HOSPITALS in the Lebanese capital are overwhelmed with those suffering injuries from a massive explosion in Beirut’s port, causing widespread damage to the city and rocking the tiny Mediterranean nation already devastated by the coronavirus and its worst financial crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. “People won’t be able to rebuild their homes, businesses, livelihoods. There are reports of hospitals ... Read More »
CONCERN and frustration with delayed and failed responses to abuse scandals in Poland culminated in a desperate appeal to Pope Francis to help “rebuild our church.” More than 600 Polish lay Catholics pooled together enough money to buy an ad in an Italian newspaper at the end of June in a last-ditch effort to make sure the Pope would hear ... Read More »
POPE Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to Vatican City on June 22, five days after flying to Germany to spend time with his ailing 96-year-old brother. During his last morning in Regensburg, the 93-year-old Pope visited his brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, one last time before being driven to the airport in Munich. Msgr Ratzinger was director of the renowned Regensburg boys’ ... Read More »
AMONG the many titles under which Catholics invoke the Blessed Mother, Pope Francis has asked them to add “Mother of Mercy,” “Mother of Hope” and “Comfort of Migrants.” Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, sent a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world asking that the titles be inserted into ... Read More »
POPE Francis has advanced the sainthood causes of two women and 11 men, including a miracle attributed to Blessed Charles de Foucauld. In a meeting with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the Pope also authorised decrees recognizing miracles attributed to Blessed Cesar de Bus, founder of the Fathers of Christian Doctrine, and Blessed Maria ... Read More »
WHILE isolation, social distancing and economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic prove to be a challenge, Christians are called by God to take part in the church’s mission in the world, Pope Francis wrote in a message for World Mission Sunday 2020. “The impossibility of gathering as a church to celebrate the Eucharist has led us to share the ... Read More »
THE uncertainty and restrictive measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic caused an increase in prayers and religious fervour in Italy, a recent study said. The study, which was released on May 22, was conducted by the State University of Milan, to “daily monitor public opinion during the COVID-19 emergency” and the impact it “has had on the religiosity ... Read More »
Marking the 25th anniversary of St John Paul II’s encyclical on Christian unity, Pope Francis said he shares “the healthy impatience” of those who think more can and should be done, but he also insisted that Christians must be grateful for the progress made. “Many steps have been taken in these decades to heal the wounds of centuries and millennia,” ... Read More »
AS countries continue to reel from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis offered prayers for the men and women who have been unable to work. “In these days, many people have lost their jobs, were not rehired or work off the books,” Pope Francis said on May 11, at the start of his Mass in the Domus ... Read More »
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