderly people is a “choice of civilization,” Pope Francis said in an address Friday morning. Speaking to the 21 plenary meeting of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the pope said, “Children and the elderly represent the two poles […]
There can be a fine line between loneliness and solitude. In solitude, there is a quiet joy — time spent by yourself in nature or at eucharistic adoration, an opportunity for contemplation and prayer and just basking in a peaceful presence. I love solitude. Like so many, however, I dread loneliness. And unfortunately, I have […]
According to Statistics Canada, the years between 2010 and 2031 will see an accelerated rate in the aging population since this is the period when all baby boomers will have turned sixty-five. By the year 2036, between twenty-three per cent and twenty-five percent of the population will comprise of seniors aged sixty-five and over. The […]
As the Year of Faith draws to a close, World Mission Sunday comes forward to help recharge our efforts to go forth and evangelize! So as we mark this yearly renewal, I’m seizing the occasion to revitalize the voice of one amazing catechist and missionary, Fr. John Anthony Hardon, S.J. You could say I’m doing a paper on a paper […]
There’s a great line in the book: Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know, by Diane Moczar. In writing about the downfall of Rome, she quotes an historian’s description of the Roman Empire before its demise: “a terrifying sluggishness of the whole population.” For me, this phrase denotes aimlessness, a lack of motivation and initiative, a […]
Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I) Building on what has been said in the first two posts, we continue with the fallout from the pope’s interview with atheist publisher Eugenio Scalfari. If the pope’s refusal to take the bait on preaching specific moral norms didn’t make many tear their hair out in […]
The blows continue raining down on Francis over his interview with an atheist, and with an intense scorn that is simply breathtaking. This may take a few posts to cover in its entirety, but here goes… In my last article I defended Francis: He. Is. Peter. This pope has barely begun to cast his net and […]
“That’s not what he really meant to say…” These are increasingly common words spoken on behalf of Pope Francis. Increasingly, Catholic bloggers are having to compile montages of quotes to show the strain of orthodox continuity in the Pope’s interviews. For many traditionalists, it is the frightful spectre of a Jesuit pope ascending the throne […]
